Lechenich District Court

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The former Lechenich district court is an important example of the Prussian judicial buildings built in the late 1890s in terms of its structural quality and its still complete state of preservation. The historic building is a listed building and is located in the Erftstadt district of Lechenich in the Rhein-Erft district in North Rhine-Westphalia .

Former district court Lechenich

history

Until the French revolutionary troops marched in in 1794, Lechenich was the judicial center of the Electoral Cologne Office of Lechenich with high court rights , lower jurisdiction and voluntary jurisdiction . In the comprehensive territorial and judicial reform carried out by the French administration in 1798 , Lechenich was given a peace court as the main town in the canton of the same name , which was responsible for small court cases in the canton's towns. Even under the Prussian government , the peace court, which was housed in the town hall in Lechenich, remained in existence. The judicial district included the mayor's offices of the former canton, Erp , Friesheim , Gymnich , Lechenich, Liblar , Lommersum and Weilerswist . After the Prussian reorganization of the judiciary and the introduction of the local courts, the local court was moved to Euskirchen in 1879 and the peace court in Lechenich was repealed. The subsequent negotiations between the Lechenich municipal council and the Prussian government to establish a local court in Lechenich lasted for years, but ultimately led to success. The Ministry of Justice agreed in 1892 to build a district court with a prison wing on the land acquired by the municipality for this purpose, and the law of April 20, 1892 ordered the establishment of the court. It was built in 1896 with the financial contribution of the municipality of Lechenich according to the plan of the royal government master builder Hermann Weisstein and officially started work on July 1st in 1897. The newly formed judicial district included the mayorships of Erp, Friesheim, Gymnich, Lechenich and Liblar. The construction of the prison with seven cells made the holding cells set up in 1853 in the Bonner Tor superfluous.

The district court in Lechenich existed for almost 100 years, then it was dissolved on December 31, 1983 after a state parliament decision and assigned to the district court of Brühl . Due to a lack of space in Brühl , it remained as a branch of Brühl until 1992, after which it was finally closed. The building was sold to a private individual. Today the lower rooms are used by a restaurant with a vinotheque .

description

Weisstein considered the suggestion of the community representatives to build the district court in neo-Gothic style based on the models of the existing neo-Gothic buildings, the town hall on the market square and the residential building on the north side of the square, built according to plans by the later Viennese cathedral builder Friedrich von Schmidt .

Entrance to the building and stairwell
District Court-Lechenich.jpg

The two-storey neo-Gothic brick building is set off from the adjoining side parts of the building by a broad, slightly off-center risalit with a high stepped gable . It differs from the other brick buildings on the market through its facade in red facing bricks. There are three sandstone windows each on both floors . The large cross-frame windows on the upper floor are similar to those of the town hall. The signs of the public function of the building, the inscription "Royal District Court" in metal letters above the windows on the upper floor as well as the Prussian eagle in the niche of the risalit were later knocked off. The eagle was repainted a few years ago in a very simplified form in black on a white background. Above the eagle is the gilded inscription: "To each his own". A side external staircase in the narrower wing of the building leads to a pointed arched portal. Between the wider side wing and the wall of the neighboring building, a flat, rounded entrance leads to the inner courtyard and from there to the prison. The inner courtyard is now covered by glass and is used by the restaurant, which also hosts events such as music events, poetry readings and fashion shows there.

literature

  • Frank Bartsch: Continuity and change in the country. The Rhine Prussian mayor of Lechenich in the 19th and early 20th centuries (1815–1914). (History in the Euskirchen district, Volume 26.) Weilerswist 2012. ISBN 978-3-941037-91-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law on the establishment of a local court in the municipality of Lechenich of April 20, 1892, PrGS p. 81
  2. ↑ Ordinance regarding the coming into force of the law of April 20, 1892, of April 20, 1897, PrGS p. 104 .
  3. ^ Frank Bartsch: Continuity and change in the country. The Rhine Prussian mayor of Lechenich in the 19th and early 20th centuries (1815–1914) pp. 100–111.
  4. ↑ Frank Bartsch, Hanna Stommel: Lechenich from Roman times to today. An illustrated city history. Erftstadt-Lechenich 2004.
  5. ^ Frank Bartsch: Continuity and change in the country. The Rhenish Prussian mayor of Lechenich in the 19th and early 20th centuries (1815 - 1914). Pp. 646-650
  6. ↑ Website of the restaurant

Coordinates: 50 ° 47 ′ 59.3 "  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 55.8"  E