Chausseehaus

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Dilapidated high street with beaver tails on the B 191 in Mecklenburg

A Chausseehaus was the service building of the road keeper that he and his family lived in. They were built at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century , when the roads outside of town were turned into highways . The road attendant supervised a section of the road and collected the road money , the toll, for the sovereign . Some road houses were also customs posts .

Highway houses in Prussia

Prussian Chausseehaus in Potsdam - Neu Fahrland
Converted Prussian Chausseehaus on today's federal highway B1 / B5 west of Müncheberg (State of Brandenburg)

In Prussia , from 1796 road houses were built for the road toll collectors and road attendants on the newly created artificial roads ( roads ), among others by master builders such as Friedrich Gilly and Karl Friedrich Schinkel . The road houses were close to the roadway, if possible with a view of the road. The barrier in front of it was only opened after the toll was paid. The latter was used to refinance the road construction and was supposed to cover the costs of maintaining the roads. Some were also built by joint-stock companies, districts or municipalities.

In addition to the toll collector, the roadside guard lived in the road houses, which also contributed to safety. The signpost was responsible for a maximum of 1000 rods (3.766 km) on stone roads, and for a maximum of 500 rods on gravel roads, so that between the high street buildings (distance: 1  Prussian mile = 2000 rods = 7.532 km), if necessary, signpost houses for two signatories each were built.

With the French occupation in the Napoleonic Wars , the construction of the highway came to a standstill and was not continued until 1814. In 1834 the “Instructions for the Construction and Maintenance of Artificial Roads” provided guidelines for the appearance of the Chausseehouses.

From an old source, tariffs for the toll to be paid in Prussia in 1840 can be given:

Post and passenger carriages, carriages, convertibles and all wagons, including sleds
for moving people, laden or unladen, for every draft animal:
for a distance of 1 mile 1 silver groschen (Sgr)
for a distance of 1 ½ miles 1 silver groschen (Sgr) and 6 pfennigs (Pf) .

On December 31, 1874, the state road tolls were abolished in Prussia, so that the road houses lost their function and the residents mostly moved out. The private, district and share highways still levied road tolls until the early 20th century, and their road houses consequently remained inhabited for that time.

Chaussee houses in Saxony

Chausseehaus Neucoschütz in Freital ( Saxony ) on the former Dresden - Freiberger Chaussee

In Saxony, existing roads were converted into highways by order of Napoleon . From 1807, the existing post road connection from the Dresden Residence via Meißen to Leipzig to the Chaussee was expanded with side ditches and tree-lined avenues. Chaussee houses with barriers were erected at a distance of about one post mile from the Electorate of Saxony , where carters had to pay road tolls for maintenance and upkeep. In what is now Radebeul's area, a farmhouse on the eastern edge of Zitzschewig was rededicated in 1812 , which was replaced in 1835 by a new building on the neighboring property for this purpose only. The corresponding bridge and road tolls were not lifted until the end of 1885.

Preserved road houses

Listed street building from the 19th century in Rollsdorf (Saxony-Anhalt)

Today street houses often serve as country restaurants. A comparatively prominent example is the Chausseehaus in Wiesbaden . Other restaurants can be found in Rüsselsheim, Zwingenberg or Fürstenberg / Havel.

One of these houses achieved literary honors. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe watched the siege of Mainz from the Chausseehaus in Mainz-Marienborn . Today the building, which was built in 1774, houses an agricultural business specializing in cherry products. The Colbitz Chausseehaus on the A14 / B189 was planned and built between 1838 and 1840. Numerous renovations typical of the time are evidence of uninterrupted occupation. The property enclosure by means of a field stone wall with a brick cap is a rarity. The construction of this massive and defensive wall allows the conclusion that the area could be used as a customs, post office or horse changing station. Traditionally, self-sufficiency is used through garden crops and small-scale farming. In order to preserve history, a corresponding color scheme, the erection of a barrier based on a historical model and the installation of a notice board are planned.

Replica of an escort or chausse cash barrier in Grumbach with post mileage column, miles and chausse stone in action with a royal Saxon stagecoach

See also

literature

  • The Mark Brandenburg . Issue 11, 1993, ISSN  0939-3676 .
  • Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 .

Web links

Commons : Chausseehaus  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. P. Großmann: Die Frankfurter Chaussee , special print from the local history of Dahlwitz-Hoppegarten, self-published, no year (in the holdings of the Lichtenberg Local History Museum)
  2. The Chausseehaus as a hostel for poets
  3. Goethe: Siege of Mainz (Gutenberg project)