Old Castle (Giessen)

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Giessen old castle
Giessen Old Castle 20070519.jpg
Alternative name (s): Landgravial Castle of Giessen
Creation time : around 1300
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Standing position : Count
Place: to water
Geographical location 50 ° 35 '13.2 "  N , 8 ° 40' 36.8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 35 '13.2 "  N , 8 ° 40' 36.8"  E
Old Castle (Hesse)
Old castle

The old castle , also called Landgräfliche Burg , is located in the center of the university town of Giessen in Hesse . The building, erected in the 14th century, borders the Botanical Garden on its northeast and southeast side, the Kanzleiberg on the southwest side and the fire place on the northwest side.

history

The castle was built around 1350 as an extension of the city fortifications and a second moated castle . The first documentary mention is in 1364 as the second seat of Landgrave Heinrich II of Hesse .

Up until the 19th century, the castle served as a widow's residence , apartment, landgrave's secondary residence and court . From 1604 it housed a Princely Chancellery (which is why the adjacent street is still called Kanzleiberg today ).

buildings

Heidenturm of the old castle
Busts of Georg Büchner , Ludwig Börne , Carl Vogt and Wilhelm Liebknecht in front of the palace

A originally a narrow courtyard Palas in the northwest, a living room and a barn in the southwest, a connecting building to the fire place in the Northeast and a tower with a defensive wall and moat located to the southeast. In 1891 some buildings had to be demolished because they were in disrepair. In 1893 the city took over the castle in order to be able to use it for the collections of the Upper Hessian History Association and the Wilhelm Gail Foundation.

After the reconstruction in 1903 in the neo-renaissance style (plans: Ludwig Hofmann, Herborn) the castle became the headquarters of the Upper Hessian Museum . The Heidenturm with its Welschen hood and the main gate in the southeast remained unchanged. The masonry of the remaining buildings was stripped of plaster , the roof was given a completely new look, and the interior was also completely redesigned for use as a museum. During the air raids on Gießen in 1944, the castle burned down completely.

Todays use

After plans by the then municipal authorities to demolish the ruins were prevented, reconstruction took place in the late 1970s. Today the castle houses the “Gail's collections” (picture gallery and handicrafts) of the Upper Hessian Museum as well as a restaurant. The castle is directly adjacent to the oldest botanical garden in Germany, which is still in its original location today.

literature

  • Friedhelm Gerecke: "Historicism, Art Nouveau, Heimatstil in Hessen, Rhineland and Westerwald" Petersberg 2010 ISBN 978-3-86568-458-5
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 .
  • Karlheinz Lang: University town of Giessen. Series: Monument topography of the Federal Republic of Germany. Cultural monuments in Hessen. (Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen ). Vieweg, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-528-06246-0 .
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , pp. 139f.
  • Michael H. Sprenger: The Prince in the Museum - The Old Castle in Gießen and its "restoration" and furnishing under Ernst Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt pp. 227-259, from Part 4: Writings on residential culture: (Ed.) Stephanie Hahn, Michael H. Sprenger: Herrschaft-Architektur-Raum , Lukas Verlag, Berlin / Göttingen 2008. ISBN 978-3-86732-024-5 (reading sample)
  • Andreas Ay: New living in old walls. Joseph Maria Olbrich's interior decoration of the private rooms for Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and near the Rhine in the Old Castle of Gießen. (Exhibition catalog) edition noir, Lich 2012, ISBN 978-3-9812398-6-7 .

Web links

Commons : Altes Schloss  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files