Highest city fire
Two city fires in the history of the city of Höchst am Main are referred to as the Höchst city fire .
The great city fire of 1586
The first great city fire occurred on December 10, 1586 . The diary of the Antoniterkloster Höchst notes:
- 1586 Högst branded in Vigilia Damasi; the Main was frozen for 5 weeks. (Dia.Ant.63r)
Of an estimated 100 households at the time, 56 houses and 23 barns were burned. The western city gate to Mainz, known as the “Specht” or “Untertor”, and the town hall were also destroyed. Only houses with a stone-walled ground floor such as the Dalberg House , the Kronberg House and the House "Zum Anker" as well as houses near the extinguishing water pond Wed ( Weth ) have survived .
The fire meant considerable economic damage for the small town, and so the then Supreme Administrator Hartmuth von Kronberg asked the Mainz Cathedral Chapter for financial support. In January 1587 the rulers granted a long-term interest-free loan to the Höchst Citizens for the reconstruction of their houses on the grounds that "while the place was not infrequently located, it would also appear shameful to leave such a desolate and undeveloped place."
The Swiss master builder Stupanus, who lives in Höchst, began to rebuild and at the same time expand the lower gate in 1587. The town hall was also rebuilt by Stupanus between 1594 and 1595. Most of the houses were rebuilt as early as 1590, albeit more modestly than before the fire for economic reasons. The Wed, the extinguishing water pond that had proven too small for fire fighting, was enlarged in 1599.
The second city fire of 1778
On September 24, 1778 , at 2 o'clock in the morning, the second great city fire occurred. In the area between Kronengasse, Alt-Höchst, Albanusstraße and the northern city wall, 15 houses and 7 barns and another 5 houses with stables and barns were burned. The property damage amounted to 26,712 guilders in the currency of the time.
As part of the urban development plans of the recently deceased Elector Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim for Höchst, a systematic redesign and redevelopment of the destroyed urban area took place in the following two years. The medieval alley structure was abandoned in favor of a straight line and a separation of the houses from the barns and stables.
However, the renovation and reconstruction were much more modest than the construction projects in the Neustadt, as the citizens affected by the fire damage received only around one sixth of the damage amount as compensation from donations and grants from the archdiocese. After deducting the costs, the donation totaled 3,077 guilders, and the Archbishop added another 1,000 Reichstaler grant and cheaper construction timber. However, all but two citizens refused the offer to settle in the newly emerging Neustadt for financial reasons - a building project there was unaffordable for them.
The city fire of 1778 also marks another turning point in the Höchst story. Since the archbishop allowed the city wall to be used as an outer wall for the new stables and barns in 1779, this meant the end of the city wall as a defensive system for the city.
literature
- Wilhelm Frischholz: Alt-Höchst. A home book in words and pictures. Frankfurt am Main 1926: Hauser.
- Wolfgang Metternich: The urban development of Höchst am Main. Frankfurt-Höchst 1990: City of Frankfurt and Association for History and Archeology.
- Rudolf Schäfer: Höchst am Main. Frankfurt am Main 1981: Frankfurter Sparkasse from 1822.
- Rudolf Schäfer: Chronicle of Höchst am Main. Frankfurt am Main 1986: Waldemar Kramer.