Blankenheimer Hof (Cologne)

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The Blankenheimer Hof was a stately home in the north of Cologne's old town and stood at Neumarkt No. 2 until its resignation in 1913 .

History of origin

Neumarkt - from left: Nesselroder Hof (No. 4), Blankenheimer Hof (No. 2) and (rebuilt) Police Headquarters (1905)
Neumarkt 2 - Blankenheimer Hof (around 1910)

The " Schwerthof ", an armory for aristocrats, arose in Neumarkt No. 2 around 1200 and changed hands after several renovations. It is disputed who became its new owner. According to Helmut Signon , the property came into the possession of Philipp Christian Graf von Sternberg and Manderscheid (* March 5, 1732; † May 14, 1811), who had the Blankenheimer Hof built here in 1758 and it after his wife Augusta, their daughter named by Johann Wilhelm Franz von Manderscheid zu Blankenheim, "Blankenheimer Hof". It was also known under the name "Sternberger Hof". According to Hans Vogts , the Nesselroder Hof was built in 1724/28 for Franz Carl von Nesselrode ; or the Count of Nesselrode-Ehreshoven, who later became the property of Manderscheid-Blankenheim and was then called "Blankenheimer Hof". The neighboring Schallenhof in No. 4 was then connected to the Blankenheimer Hof since 1756, in 1766 the Nesselroder Hof became the property of Count Manderscheid-Blankenheim, who had it and the Schützenhof demolished and built the Blankenheimer Hof here.

The immediate neighboring building (Neumarkt No. 4) was the “Nesselroder Hof”, a city ​​palace built by Nikolaus Krakamp between 1727 and 1729 for the court chamber president Franz Carl von Nesselrode . Since the end of the 12th century, the “Schallenhof” of the Schall von Bell family existed in No. 4 , from which the municipal Schützenhof later developed. The Schall von Bell family had a new family domicile built at today's Neumarkt No. 47 in 1592 and sold the town's Schallenhof. Goedefried von Roedenheym sold the half of the Schallenhof ("Schallenhuyss") that belonged to him to the city on August 2, 1488. She had a rifle yard built here for the rifle brotherhood in 1444 at the earliest, which was used for leisure as well as military training; According to the Cologne cityscape of 1570 by Arnold Mercator ("Schutten hoff") in Casiusgass behind (south) numbers 2-4 and was separated from them by a wall. The city sold the Schützenhof in 1682. Instead of the Schützenhof, the Blankenheimer Hof was built in 1766 by Count Manderscheid-Blankenheim.

Imperial Count Manderscheid-Blankenheim connected him with the neighboring Schützenhof (No. 4–6). When Philipp Christian Graf von Sternberg and Manderscheid fled to Prague in 1794 because of the French invasion , the Nesselroder Hof (No. 4) fell as a "national property" after the French left the Prussian state, which sold it to the city of Cologne in 1909, while the transfer of rights did not take place until 1911.

Napoleon Bonaparte stayed at the Blankenheimer Hof twice, initially from September 14 to 16, 1804 (Empress Joséphine stayed at the Hackeneyschen Hof ) after Napoléon came on his state visit from the Eigelsteintorburg via Eigelstein , Marzellenstrasse, Hohe Strasse and Schildergasse on the jubilant Crowd had passed.

Later use

Neumarkt - from left: Nesselroder Hof (No. 4) and Blankenheimer Hof (No. 2) and the tower of the police headquarters (around 1905)

On the basis of an imperial decree of December 29, 1810, the imperial tobacco factory ("Imperiale de tabacs") was established in the Blankenheimer Hof from 1811, which administered the tobacco monopoly and replaced the tobacco factories. The Cologne tobacco industry could not really recover from this setback. Among the 517 employees were 11 former tobacco manufacturers. Napoleon and his wife lived here again from November 5, 1811 for four days. Between 1814 and 1816 Heinrich Joseph DuMont, who ran a tobacco factory, took over the property as a tenant. Then the city set up an officers' mess in the Blankenheimer Hof.

