French peasant

Franzosenbauerhof 2019

Franzosenbauer farmhouse in Kempten (Allgäu)

Fresco depicting the French camp in 1800.

Franzosenbauer is a listed , district-defining farmhouse in the city of Kempten (Allgäu) . The house is located south of the sports field of the Allgäu-Gymnasium and has the address Hermann-von-Barth-Straße 35 .

In 1511 a good in Haslach was mentioned for the first time. At that time it was located far from the city gates in the area of ​​the prince monastery of Kempten, but it belongs to the imperial townspeople. Dorothee Müller, a citizen of the city, bequeathed the house to her son Hans, who sold it to Josef Todel in March 1511, is in the files of the Kempten City Archives.

The current house was built in the 17th century in the time of Prince Abbot Rupert von Bodman and expanded in the time of Prince Abbot Anselm von Reichlin-Meldegg. From 1662 to 1828 the estate with an area of ​​60 hectares was owned by the Zum Weißen Rößle brewery, which was renamed Zur Stadt Hamburg in 1745 with the consent of the city authorities. It then belonged to the Rommel von Bauerntanzkeller family for five years. The property was originally in the area of ​​the main team, Hofammannschaft, and came first to the city of Kempten, but then in 1818 to the newly formed community of Sankt Lorenz .

French camp

When Kempten was occupied by French troops in 1800, the imperial city of Kempten had 3,650 inhabitants. In the monastery town of Kempten there are 330 buildings in which usually four to five families live under one roof. 4,000 to 5,000 French from the Catholic province of Vendee on the Atlantic are camped for 62 days in Haslach, south of Kempten. They fight against the Austrian army. They have set up a camp with 1,000 soldiers in Schelldorf and are retreating towards Nesselwang in mid-May. On July 12, most of the French armed forces break down their huts and move away. They leave the freedom tree adorned with blue, white and red ribbons, which they erected in the lower camp near Haslach, not far from the wood pane. The citizens of Kempter, who go to Haslach to look at this freedom tree, unfortunately have to discover that the French have stripped the bark of all the trees in the disc wood to cover their huts. The forest must therefore be felled. In the camps near Neudorf and Schelldorf, too, all the trees in the area have been peeled. But it was not until April 16, 1801 that the French camp at the French House was closed. The imperial city of Kempten ended the 2nd coalition war, according to district home administrator Dr. Dr. Alfred Weitnauer cost 1,270,140 guilders. After the whole of the Allgäu is now free of French, the Kempten prince-abbot Kastolus returns on April 22nd to his residence, which he left on May 9th, 1800. He had stayed in Salzburg, Klagenfurt and in Tyrol.

In mid-July 1900 there is a memorial service at the "Franzosenhaus" near Kempten. This Sunday there is a real tropical heat, writes the reporter for the daily newspaper. In front of the Fäßle in Blumenstrasse, the members of five military and fire brigade associations line up and march with their flags over Steufzgen to the Franzosenhaus. The Bavarian and German flags fly on the roof; In front of the lectern are the bust of Prince Regent Luitpold, the unforgettable King Ludwig II, a portrait of the German Emperor; Oak leaves and fir green decorate the eastern gable end of the house. The years 1800 - 1900, planted from pansies, are also pretty. Mr. Zwick, Chairman of the St. Lorenz Veterans' Association, welcomes a large crowd of guests. And cheers to the House of Wittelsbach and the illustrious father Se. Kgl. Your Highness the Prince Regent Luitpold. The band starts playing the national anthem (which one?) Before teacher Max Glock von Leinschwenden gives the speech. Finally, the teacher emphasizes that Germany has enjoyed the blessings and benefits of peace for 30 years, that prosperity has developed and that culture has made tremendous progress. The celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the French camp are much more modest. A maypole decorated with colorful ribbons is set up in the garden. The residents and neighbors celebrate in bright sunshine and a barrel of Zwickelbier and listen to an entertaining report on the coalition wars and the French camp. Pithy speeches on the Chancellor and the Federal Republic are nil. On the threshold of the 21st century, the people of Kempten see themselves as part of a united Europe, which will grow together even more strongly with the upcoming introduction of the euro.

