Wendelstein bathhouse

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Badhaus Info 1.jpg

The Wendelstein bathhouse in Middle Franconia is "one of the best preserved late medieval bathhouses in Germany ". The building, dismantled in 2012, is currently being rebuilt in the Franconian Open Air Museum Bad Windsheim . The opening is planned for autumn 2020.

location

Bath house operation around 1500
Excavation bath house, behind: the cistern, view from the east (2012)
Ground floor from the south (2012)
Reconstruction of Bad Windsheim, view from the northwest (2017)

The listed building with file number D-5-76-151-11 was originally located at Hauptstrasse 2 in Markt Wendelstein . It stood directly on the eastern bank of the Schwarzach at an altitude of 330  m above sea level. NN . ⊙ To the south, the terrain rises steeply to the Altort Wendelsteins, north to the Lorenzer Reichswald .

During the construction period, the site sloped down towards the Schwarzach, which was also followed by the floor level on the ground floor of the building, so the actual bathroom was significantly lower than the main entrance on the north gable. It was also right next to the city gate on the Schwarzach Bridge. The road that still runs there today had grown enormously in ground level over the years. The upper floor, which was only accessible through an external staircase with an arbor, was now directly accessible from the street.

In the summer of 2012, it was relocated in accordance with a listed building and has been rebuilt since 2017 in the Franconian Open Air Museum in the city of Bad Windsheim in the state it was in around 1500. Its new location is on the plain north of the old Aisch at an altitude of 307  m above sea level. NN . ⊙

history

The first previous building as a Bodstube was built before 1437, in that year the Wendelstein community sold their self-built bathroom to the Nuremberg citizen Wenzel Ortolff. In this building, only the actual bathroom was built from rubble stones. A subsequent, completely lost half-timbered stem is to be assumed. The fire destruction of the place and the bath room in 1449 by Alrecht Achilles, Margrave of Ansbach can also be proven archaeologically on the building.

Reconstruction must have begun shortly afterwards, because the roof structure and with it the building is dendrochronologically dated to 1450. The stone part of the previous building was integrated into the new building and supplemented with carefully hewn stone. In 1467 Ortolff sold the bath house and large parts of the village of Wendelstein to the Heilig-Geist-Spital in Nuremberg . In 1540 it burned again, with the entire western half of the roof structure and part of the upper floor ceilings being destroyed. However, the fire could be extinguished, as proven by the charred beams left in situ. These were clearly visible until the 18th century.

Around 1640, the building was raised to the west of the courtyard and the area outside was filled. The west gable was renewed around 1730. The Bavarian original cadastre showed the stately building No. 35 on the Schwarzachbrücke in the 1810s without the barn that was added in the 19th century. A bakery was later operated there and a barn was built in the courtyard to the west. Over the centuries, presumably due to recurring flood events, the former ground floor was gradually filled up and thus received a higher level of walking. The bath house was inhabited until the end of the 1970s and has been falling into disrepair ever since.

Bathhouse operation

The heyday of the public baths can be seen in the 14th and 15th centuries. As early as the end of the 16th century, the sweat and tub baths in public baths began to decline. The bathers, however, retained the important task of being skilled and trained surgeons. The bathing business came to an end by 1818 at the latest with the Royal Bavarian Bathhouse Decree , which forbade all bathhouses to continue operating for hygienic reasons.

A contemporary image source shows the interior of a bathroom: the woodcut from the period 1505–1510 comes from a successor to Dürer and is based on a pen drawing by the master that is kept in the Kunsthalle Bremen (inv. No. 99-1851 / 57) . It shows six women who demonstrate various acts of bathing: Zwagen (washing their hair), scraping (a kind of "massaging" the skin) and licking (the use of a bath swab tied from oak leaves). The wood paneling shown in the picture also corresponds to the archaeological findings.

Translocation and Research

After the planning was completed, preparations for the relocation began in 2011 . In autumn, excavations were first carried out in the buried former ground floor of the property. In February 2012, the public was sensitized with initial results and a guided tour, also in order to gain understanding for the traffic obstructions associated with the rescue. The barn on the courtyard side was then torn down and the front on the street side was secured against slipping in with 35 concrete seals. From May to July 2012, the documented dismantling of the roof, partitions and stud frames as well as the block salvage of the building parts weighing up to 13 tonnes, which were transported with low loaders to Bad Windsheim 65 km to the west, took place.

On the excavation picture from the south, one can clearly see the inner brick base of the furnace behind the outer sandstone furnace portal marked with a "P", the window and the raised base in the middle of the room. Before it was dismantled, 3D laser scans of all rooms were made of the bathroom building, but a reliable scientific comparison is still pending.

