House Metternich (Koblenz)
The Metternich house , also called Metternicher Hof , is a former town courtyard in the old town of Koblenz . The building, built in 1674, was the birthplace of the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich .
history
The courtyard, built around 1230, initially belonged to the von Bachem family and developed from a medieval residential tower in the western section of the former late Roman fort. The area of the courtyard extended from the Altenhof to the moat of the old castle along the medieval city wall . As this wall was located a little west of the former Roman city wall, the buildings of the courtyard were built on the remains of three Roman towers. The city of Koblenz acquired complete ownership of the Bachemer Hof by 1388. In the 15th century the city of Koblenz transferred the court to the Lords of Eltz as a fief . In the middle of the 16th century the farm was in such poor condition that the owners were asked by the city to repair the farm. Since they did not comply, they lost the fief.
In 1644 the property came as a fief to the two barons Wilhelm and Lothar von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein . Since the farm was in poor condition, the new owners were obliged to renovate the farm for 600 thalers . The building that still exists today was built in 1674 when the courtyard was rebuilt. In the period that followed, several well-known personalities lived in the court, such as Count Philipp Emmerich Freiherr von Metternich († 1698), the Mainz Canon Franz Ferdinand von Metternich (1623–1719), Johann Hugo von Metternich-Winneburg and Franz Georg Karl von Metternich (1746 –1818), who held the highest offices in the Trier electoral state and was a diplomat and minister in the Austrian service. The latter was the father of the most famous resident, the Austrian State Chancellor Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich , who was born at the Metternicher Hof in 1773 and who played a leading role at the Congress of Vienna .
With the conquest of the city of Koblenz by French revolutionary troops in 1794, the entire property of the Metternich family became state property. The courtyard was initially used to billet soldiers and later as a residential building. Around 1800 parts of the courtyard, especially the outbuildings, were demolished. After 1804, France in Rhin-et-Moselle the Civil Code introduced, was on November 1, 1806 the prefect Adrien de Lezay-Marnésia set up a law school (University) in Metternicher yard. Franz von Lassaulx , a brother-in-law of Joseph Görres , was one of the most famous professors at the law school. He translated u. a. the civil code in the German language. After the left bank of the Rhine was recaptured in 1814 and incorporated into the Prussian Rhine Province , the lawyers who studied at the Koblenz School of Law provided decisive impulses for maintaining the Civil Code instead of the land law that was valid in the rest of Prussia . In the Rhineland, the Civil Code continued to apply until the introduction of the Civil Code in 1900. The end of law school came on September 24, 1816 in the form of a cabinet order from King Friedrich Wilhelm III. The reason for this was the re-establishment of the University of Bonn .
In Prussian times, the Metternichter Hof initially served as an official residence for General Georg Wilhelm von Hofmann, and in 1817 it became a commercial and appeal court. In 1818 the Prussian king gave the house where he was born to Prince Metternich, who, however, sold it back to Prussia in 1819 for 38,000 guilders , probably to maintain Johannisberg Castle . Prince Metternich visited his hometown and his parents' house well into old age.
The citizens of Koblenz on Münzplatz feared that if a Prussian city commandant moved into the Metternicher Hof again, they would have to give up their market on the square. Without further ado they formed a stock company and bought the Prussian court for 18,000 thalers. Then in 1823 the area was parceled out and sold individually. The city of Koblenz bought the forecourt and was able to expand the vegetable market.
In the 19th century the Metternicher Hof underwent major changes, around a third of the main building was separated and completely rebuilt. At the beginning of the 20th century, the “Winninger Weinstube”, a popular restaurant among the people of Koblenz, moved into the ground floor of the remaining part of the building. During the air raids on Koblenz in World War II, the Metternicher Hof was badly damaged and finally burned down completely on February 25, 1945, with the last remains of the stucco ceilings and the vaults above the ground floor perishing. In contrast, medieval components were visible in a gable wall. After the war it was makeshift rebuilt by its owner Ernst Mölich and the "Winninger Weinstube" was rebuilt. The city of Koblenz bought the building in 1969 and then made it available to artists as a gallery. It was only in the years 1975 to 1976 that the house could be completely rebuilt and restored. Today the building houses a museum for contemporary art and a youth meeting place.
construction
Although the Metternicher Hof has been changed many times over the years, the building is one of the last evidence of the aristocratic courts that have been widespread in Koblenz's old town since the Middle Ages. Only the Münzplatz 7/8 building has survived, a simple three-story building with a plastered facade. The current six-axis structure was shortened by a third in the 19th century. The side of the building facing the Münzplatz is characterized by paired windows with basalt walls on the two upper floors. The artistically designed standing stone portal was subsequently moved to the left and is provided with cartouches with a five-pointed count's crown, framed by shell work and leaf bands. The gable roof is equipped with roof houses. The cellar, the southern section of which is the oldest, has a groin vault on central pillars, which was extended by a baroque barrel vault, probably from the construction phase around 1674. The rest of the equipment in the building is modern and, after the temporary reconstruction, goes back to the general renovation in 1975/1976 according to plans by the architect Friedhelm Worm .
The neighboring building (Münzplatz 9), which was still preserved before the Second World War, and formerly also part of the courtyard, was completely destroyed in 1945 and not rebuilt.
Museum and youth meeting place
In the museum, which is used by the AKM - Arbeitsgemeinschaft bildender Künstler am Mittelrhein eV, there are changing exhibitions on various topics. The following exhibitions were particularly outstanding:
- Initiative "Peace needs experts - alternatives to violence"
- Exhibition of the MOMENTS and ELEMENTS groups
The youth meeting place in the Metternich house is an institution of the city of Koblenz. It is designed for boys and girls aged 12 and over. Opening times and current programs can be found on the website of the youth meeting center.
Monument protection
The Metternich house is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is located in the old town monument zone .
The Metternich house has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 .
literature
- Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz . Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt
- Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era . Theiss, Stuttgart 1992. ISBN 3-8062-0876-X
- Vol. 2: From the French city to the present . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-8062-1036-5
- Fritz Michel : The art monuments of the city of Koblenz. The profane monuments and the suburbs , Munich Berlin 1954, pp. 176–180 (The art monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate first volume).
- Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate Volume 3.2. City of Koblenz. City center , edited by Herbert Dellwing and Reinhard Kallenbach, Speyer 2004, p. 164. ISBN 3-88462-198-X
- City of Koblenz: Koblenz historic old town: Dreikönigenhaus, Haus Metternich. Documentation on the reconstruction after the partial destruction in the war in 1944, Koblenz 1977
Web links
- AKM - Association of Visual Artists on the Middle Rhine eV
- Website of the youth meeting place
- House Metternich in: regionalgeschichte.net
Individual evidence
- ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz. Mainz 2020, p. 13 (PDF; 6.5 MB).
Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '41.7 " N , 7 ° 35' 37.2" E