History of Königstein im Taunus
This article describes the history of the city of Königstein im Taunus .
Celtic settlement
The area around Königstein was settled in pre-Christian times. The oldest traces of settlement are the Celtic ramparts on the Altkönig , which date from the 5th to 4th century BC. A number of Celtic finds from Königstein and the surrounding area are exhibited today in the Königstein Castle and City Museum.
legend
According to a local legend, King Clovis I is said to have built Königstein Castle and a chapel around 500 .
In the middle ages
The Nüringer
Documents that could provide information about Königstein and his rulers are only passed down from the Salian period. Koenigstein belonged spatially to the Niddagau . In 1042 a Count Berthold von Wettereiba (Wetterau) is mentioned, to whose territory today's Königstein also belonged. In 1103 his son, Berthold von Nürings, is mentioned as a Gaugraf . The family of the Lords of Nürings built Nürings Castle (the forerunner of the directly neighboring Falkenstein Castle ). The Lords of Nürings are subsequently mentioned in various documents. With Gerhard von Nürings , the Nüring family dies out. The last written mention of Gerhard comes from the year 1171.
The Munzenberger
After the extinction of Nüringser Koenigstein fell to the noble family of Münzenberger . Kuno I von Munzenberg was married to Luckharde von Nürings and inherited his possessions when the male line of the Nürings died out. After his death in 1212, his son Kuno II von Münzenberg inherited the castle and the town of Königstein. After his death in 1225, his younger brother Ulrich I von Munzenberg became the owner of Königstein Castle. In 1239 Ulrich I was first mentioned as the owner of Königstein Castle. After his death, he was followed by his son Ulrich II von Munzenberg . His marriage to Hedwig von Weinsperg remained childless, and with his death in 1255 the Munzenberg family ended in the male line. Königstein Castle was extensively expanded under the Munzenbergs.
The Burgraves
With the Wetterau and large parts of the Vordertaunus, the territory of the Munzenberg family comprised such a large area that Burgmanns were used in the individual castles . In Königstein, Arnold von Königstein , a burgrave, was first mentioned by name in 1215 . He is probably a Reichsministeriale , a knight in the service of the Staufer Kaiser. He was given responsibility for the Königstein Imperial Castle. He had to administer them, to maintain the defense and protection installations, to keep accounts of income and expenses, and to instruct and supervise the workmen and other servants. He was responsible for the usability and safety of the Frankfurt – Cologne – Aachen road. Albert zu Königstein is the second burgrave known by name in 1225.
The Falkensteiner
After the death of Ulrich II von Munzenberg in 1255 Philip I von Falkenstein , the husband of Ulrich's sister Isengard, inherited the rule of Koenigstein as part of the Munzenberg inheritance . Under Philip III. von Falkenstein received Königstein city rights in 1313 .
From 1364 to 1366 there was an imperial war against Philip VI. von Falkenstein ( Falkensteiner Feud ). The occasion was a legal dispute between Ulrich III. von Hanau and Philipp on territorial claims. Königstein Castle was besieged during this war by troops from the imperial cities of Frankfurt, Friedberg, Wetzlar and Gelnhausen. The besiegers did not succeed in taking the fortress, but the surrounding villages were badly affected. In 1366 the war ended with a favorable peace for the Falkensteiners despite territorial losses. Philip and Ulrich came to an agreement, and the imperial ban on Philip was lifted.
In a feud with the Knights of Reifenberg in 1374, the Reifenbergers succeeded in taking Königstein Castle. Philip VI died on the run. His wife Agnes and his children were taken prisoner and were released from the Falkenstein family by Archbishop Kuno II of Trier . Philip VI's son, Archbishop Werner von Trier, became the new lord of Königstein as his heir.
The Eppsteiner
After the death of the last Falkensteiner, Archbishop Werner III., His property was distributed among the heirs. The reign of Königstein went to Eberhard II von Eppstein-Münzenberg . His successor Eberhard III. von Eppstein-Münzenberg founded the Königstein convent on February 3rd, 1465 . His son, Philipp von Eppstein-Königstein , died in 1481, leaving behind his wife Luise and four underage children. After his widow initially directed the fortunes of the Königstein rule as regent, Eberhard IV (Eppstein-Königstein) took over sole government in 1492. Eberhard was appointed Imperial Count in 1505 . Königstein now formed the capital of the County of Königstein .
The Stolberger / Reformation in Königstein
On May 27, 1535, Eberhard's nephew, Count Ludwig von Stolberg , took over the County of Königstein after his death and then called himself Graf zu Stolberg-Königstein.
The Reformation had already gained a foothold in Königstein under Eberhard . Ludwig zu Stolberg promoted these efforts and officially introduced the Reformation on August 5, 1540 according to the church regulations of Count Wolfgang von Pfalz-Zweibrücken in Königstein. According to the principle of the Cuius regio, eius religio , the inhabitants also became formally Protestant. The pen of the Kugelherren was dissolved after 85 years as part of the Reformation. The ownership of the monastery fell to the Counts of Königstein. From March 1563 to March 1564 a plague epidemic hit Königstein.