The dismantling of the main building was followed by archaeological excavations right down to the foundations of the building. An Iron Age furnace for smelting lawn iron ore was excavated, but could not be recovered due to water ingress. About a ton of slag residues from the much older metallurgy era, which were also used in the operation of the bathhouse, was secured and also transferred to the open-air museum. Iron slag was also mentioned in contemporary medical literature, saying that it should have a corresponding effect as a bath additive.

reconstruction

Badhausplatz in Wendelstein, view from the northwest (2017)
Wendelstein

In November 2012 the excavation in Wendelstein was finished and the pit was filled in. The area has now been redesigned with a small park and leisure facility, Badhausplatz . This was designed according to the plans of the architect Karlheinz Zagel. There are several detailed information boards on the history, the confession, the reconstruction in the open air museum Bad Windsheim and a showcase with exhibits (replicas) of the finds from the research excavation. An ornamental fountain that is poured periodically , a flight of stairs leading to the Schwarzach, and rest areas that are partly sheltered from the weather increase the educational value of the leisure facility.
This is particularly popular with local youth and senior citizens. In the 25 to 55 age group, Badhausplatz was initially controversial, as they would have preferred to see a parking garage near the historic town center.

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Bad Windsheim

In October 2014, the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the building was laid at a ceremony in the Franconian Open Air Museum in Bad Windsheim . The restoration of the stately structure to the east of the medieval group of the museum is planned in the expansion stage of the 1470s, which should be completed by autumn 2020. A museum educational design with permanent exhibitions and occasional museum operations should take place by then.

financing

In addition to the open air museum Bad Windsheim and the market town of Wendelstein, the district of Middle Franconia also contributes to the costs. In addition, donations were generated from entrance fees in a temporary support campaign for Baden for the Franken-Therme bathhouse .

literature

  • Konrad Bedal: The clean Middle Ages. On the importance and distribution of the bathing rooms in rural Franconia. In: Franconia under one roof. Journal for the Franconian Open Air Museums 35 (2013), pp. 27–46.
  • Ralf Rossmeissl: Bath stones and "Reformation tiles". New finds from the Wendelstein bathhouse. In: Franconia under one roof. Journal for the Franconian Open Air Museums 37 (2015), pp. 91–97.
  • Dieter Gottschalk and Ralf Rossmeissl: Bathing and living under one roof. The bath house from Wendelstein. First results and many questions. In: Franconia under one roof. Journal for the Franconian Open Air Museums 35 (2013), pp. 47–64.
  • Susanne Grosser and Herbert May: "Wolher ins Bad Reich vnde Arm". Public bath houses in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. In: Cleanliness at all times! Hygiene in the country (= writings of southern German open-air museums, vol. 7). Petersberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7319-0837-1 , pp. 39-57.

Web links

Commons : Badhaus Wendelstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Susanne Grosser and Herbert May: "Wolher ins Bad Reich vnde Arm". Public bath houses in the late Middle Ages and early modern times . In: Cleanliness at all times! Hygiene in the country (=  writings of South German open-air museums . Volume 7 ). Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2019, p. 39-57 .
  2. ↑ a b c d press report Nordbayern.de from October 11, 2014
  3. ↑ a b c d e Dieter Gottschalk and Ralf Rossmeissl: Bathing and living under one roof. The bath house from Wendelstein. First results and many questions . In: Franconia under one roof. Journal for the Franconian open air museums . Issue 35. Verlag Fränkisches Freilandmuseum Bad Windsheim, Bad Windsheim 2013, p. 47-64 .
  4. ↑ a b c The bath house from Wendelstein. Construction diary for the reconstruction of the Wendelstein bathhouse. Website of the Franconian Open Air Museum.
  5. ↑ a b press report Nordbayern.de from February 14, 2012
  6. ↑ Location on historical map at Bayernatlas Klassik
  7. ↑ a b press report Nordbayern.de from October 15, 2011; the formerly attached barn can still be seen on the press photo
  8. ↑ a b Museum newspaper, bathing operation until 1818
  9. ↑ Kunsthalle Bremen
  10. ↑ Report by the Heimatverein on the dismantling of the bathhouse ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heimatverein-wendelstein.de
  11. ↑ Press report Nordbayern.de with photo series for the block recovery
  12. ↑ a b press report Nordbayern.de from November 17, 2012
  13. ↑ Walther Hermann Ryff: Spiegel and Regiment der Gesundtheyt . Frankfurt 1555, p. Sheet 158 .
  14. ↑ Badhausplatz ( Memento from October 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ a b press report Nordbayern.de from April 2013
  16. ↑ Bavarian State Foundation supports reconstruction: grant for historic bath house. Middle Franconia district , January 12, 2017, accessed June 3, 2017 .
  17. ↑ News reports BR Dez.16 Reconstruction and Foundation
  18. ^ Press report Nordbayern.de from May 22, 2017