Dianaburg (Darmstadt)

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Parforce hunt at the Dianaburg. Painting from 1768 by Georg Adam Eger
Woodcut by an unknown graphic artist from the grand ducal cabinet library in Darmstadt appeared in a book by Philipp Alexander Ferdinand Walther: Darmstadt how it was and how it became from 1865.
Today's Diana pavilion from the north with information board
Remains of the original moat

The Dianaburg , formerly also Dianenburg , was a baroque hunting lodge in the area around the town of Arheilgen, which today belongs to Darmstadt . It was built in 1765 and demolished in 1808. In its place there is now a small pavilion from 1836, which bears the same name.

location

The hunting lodge was located about two and a half kilometers northeast of the Kranichstein hunting lodge with a clear view of the villages of Arheilgen and Wixhausen . The successor building (pavilion) is now a straight extension of the end of the marshalling yard in Kranichstein about 700 m north above the Silz brook and a few meters northwest of the Dianateich. Dianaburg is easy to reach from the parking lots on the L3097 state road between Kranichstein and Messel near the level crossing, as it is located in the center of a network of paths that was laid out in the 18th century when the castle was built. At the same time, it is easy to reach from the well-known restaurant "Zum alten Forsthaus Kalkofen", which is just 200 m to the northwest.

The hunting lodge from 1765

The hunting enthusiast Hessian Landgrave Ludwig VIII had the baroque hunting lodge Dianaburg built for himself in 1765 as part of the entire complex of the Kranichstein hunting lodge. It was named after Diana , the Roman goddess of the hunt. The Dianaburg was originally a gift for his son and future successor, Ludwig IX. , thought, but was ultimately erected in honor of his wife Karoline , who shared the pleasure of hunting with her father-in-law. Ludwig IX received a model made by the engineer Hill from his father for his birthday.

The small octagonal castle had a kitchen and utility rooms on the ground floor. From there, a flap in the ceiling could be opened by means of a mechanical device and the set table could be transported to the dining room on the first floor above, accessible from the outside through an open staircase . In the dining room of the hunting lodge which showed Rococo - overdoors the images Hessian cities. On the second floor there were several bedrooms, above that under the roof there was another chamber, which could only be reached by a ladder that could be lowered.

The building was admitted into an artificial hill, on the western edge of a large forest area, the Messel hills , about ten feet elevated above the adjacent west Untermain level . The surrounding network of paths was designed in the form of a hunting star with long, straight aisles. The little castle was used for overnight stays by hunting parties who set out from there, in particular for par force hunts and for discontinued hunting , but also to observe the hunting events. After the game was killed, there was also a meal there.

After a visit in 1768, Friedrich V von Hessen-Homburg noted the following about the castle: “The Dianenburg is a charming round house, in the middle is a round hall with 13 windows. On one side there is a forest with lots of aisles, on the other is the plain and generally lies in an animal garden. Above is a magnificent view "

Just three years after completion, the decline of the castle began with the death of Louis VIII. His son and successor Ludwig IX was not interested in hunting but was more interested in military matters. Since he was aware that the par force hunt in particular not only caused damage to agriculture, but also incurred considerable costs, it was abolished immediately, also in view of the disrupted state finances. In the period that followed, the unused building began to fall apart. After it had suffered further damage during the Napoleonic Wars , it was auctioned off to citizens of Arheilger in 1808 for the purpose of demolition.

Hunting umbrella at Charlottenplatz

The only structural part of the original plant which has survived to this day is a protection device for hunting society in Wildsau hunting before the boars, a so-called hunting screen , in the form of an artificial, with embrasures provided hill. This is located at the eastern end of the aisle leading east from the castle at a clearing called Charlottenplatz .

Some paintings provide information about the appearance of Dianaburg, for example by the landgrave's court painter Johann Conrad Seekatz or a multi-part sentence by his colleague Georg Adam Eger.

The pavilion from 1836

Dianaburg in 2014
Table sheet from the end of the 19th century. The location in the middle of the Jagdstern is easy to see.

In 1830, the heir to the throne, Ludwig III , who was interested in art and history , had the foundation walls of the Dianaburg excavated and six years later built a small, classical hunting pavilion in the Biedermeier style at roughly the same location . This was furnished with furnishings and paintings from the 18th century. At least the paintings that are attributed to Prince Friedrich August , probably painted by him based on older models from the time when the palace still existed, were still there at the beginning of the 20th century.

From 1953 to 1990 the pavilion was used as a game and event venue for the local falcon group . The building then stood empty. The lamentable structural condition led to the establishment of a local support group in 2004. Thanks to its activities and with financial support from the owner, the State of Hesse, the pavilion was renovated in a four-year construction period. In addition, the aisles of the hunting star were cleared and the old visual relationships were restored. The reopening took place in October 2008. In the future, cultural events in particular will take place there.

Inside the pavilion there is now a wedding room in which wedding ceremonies can be held since August 2012.

See also

literature

  • CF Günther: Pictures from Hessian prehistory . Darmstadt, 1853, p. 218f. ( Digitized version )
  • Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner : The devastation in the Grand Duchy of Hesse , Bd. Province of Starkenburg . Darmstadt, 1862, pp. 60f. ( Digitized version )
  • Simon Marcur: Dianaburg between Darmstadt and Messel. Published in: Curtain up - the magazine of the Darmstadt region, issue June 2005. Available online here , PDF file, 128 kB.
  • Günter Fries, Nikolaus Heiss, Wolfgang Langner: Cultural monuments in Hessen. City of Darmstadt . In: Monument topography of the Federal Republic of Germany . 1994, p. 675 .

Web links

Commons : Dianaburg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official property map of the State of Hesse . → To the products → Property map. Enter Darmstadt and Dianaburg under "Municipality & Location". Select sorting according to location description.
  2. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Castles and palaces on the Bergstrasse. 2nd edition, Stuttgart 1989, p. 15. ISBN 3-8062-0592-2 .
  3. ↑ Jutta Nowosadtko, Matthias Rogg (ed.): Mars and the Muses. The interplay between the military, war and art in the early modern period. Münster 2008, p. 237. ISBN 3-8258-9809-1
  4. ^ Rainer Maaß: Ludwig III. of Hesse and the Rhine (1806–1877). Promotion of history and art against the backdrop of grand-ducal politics. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology , Volume 66, Darmstadt, 2008. ISSN  0066-636X
  5. ↑ Hunting pavilion reopened . Frankfurter Rundschau , October 13, 2008. Accessed November 19, 2011.
  6. ↑ A wedding room in the middle of the forest . Echo Online , July 20, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2013.

Coordinates: 49 ° 55 '21.9 "  N , 8 ° 41' 55.8"  E