Letter from April 10, 1780
The invitation to tender dated April 10, 1780 by Margrave Karl Alexander von Brandenburg-Ansbach is one of the oldest monument protection legislation in Germany.
history
The bulletin (circular) of April 10, 1780 renews the bulletin of July 4, 1771 with a similar content, which in the opinion of the margrave had been insufficiently observed. The author of both texts was probably the archivist of the Margrave of Plassenburg , Philipp Ernst Spieß . The contest was the model for the regulation, conservation of monuments and antiquities located in the country concerning of Landgrave Friedrich II. Of Hesse-Kassel from December of the same year.
content
The ordinance consists of an introduction in which the sovereign states that his previous announcement on the same topic from 1771 did not generate the desired response and that he is therefore repeating the content. The following is a list of cases in which care should be taken to ensure that important historical evidence is not damaged. In the case of renovation, conversion or demolition of historical buildings, equipment, coats of arms and inscriptions should be secured, carefully stored and finally - if possible - reinstalled. Historical evidence from exposed foundation stones or tower crowns should also be secured and sent to the government with a report. Certificates that are endangered - for example because they are exposed to the weather - should be documented as soon as possible. All these documents are to be kept in the archives of the margrave on the Plassenburg.
Builders who damage heraldic stones or inscriptions are threatened with punishment. So that this is also known to all builders, a copy of this ordinance should be deposited in each drawer of the relevant guild and read out at least once a year.
The officials' attention is also drawn to the landmarks and the boundary stones that they are supposed to maintain.
literature
- Gabriele Dolff-Bonekämper : The Discovery of the Middle Ages. Studies on the history of the registration of monuments and the protection of monuments in Hessen-Kassel and Kurhessen in the 18th and 19th centuries . Hessian Historical Commission , Darmstadt / Historical Commission for Hesse , Marburg 1985, ISBN 3-88443-149-8 (= Dissertation Marburg 1984).