The July Revolution of 1830 and the independence of Belgium made it appear advisable to increase the Prussian troop strength in the west. So the troops of the 31er Musketeers marched to Cologne, where they were assigned the Franziskaner barracks and the Blankenheimer Hof as temporary garrison on September 28, 1830. In October 1832, the 28th Infantry Regiment was stationed here at the suggestion of Prince Wilhelm (later Emperor Wilhelm I ). In September 1848 the Blankenheimer Hof officially became a barracks. On September 11, 1848, during the Revolution , clashes broke out between soldiers of the Fusilier Battalion (which belonged to the 27th Infantry Regiment stationed in Blankenheimer Hof) and Cologne citizens. The soldiers attacked the citizens with drawn sabers and injured some of them. Around 1901 the Blankenheimer Hof was used as an officers' mess until 1912 .

Successor building

The new traffic planning developed by city planner Carl Rehorst provided for a widening of the Schildergasse, which led to Neumarkt, which the Blankenheimer Hof would stand in the way. In addition, with its façade protruding 3.64 meters in front of the building line, it would offer its bare side wall to neighboring buildings. The police headquarters completed in 1907 (Schildergasse 122 / corner Krebsgasse) did not take over the building line of the neighboring Neumarkt No. 2, but was set back in order to widen the Schildergasse that opens here. In addition, the building turned out to be an obstacle after the breakthrough of Zeppelinstrasse (1910–1912). Plans to relocate the facade in the course of a new building project at the previous location or to rebuild it at another location were ultimately dropped. For these reasons, the Blankenheimer Hof was closed in the autumn of 1913, and its 2,000 m² plot of land initially remained undeveloped.

Between 1911 and 1913, the property, which adjoins the north at Zeppelinstrasse 4-8, at the corner of Am Alten Posthof, was built on with the Isay department store . The beginning of the First World War also interrupted the efforts of the owner, the City of Cologne, to find a buyer and potential builder for the large property. Finally, in 1921, the architect Jacob Koerfer acquired the area with a front of 75 meters on the new Zeppelinstrasse and 27 meters on Neumarkt in order to build an office and commercial building, the Schwerthof .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Helmut Signon, All streets lead through Cologne , 2006, p. 267.
  2. ^ A b Hans Vogts, Kölner Wohnhaus , 1966, p. 787.
  3. ↑ Rheinland-Verlag, Rheinische Lebensbilder , Volume 9, 1982, p. 133 f.
  4. ^ Konstantin Höhlbaum, communications from the city archive of Cologne , 1892, p. 83.
  5. ↑ Peter Johanek, The City and its Edge , 2008, p. 64.
  6. ^ Leonard Ennen, History of the City of Cologne , Volume 3, 1869, p. 933.
  7. ^ Hans Vogts, The profane monuments of the city of Cologne , 1930, p. 516.
  8. ↑ Werner Behnke, From Cologne's French Time , 1901, p. 18.
  9. ^ Ernst Zander, Fortification and Military History of Cologne , Volume 1, 1944, p. 562 f.
  10. ↑ Horst Heidermann : 1848/49: The revolution of the painter Kleinenbroich. A biographical contribution to the history of the city of Cologne (= publications of the Cologne City Museum , Volume 2). Publishing house of the Cologne City Museum, 1999, ISBN 3-927396-77-X , p. 96.
  11. ↑ Klemens Klemmer, Jacob Koerfer (1875–1930): An architect between tradition and modernity , 1987, p. 100.
  12. ↑ a b Klemens Klemmer, Jacob Koerfer (1875–1930): An architect between tradition and modernity , 1987, p. 102.
  13. ↑ Klemens Klemmer, Jacob Koerfer (1875–1930): An architect between tradition and modernity , 1987, p. 103.


Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 12.3 "  N , 6 ° 56 ′ 56.6"  E