Old City Archives (Heilbronn)

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The archive building in 1910
Johann Christoph Keller (* 1732 in Winnenden; † 1801), design for the south facade

The old city archive building in Heilbronn am Kieselmarkt was built in 1765 and destroyed in the air raid on December 4, 1944 during World War II. According to Eberhard Gossenberger in his work on Heilbronn secular buildings of the 18th century, it counted as the “most beautiful secular building in Heilbronn”. The ruin is now used as a hall of honor .

history

The city's archivists had complained about the poor location of the files as early as 1750 ; on March 13, 1764, the need for a new archive building was finally discussed in the Heilbronn city council. So the Senators Roßkampff and Schübler received the order "to take a look", they should see the condition of the files. These were in a desperate condition. Therefore, the new building was decided shortly afterwards. The senior builder Senator von Roßkampff was entrusted with the construction management. This planned:

"A two-story stone building could be erected there and two vaults stretched one on top of the other, one could also bring enough light and air to the place, it would cost about 4,500 guilders from the mason and the carpenter."

- Georg Heinrich von Roßkampff (1720–1794)

In March 1765 he submitted a draft and estimate from the bricklayer with 3428 guilders 20 Kreutzer and from the carpenter with 962 guilders 54 Kreutzer for the archive. At first it was planned to convert the so-called comedians' hall. The “Commoediantensaal” was a theater set up in the town hall . Due to insufficient lighting, however, Roßkampff planned to build the building on the Sandhof at Kieselmarkt. At the end of April 1765, an accord was signed with master mason Johann Christoph Keller in the amount of 1244 guilders and 54 Kreutzer. The foundation stone was laid on May 25, 1765 in a ceremony. A plate made of tin with an inscription was placed in the foundation stone. This read:

“With the will of the highest and best creator, under Emperor Franz I and under Joseph II the King of the Germans, the Senate of Heilbronn had this building erected for safekeeping after the sweet peace had been re-established across the globe of the bourgeois treasure, not of gold or silver, which could easily become the prey of an enemy, but of the secret documents of the citizenship and of the events, so that the descendants can calmly take note of the earlier events and the earlier time be a teacher for the following by bringing back the past. This cornerstone was erected on the blessed day of May 25, 1765, after the world's redemption. Give and make it good God that only the collapse of the entire universe will destroy this building. "

- Inscription from May 25, 1765

After Roßkampff had handed over the management of the building department to Senator Schübler, he carried out the construction according to Roßkampff's designs. At the end of August 1765, master builder Schübler signed an “Accord for 151 stems to work on the trunk of 45 Kreutzer including the spähnen with the carpenter Bernhard Theodor Hofacker .” Other artists were also involved, such as the painter J. Baptist Feratini (Giovanni Battista Ferrandini) , who had created three frescoes and the ceiling paintings of the former church in Güglingen in 1748 in Martinskirche in Sontheim . Then the famous Esslingen painter JE Ihle and the art locksmith Späth .

Architecture and furnishings

Exterior architecture

With an almost square floor plan, the building originally formed the north-east corner of the town hall complex, which was expanded in the late 16th century to form a four-wing complex surrounding an inner courtyard. The three-storey building was built from light yellow sandstone typical of the region. Until the city was destroyed, the main effect lay on the east facade, which was oriented towards the Kieselmarkt . The south facade - uncovered today - shows three axes and has the same design as the east facade. The gable roof covered with beaver tail was hipped towards the eastern front and without any construction. The east facade, which still exists today, is divided into five axes and shows an elaborate structure. Slender corner pilasters with corinthian capitals structure them. The pilasters stand on high, finely detailed pedestals and support the richly profiled entablature . Narrow, little protruding pilaster strips support the architrave . The central axis portal formed the center of the facade . The portal included a wrought-iron entrance door, which has now been lost, and which was an elaborate work by the art locksmith Späth . Even today, all windows still have a flat, profiled frame and arched lintel . Under the window sill, these show a parapet framed with delicate profiles . The windows on the ground floor were fitted with lavishly decorated, beautifully bulged bars; also a work by the art locksmith Späth . Show the other window, a broken arch Hood Mold and between fall and Hood Mold with Rocaille decorated cartridges . Cartridges have also been installed over the lintels on the second floor. Cartouches were hung in front of the architrave with iron clips. Noteworthy is the coat of arms adorned with rocaille above the portal - there “… a crowned black eagle bearing the letters“ HB ”on the bust shield, in a golden field into which the sun shines from (heraldically) on the right…”.