French farm

In March 1833 Johann Georg Zwick from Seifriedsberg bought the property. He had 25 children from two marriages. In 1896 Maria Zwick and her husband Max Meiler from Leutenhof took over the parental farm, which was expanded by a large part of the business in 1911/12. On October 1, 1934, the property and numerous other districts were separated from the municipality of Sankt Lorenz and incorporated into the city of Kempten. The Meiler family managed the farm until 1962, when the city of Kempten took over the property for more than five decades. She leased the farm to the Josef Wolf family and began building the Franzosenbauer district in 1966. The address Haslach 32 and Franzosenbauerweg 25 became Hermann-von-Barth-Straße 35. Agriculture continued until 1973.

The Franzosenbauer is one of the few listed agricultural properties in the city and was built during the tenure of Mayor Dr. Josef Höß renovated in 1987/88. The city had long thought about using the house. "As a home for rifle clubs or as a café, it was out of the question, as concerns of monument protection and immission protection were in conflict," said Höß at the time. That is why it was decided to end the return and build apartments. Original components of the house - right up to the ceiling beams and half-timbered walls - have been preserved and added.

A text and a painting on the front are reminiscent of the French camp. It was painted based on a template by the drawing teacher Ludwig Weiß and in 1958 by the painter Robert Schraudolph from Sonthofen. Both were refreshed in 2018 by master painter Hans-Peter Hartmann from Kempten-Leubas.

The shingled turret on the roof comes from the time of the French Wars. It was used to observe the Austrian camp on the other side of the Iller. It was renovated in 2018 and makes it easier for chimney sweepers to get onto the roof. A Marterl on Franzosenbauerweg with a historical cross will remind of the eventful history of the house from May 2020.

District French farmers

The internal statistical subdivision of the city of Kempten names two statistical districts of the district 2 Haubenschloß, Ellharten, Franzosenbauer after this striking building, namely Franzosenbauer West (district 24) and Franzosenbauer Ost (district 25). As of December 31, 2012, these two districts had a combined population of 3,205 (East 1986, West 1219).

This area is bounded in the west and south by the Heussring and in the east by Immenstädter Straße. The northern border runs along Steufzger Strasse, Keplerstrasse and Haubenschloßstrasse. The border between the two districts of Franzosenbauer-West and -Est runs from south to north along Hoefelmayrweg, Vindelicierweg and Estionenweg (the latter on the west side of the Allgäu-Gymnasium). The hooded lock also belongs to the Franzosenbauer-Ost district and not, as the name suggests, to the hooded lock district. The area originally belonged to the municipality of Sankt Lorenz , but was - along with numerous other districts - incorporated into Kempten on October 1, 1934 and also belongs to the Kempten district . Before the municipalities were formed in 1818, the area belonged to Hauptmannschaft Hofammannschaft , one of the four main teams that later formed the municipality of Sankt Lorenz. The main teams were in the Middle Ages, the lowest administrative division, below the Pflegämter , here Pflegamt this side of the Iller, based in Kempten , one of the last eight Pflegämter the prince pin Kempten .

The bus stops of the Kemptener Verkehrsbetriebe at this house also bear the name Franzosenbauer .

A blackboard inscription with the following content is attached to the facade:

View of the
upper French camp, which here,
in 1800, the 14 ^th May u Built: bezo⸗
gen on 12 ^th July but abandon again
was.

The team consisted of unregulated troops,
mostly from the province of Vendée

Web links

Commons : Franzosenbauer  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Blickle: Historical Atlas of Bavaria: Kempten. Munich 1968 , p. 362
2. ^ Alexander Duke of Württemberg: Monuments in Bavaria . City of Kempten: ensembles - architectural monuments - archaeological site monuments. tape VII.85 , ISBN 3-7954-1003-7 , pp. 36 .
3. ↑ BayernViewer Memorial: Entry D-7-63-000-90 , page 16. (PDF; 204 kB)
4. ^ Michael Petzet : City and district of Kempten. (= Bavarian art monuments. Vol. 5), 1st edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1959, DNB 453751636 , p. 67f.
5. ↑ Urban area according to the city district map, as of 2012, Department for Economics, Culture and Administration, Office for Economics and Urban Development
6. ↑ Information from the residents' register of the city of Kempten (Allgäu) from March 7, 2013, excluding second homes
7. ^ Peter Blickle: Historical Atlas of Bavaria: Kempten. Munich 1968 , p. 362

Coordinates: 47 ° 42 ′ 40.2 ″  N , 10 ° 18 ′ 27.9 ″  E