Old Town Hall (Erkelenz)
The old town hall on the Erkelenzer Markt is an example of the late brick Gothic of the 16th century. The building, restored today, was rebuilt by 1956 after severe war damage (1940/1945). In addition to the Lambertusturm, it is the city's most striking landmark.
Building history
Middle Ages and Modern Times
Already at the time of the elevation to the city of 1326, a '' domus fori '' (market house), also called '' Gewanthuys '' ( Gewandhaus ), is documented in Erkelenz . It was a place of trade, especially with linen from the Erkelenz flax cultivation , the assemblies and the administration. The observance of weights and measures, the taking of taxes and the exercise of urban privileges such as the holding of market days were monitored here.
In the great city fire on June 21, 1540, which destroyed the whole city except for a few houses, the house was destroyed, a city servant named Gobell and with him all city documents were burned to ashes. A year later the city commissioned the stonemason Jan van Vyrß ( Viersen ) to build the new town hall . The provost of the Marienstift in Aachen has "frozen the Burgers dat Gewanthuys and Stadthuys" (~ given). However, the execution dragged on until 1546. This year of completion is indicated on a stone set into the masonry next to the entrance.
Characteristic features of the late Gothic brick building resting on angular pillars are the open arcades on the ground floor, the council hall above and storage rooms under the roof, which indicate the various functions of the building. Originally, all pointed arches formed between the pillars three in width and five in length were open on the ground floor, so that it served as an open market hall . Only inside was there a staircase to the upper floor, which was equipped with Gothic cross-lattice windows in flat arched panels. A representative crenellated wreath with four corner turrets adorned the foot of the high slate hipped roof .
In 1756, the building underwent considerable renovations to make room for the city administration, as evidenced by a stone inscription above the entrance. The battlements and corner towers, the protrusions of which can still be seen in the masonry, were broken off and the roof was pulled up to the cornice. The cross-mullion windows on the upper floor were replaced by simple bluestone walls and all arcades on the ground floor were bricked up. A police station and a detention cell were set up in the rooms obtained in this way, with a small barred window facing the street to the right of the entrance. A rococo portal was added and the masonry was covered with white whitewash in the style of the time.
20th and 21st centuries
The old town hall was the seat of the town administration until 1907, when the administration first moved into the former Franciscan monastery building and finally in 1918 a new town hall ("mayor's office") on Johannismarkt.
At that time, efforts were made to preserve the now dilapidated building. Plans that ranged from restoration to precise reconstruction, supplemented by an extension, elsewhere on the market. But lack of money, World War I and inflation prevented that.
After the First World War, the headquarters of the Belgian occupation troops temporarily moved to the Old Town Hall. After their departure in 1926, the 'Geschichts- und Altertumsverein', founded in 1920, took on the repairs and in 1930 set up the local history museum for the district and town of Erkelenz on the upper floor . In that year the building was given a new coat of paint and a year later the roof was re-covered and the three arcades on the south side reopened during renovation work. Until 1939, the rest of the ground floor housed a shelter for the homeless as well as a police station and detention cell.
During the Second World War , almost 400 years to the day after the great city fire, on the night of June 19-20, 1940, British incendiary bombs hit the building, burning down the roof structure and destroying the museum's collection, which was stored in the attic has been. The building was now poorly given a flat roof, but during the great air raid on the city on February 23, 1945 bombs hit the town hall again and destroyed the south-east corner with its arcade.
After the war, the city council first discussed the complete demolition of the old town hall in 1946, but when around 30 young citizens of the city cleared it in voluntary work in 1948, it decided to rebuild it, during which more arcades were opened and which took place in 1949 until 1951 and in the following years with the interior work. It was officially inaugurated on January 18, 1956. Despite the renovations, the proportions of the building, whose whitewashed masonry are in stark contrast to the black roof, have remained harmonious. It is often referred to as a gem of brick Gothic on the Lower Rhine .
Today the old town hall with its large hall on the upper floor serves as a meeting room for the city council and for representative purposes.
In 2013 the city of Erkelenz renovated the old town hall. The roof was re-covered with slate and some walled-up arcades were reopened. Three of the five arcade axes are now exposed on the long side. The width of the middle arcade between the open and closed arcades is now completely glazed, so that today the visitor can take a look from outside into the ground floor of the building.
The old town hall has been the twelfth and last station on the " Route against Oblivion " since 2008 , which in Erkelenz refers to the National Socialist tyranny. A plaque on the building reminds of resistance fighters from the Erkelenzer Land.
Works of art
A Roman consecration stone found in Erkelenz in the 18th century is on display in the entrance area . It contains a dedication to Jupiter by Centurio Gaius Julius Proculus of Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix . In 1801 the inscription was first described in a book by the art collector Adolf von Hüpsch .
In the town hall, the “parlor” of the city, there are three tapestries with the motifs of weddings, cardsharps and pig slaughter as well as two smaller, narrower ones with bird scenes. The large wall hangings come from the Jan Seghers factory in Brussels and were made around 1630 from wool and flax yarn.
The glass painting of the eleven windows in the conference room was designed by Hermann Gottfried in 1961 as a free composition, using antique glass , lead and black solder . Executed in grisaille tones with simple line ornaments, interspersed here and there with blue, green and brown tones. The windows were made in the Linnich glass painting Oidtmann .
In the southeast corner of the building there is a statue of the Madonna in a niche at a height of about 3.50 m . It is a replacement for an earlier statue and was erected in 1958, created by the Erkelenz sculptor Peter Haak. The figure stands on a pedestal and is shielded by a canopy . The Madonna carries the baby Jesus in her left arm and holds a lily in her right hand . The child has the right hand in a blessing position - all fingers of the right hand are upright - and the globe in the left hand . Madonna and Child are both crowned . The words AVE MARIA KAISERIN are engraved on the base . The figure recalls the ties between the city and the Marienstift in Aachen , which ruled the land for centuries. The lily can be found in their seal and coat of arms.
See also
The architecture of the building is similar to the Old Town Hall in Amsterdam ( Het Oude Stadthuis ), which burned down in 1652 . Its appearance is recorded in a painting by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam from 1657.
literature
- Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz , Erkelenz 1926, pages 5 ff., 86
- Friedel Krings: The old town hall in Erkelenz in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande 1954, pages 40 ff.
- Friedel Krings: The counterpart was in the Erkelenzer Volkszeitung in Amsterdam on April 11, 1959
- Josef Lennartz, When Erkelenz fell into rubble , Stadt Erkelenz 1975, pages 79, 145
- Institute for historical regional studies of the Rhineland at the University of Bonn, Rheinischer Städteatlas , III No. 15, Cologne 1976, page 3
- Josef Lennartz, The Erkelenz cityscape and Anton Raky , writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, page 155 ff.
- Georg Kehren, Willi Wortmann, The Old Town Hall in Erkelenz - The 450-year history of an architectural monument in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande Volume 16, Erkelenz 1997
- Edwin Pinzek, The Old Town Hall , in: Important buildings and works of art in Erkelenz. No. 1 , City of Erkelenz (editor), 4th edition, Erkelenz 2010
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 47.3 " N , 6 ° 18 ′ 58.3" E