  • facade
  • Facade to the Kieselmarkt
  • coat of arms

Interior design

Both the ground floor and the first floor of the three-story house each comprised a single vaulted room until it was destroyed. Four sandstone pillars supported the vault. To crown the capitals of the sandstone pillars, there were reliefs of stucco vases. The second floor contained four rooms in a middle corridor. From the main entrance on the first floor, a corridor that was two steps lower than the rest of the floor led through the narrow central vault and through a heavy iron door to the stairwell . A three-armed, counter-rotating staircase was built into the spacious staircase . This had a running width of 1.55 meters and consisted of sandstone from the ground floor to the first floor; after the second floor made of oak. On the inner cheek of the stairs an elaborately worked wrought-iron railing extended to the upper platform . Next to the stairwell there was a vestibule with a side entrance on each floor. The stairwell and vestibules were connected to one another by arched openings to the stair landings. At the level of the upper floor were - according to the pillars of the porch - smooth around the stairwell little projecting pilasters cantilevered . On the corner pilasters there were kneeling and seated putti , the other pilasters were decorated with vases in relief. The upper end of the staircase was formed by a flat lancet vault with a fresco in an elongated field in the middle of the vault. The vault ribs were decorated with rich cartouches and rocaille. The doors from the landing on the stairs after the archive rooms showed large cartouches with elaborate rocaille above the lintel. On the first floor there was a pilaster to the left of the door - as a counterpart to the half pillar on the right. On its capital was a stucco "lean angel figure with a flowing beard and scythe", the figure of the Grim Reaper . The vestibules, which were closed off by stone balustrades after the staircase, had flat ceilings with covings , cartouches with elaborate rocaille in the corners.

Art historical significance

Joachim Hennze assigns the building to the Rococo style . According to Hennze, models for this can be found in Bamberg, Würzburg or Dinkelsbühl. Eberhard Gossenberg also attributes the building to the Rococo - in its external appearance the building would have “all the charms and character of the real Rococo” . According to Gossenberg, it is “probably the most beautiful secular building in Heilbronn” .

Web links

Commons : Städtisches Archiv am Kieselmarkt, Heilbronn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Helmut Schmolz, Hubert Weckbach: Heilbronn with Böckingen, Neckargartach, Sontheim. The old city in words and pictures . Weißenhorn 1966 (publications of the archive of the city of Heilbronn. Volume 14). No. 54 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, around 1930]
  • Helmut Schmolz, Hubert Weckbach: Heilbronn: The old town in words and pictures , Volume 2, Weißenhorn 1967 (Publications of the archive of the city of Heilbronn. Volume 15). No. 6 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, staircase around 1905].
  • Helmut Schmolz, Hubert Weckbach: Heilbronn: The old town in words and pictures , Volume 2, Weißenhorn 1967 (Publications of the archive of the city of Heilbronn. Volume 15). No. 8 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, interior around 1935].
  • Helmut Schmolz, Hubert Weckbach: Heilbronn: The old town in words and pictures , Volume 2, Weißenhorn 1967 (Publications of the archive of the city of Heilbronn. Volume 15). No. 9 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, main facade around 1905].
  • Dr G. Hess: The city archive, the most beautiful secular building in Heilbronn . In: Swabia and Franconia. Local history . Enclosure of the Heilbronn voice . 12th year, no. 1 . Heilbronner Voice publishing house, October 29, 1955, ZDB -ID 128017-X , p. 1-2 .
  • Eberhard Gossenberger: Municipal archive . In: ders: Heilbronn's secular buildings from the 18th century. A contribution to the art history of the city of Heilbronn , Stuttgart Technical University Dissertation v. August 9, 1917 [1923], pp. 28-32.
  • Erwin Mehne (Ed.): Blacksmithing around the turn of the century in Heilbronn. Heilbronn 1989 (brochure from August Stotz & Söhne [approx. 1910]) in the HEUSS database

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hess: The municipal archive, the most beautiful secular building in Heilbronn. P. 1.
  2. ^ Gossenberger: Municipal archive. P. 28.
  3. ↑ Gossenberger, Note No. 1 on p. 32.
  4. ↑ a b Gossenberger: p. 29.
  5. ↑ State Statistical Office: The Kingdom of Württemberg: a description of the country, people and state. Volume 2, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1884, p. 292.
  6. ↑ Hess: The municipal archive, the most beautiful secular building in Heilbronn. Pp. 1-2.
  7. ↑ cf. Gossenberger: Municipal Archive. P. 30
  8. ↑ cf. Gossenberger: Municipal Archive. Pp. 30-31.
  9. ↑ Schmolz / Weckbach (1966) No. 54, p. 44 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, around 1930]
  10. ^ Schmolz / Weckbach (1967) No. 9 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, main facade around 1905].
  11. ^ Gossenberger: Municipal archive. P. 32
  12. ↑ Schmolz / Weckbach (1967) No. 6 [Stadtarchiv, Kieselmarkt 2, stairwell around 1905], pp. 12 and 13
  13. ↑ Schmolz / Weckbach (1967) No. 8 [City Archives, Kieselmarkt 2, interior around 1935]
  14. ^ Bernhard Lattner, Joachim Hennze: Silent contemporary witnesses. 500 years of Heilbronn architecture . Edition Lattner, Heilbronn 2005, ISBN 3-9807729-6-9 , p. 21.
  15. ↑ a b Gossenberger: Municipal archive. P. 30

Coordinates: 49 ° 8 '34.4 "  N , 9 ° 13' 8.2"  E