Old Guard (Regensburg)
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The Alte Wache is a former, only partially preserved building on the east side of the Neupfarrplatz in the old town of Regensburg . The former municipal building was largely demolished in 1973 when a new department store was being built. The entrance front was retained and the associated portico was incorporated into the western front of the newly built department store.
history
The Alte Wache, also known as the Hauptwache, was the military center of the imperial city of Regensburg. The construction of the guard is documented for the year 1611 with the words "The guard house on the Neuer Pfarr-Platz is also currently being built on a desolate farmstead". With the location the old so-called "Judenstadel" is meant at the confluence of Drei Helmen-Gasse on Neupfarrplatz. The barn stood on an old Gothic cellar vault and continued to be used by the city after the Jewish quarter was demolished in 1519.
The first guard building was a simple wooden building at ground level. In 1753, decades after its construction, stone slabs were laid in front of the wooden building so that the guards could walk up and down there. A first view of the guard building dates back to 1807 and shows the roof of the wooden structure drawn down low with four trees in front of it and five low stone posts set in the ground, which were connected by chains. After the wooden building had already become brittle in 1809, it was to be replaced by a stone structure in 1809. First, however, in 1810 the Principality of Regensburg of Karl Theodor von Dalberg fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria and the royal Bavarian court commissioner Joseph Maria von Weichs commissioned the former court architect Emanuel Herigoyen to draw up a plan for a main guard. Both plans drawn up by Herigoyen were not carried out due to lack of funds.
In 1816 the old wooden building threatened to collapse. The new district building inspector Michael Dobmeyer prepared a new plan, which was examined, slightly changed and approved by Herigoyen, who had meanwhile been ordered to Munich. An engraving from 1820 shows the new guard as a stone building with a hipped roof gable and a 5 m high Tuscan column portico with eight columns made of green sandstone. In front of the portico facing the Neupfarrplatz there were 15 low stone posts connected with iron chains and 2 shelters (guard houses) for the guards. The stone building was also erected on the early Gothic vaulted cellar.
In 1875 the royal telegraph office was housed in the Alte Wache building. For this purpose, the hipped roof was removed and an upper floor was added with a balustrade . After the Second World War, the city library was housed in the building for a few years . From 1968, with the demolition of twelve old town houses, a structural redesign began on the eastern and southern area of the Neupfarrplatz. In the course of these measures, the Hauptwache building was also demolished in 1973 for the construction of a new department store. Of the Alte Wache, only the west facade with the column portico and attached balustrade remained and was enclosed by the new department store. With these redesigns and with the other new buildings, the southeastern Neupfarrplatz was given a new face with the loss of old buildings.
City soldiers
The defensive burden of the city of Regensburg, which was divided into eight districts - the so-called Wachten - rested on the citizen soldiers. Each of the eight guards had to provide a company, commanded by the respective guard, who were assisted by helpers: a lieutenant captain , a lieutenant , an ensign and a watch clerk. Only the officers were in uniform. The supreme command lay with the city council. In addition to the soldiers provided by guards, there was a corps of citizens who knew about metalworking. They kept the city's guns in order and formed the artillery unit. Some rich citizens formed a mounted unit, which initially consisted of 40 people and grew to 130 people by 1801. The members of this equestrian company wore an elaborate uniform and from 1723 also had a standard. The equestrian company only rarely appeared and also had representative obligations, e.g. B. when the emperor or king moves in or as an escort for the principal commissioner .
After 1663, the city council decided to relieve the citizens of conscription and to employ professional soldiers, who also had to provide the personnel for the city guard and do the guard duty at the gates. The measure resulted in considerable financial burdens for the city, although the soldiers were poorly paid. At the end of the 18th century the garrison consisted of 200 people and also formed the so-called imperial contingent , which the city had to make available to the emperor in the event of war. B. 1683 during the siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1683, when only 80 soldiers returned.
The city soldiers had to provide for their own board and lodging. There was no barracking and the soldiers were only given a new uniform every ten years. The wages were so bad that the soldiers had to rely on extra income. This income came from the city gate lock money, of which the soldiers were entitled to a share. When they were refused this share in 1796 by the then commandant, Captain Johann Wilhelm Bösner, a mutiny broke out among the soldiers, followed by tumults and looting in the city. Ordinary citizens occupied the main guard and the city gates and the city council called Bavarian soldiers from Stadtamhof and imperial soldiers from Ingolstadt to help. Harsh physical punishments were inflicted on the 24 leaders of the mutinous soldiers. They were expelled from the city and handed over to the imperial military. There are no reports of any punishment for Captain Bösner's improper conduct.
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 149-152 .
- ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service GmbH, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 151 f., 941 f .
Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 12 ° 5 ′ 49.6 ″ E