Felsenkeller (Höxter)

Burned-out rock cellar ballroom

The Oppermann brewery built the Felsenkeller in Höxter in 1838 as a restaurant. After a first fire in 1897/1898, the restaurant and an adjoining hall building were merged into what would later become known as the Ballhaus . On October 17, 2006, it too burned to the ground. The listed building was located above the Weser at the entrance to Höxter.

history

The building was built as an impressive half-timbered house. Located above the Weser and with a view of Fürstenberg and the Solling , it offered itself early on as a lookout and festival venue close to the city. The building has been expanded and rebuilt several times since 1924. During the Second World War , the Wehrmacht used the building as a military hospital .

The main building (approx. 1200 m² usable area) also had 160 m² of basement. The name Felsenkeller comes from the cellar at the foot of the Ziegenberg, in which the ice used to be stored for cooling. The ice cellar is not open to the public. The entrance can be seen from the B 64 below the former main building.

In 1953 and 1963 the local Höxter volunteer fire brigade held their anniversary celebrations in the Ballhaus.

After several changes of ownership, the Felsenkeller was acquired in 1981 by Gabriele Brenke and Uwe Linsdorf († November 7, 2018). Together with friends and former fellow students, they renovated the dilapidated building and then operated it as the Ballhaus Felsenkeller from 1982 to October 2006 as a disco . According to their own statements, they invested more than 600,000 euros during the years of operation. The rock cellar - often just called the cellar - was known nationwide.

In addition to the regular music program, numerous well-known musicians and bands have performed over the years, including a.

Alexis Korner
Absolute beginners
Billy Cobham
Blind Passengers on December 23, 1999
Anne Clark
Bananafishbones
Commodores
Cucumber Men on April 3, 1997
Desert + Fortune on June 16, 2001 or August 11, 2001
Diorama
The doctors on April 15, 1987
The 3 tornadoes
The princes
Die Toten Hosen on March 3, 1985
Dimple Minds on May 21, 1995
Fury in the Slaughterhouse on March 30, 1989
Django Edwards
Jazz canteen
Jurassic Pope on April 6, 1997
Knorkator
Liquido
Lost Lyrics on March 23, 1997
Lucilectric
Mr. Ed Jumps the Gun May 18, 1995
Blessed
SCYCS
Subway to Sally
Tanzwut on October 23, 2001
Terry Hoax
Steel hammer
The Bates on September 30, 1993 and December 14, 1999
The Busters
The Brandos on October 29, 1992
The Dark Unspoken on October 8, 2005
The Eternal Afflict
Vivid on February 8, 1998
Wave globe
Wishbone Ash
Witthüser & Westrupp

The Ballhaus Felsenkeller was one of the most formative alternative discos in East Westphalia-Lippe and southern Lower Saxony in the late 1980s and early 1990s , along with the Hunky Dory in Detmold , the PC69 in Bielefeld and the Outpost in Göttingen . Especially in the 1980s and early 1990s years was Keller successful. Since the end of the 1990s, however, the number of visitors has decreased significantly.

Since the financing of the building with the costs for maintenance and renovation was no longer secured, the owners applied for demolition in 1999. He was supposed to initiate takeover proceedings because the city of Höxter refused to take over the monument and continue to use it as a historic town hall . This application was negotiated with the Detmold district government for several years until the fire. Finally, the motion was approved in an oral announcement. In the meantime, however, the old Höxter Residenztheater had been converted into a modern town hall and there was no need for this building.

fire

On October 17th, 2006 at around 4 a.m., a fire destroyed the rock cellar. Around 120 firefighters fought the flames. People were not harmed. The amount of damage was around one million euros. Reconstruction was not planned as the site is already planned as a building area. The demolition was approved in late January 2007.

demolition

The ruin was demolished on September 12, 2018. Residential houses are to be built on the former site of the Felsenkeller.

Revival parties

For some time now there have been regular reminders of the musical performances in the rock cellar. Among other things, this happens through revival parties that advertise two Facebook accounts.