Old Town Hall (Dirmstein)

Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall
Data
place	Dirmstein
Architectural style	Late baroque
Construction year	1714-1718
Coordinates	49 ° 33 '48.3 "  N , 8 ° 14' 51.4"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 33 '48.3 "  N , 8 ° 14' 51.4"  E

The old town hall in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Dirmstein is a listed building, which in earlier times was mostly used solely as a town hall , sometimes also as a school building. Since 1997 it has served as the "House of Clubs" .

Geographical location

The old town hall is located in the center of the village, the upper village , to the north opposite the Laurentiuskirche in the extreme western area of ​​the street Mitteltor . The rear of the building forms the south-eastern end of the Schlossplatz . In addition to the church, there are other historical properties nearby, such as the St. Michael pharmacy , the Marktstrasse 1 building or the Spitalhof .

building

On the left the Laurentiuskirche, on the right the north-eastern gable wall of the old town hall

The building consists of two full floors with a hipped roof , the attic is not used. The cuboid building extends in a south-west-north-east direction with the main facade facing south-east, while the rear faces the Schlossplatz. The main entrance is also located there today, accessible via a multi-step sandstone staircase, under a small canopy; previously there was a wide and a narrow entrance to the church. The rear, behind which the staircase is located, has only two high rectangular windows, the northeast and southwest gable walls three each. In contrast, the main facade is structured by numerous windows - nine on the upper floor alone. In this way, the house receives a lot of light, although the high church is in front on the other side of the street.

Of the two old entrances in the south, the broader one on the right is walled up from below and transformed into a window above; the narrow left one is still there, but always locked. A colored fresco with the municipal coat of arms and the inscription "Old Town Hall" indicate its function above its arch. On the right, in the north-eastern gable wall of the first floor, is the door of the dungeon that was added later ; it is separated from the rest of the building by two uninterrupted inner walls and is only accessible from the outside, from Salzgasse, which leads into Mitteltor street.

The style elements of the building, e.g. B. circumferential floor belt, arched windows below, rectangular windows above, document the Baroque as the time of origin. The renovation by the local associations was completed in 1997 with the exterior painting in the former original colors - white plaster, red sandstone on the wall edges and windows, green wooden folding shutters above.

Building history

Door to the former dungeon

The old town hall was built between 1714 and 1718 and was commissioned in 1721 at the latest. At times it was used as a school building for both denominations. But always - until 1990 the local administration moved to the neighboring Sturmfedersche Castle - it served as the town hall.

Since 1997 the building has had a new function as the “House of Clubs”. Above all, it was possible to set up a youth room , which was designed in-house under the leadership of the local rural youth in the style of an Internet café and was used in this form for several years. Further rooms are available to the two local carnival associations, the men's choir and the cultural association.

In the dungeon, which was only accessible from the outside, prisoners were arrested in the first half of the 20th century. Later it was used by the local administration as a storage room until it was converted into a disabled-accessible public toilet in accordance with the decision of the local council on May 27, 2009.

literature

• Georg Peter Karn, Ulrike Weber (arrangement): Bad Dürkheim district. City of Grünstadt, Union communities Freinsheim, Grünstadt-Land and Hettenleidelheim (=  cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 13.2 ). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2006, ISBN 3-88462-215-3 .

Web links

Commons : Altes Rathaus  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

1. ↑ Georg Peter Karn, Ulrike Weber: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany, cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate , Worms 2006 (see  literature ).
2. ↑ The names Oberdorf and Niederdorf for the two settlement centers of the municipality are derived from the location above and below at the Eckbach , which flows through Dirmstein from west to east.
3. ^ Die Rheinpfalz , local edition Frankenthaler Zeitung, June 5, 2009.