After the death of Count Ludwig zu Stolberg in 1574, Christoph zu Stolberg, Provost of Halberstadt , was declared his heir in his will. However, this inheritance matter was legally controversial because as provost he had received the ordination of subdeacons as early as 1544, which obliged him to be celibate. When Christoph zu Stolberg died on August 5, 1581, the Mainz Elector Daniel Brendel von Homburg informed his brother Albrecht Georg zu Stolberg that by power of attorney from Emperor Rudolf II, the county was to be regarded as a completed imperial fief and that the Elector as Reich Commissioner for the rule will be used. The county was converted into the Oberamt Königstein and the city part of Kurmainz . The Counts of Stolberg, on the other hand, sued the Reich Chamber of Commerce unsuccessfully , but were supposed to regain power at short notice in the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War .
Modern times
Kurmainz / Counter Reformation and Thirty Years War
In 1603 a smallpox epidemic raged in Königstein . From 1603 to 1605 the Counter Reformation and the re-Catholicization of Königstein took place. Königstein received a Catholic pastor, the Magister Johann Hohenstein. At the end of 1605, after 60 years, all residents were again Catholic.
In 1618 the fortress in Königstein was provided and prepared for the upcoming war under the new commandant von Greifenklau. August 1619 the Thirty Years War reached Königstein when the troops of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria marched through Königstein to take part in the Battle of the White Mountain . In the summer of the following year, Spanish and Flemish mercenaries of General Marquis di Spinola plundered Eppstein and Neuenhain . After these (actually allied) armies had passed by, after two years of peace, Protestant troops under Duke Christian von Braunschweig came to Kurmainz for the first time in the summer of 1622 , but were unable to take the Königstein fortress and were defeated in Höchst by Count Tilly . In January 1626, the Mainz curb bishop decreed his subjects a “land rescue tax” to finance the war. Even if Königstein was not involved in acts of war until 1630, the residents nevertheless carried the burdens of the war with them.
In the battle of Breitenfeld near Leipzig on September 7, 1631, Gustav Adolf defeated General Tilly, clearing the way for the conquest of Kurmainz by Protestant troops of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In November 1631 these troops stood in front of Königstein and began a siege. While the castles of Reifenberg, Falkenstein and Kronberg were quickly taken, the Königstein fortress initially held out. After the conquest of Mainz on December 23, 1631, the resistance in Königstein had become meaningless. On December 24, 1631, the Königstein Fortress also surrendered.
With a patent dated January 12, 1632 Gustav Adolf ordered the return of Königstein to the Stolberg counts. The Count zu Stolberg moved into the Königstein Castle. After the residents of Königstein paid homage to the count on the following day, an immediate forced conversion to Protestantism was ordered and enforced. Against popular opposition, the Catholic pastor was replaced by a Protestant one and the practice of the Catholic faith was banned.
With the Battle of Nördlingen on September 6, 1634, the Catholic League regained the upper hand. As a result, acts of war broke out again in Königstein. In the summer of 1635, Count Stolberg fled from Königstein to Frankfurt. The Königstein Fortress was only held by a small Protestant garrison. On September 21, 1635, Königstein Fortress was handed over to the imperial troops. In Koenigstein a Catholic priest was installed again and the fortress was placed under the command of an Electorate of Mainz.
In the years that followed, there were repeated billeting, looting and skirmishes in Königstein. Even when major battles were no longer fought, the city became completely impoverished and lost a large part of its population. The looting of Swedish mercenaries in 1640 was particularly painful . The weak fortress garrison was unable to protect the city. In the spring of 1645 the traveling party of the wife of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine was quartered in Königstein. In November 1645, looting by cavalry of the Prince of Holstein took place. After the end of the war, the reconstruction began slowly. Among other things, the Capuchin monastery in Königstein was founded.
From 1660 to 1670 the fortress was rebuilt and expanded by Kurmainz according to plans by the French builder Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban . Part of the fortress was now used as a state prison. A well-known prisoner was Philipp Ludwig Freiherr von Reiffenberg, the last knight of Reifenberg .
In 1688 in the Palatinate War of Succession , Königstein was taken by French and Hessian troops. The fortress under commandant Count Hohenlohe capitulated after a short siege. Also in 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession , Königstein was occupied by French troops (despite Kurmainz's neutrality). In 1781 the Oberamt Königstein was merged with the Oberamt Höchst-Hofheim. Oberamtsitz became Höchst.
French Revolutionary Wars / The Destruction of the Castle
In 1792, the First Coalition War embroiled Königstein in the most severe fighting. The French revolutionary general Adam-Philippe de Custine conquered Mainz in October 1792. As a result of this victory, the Königstein fortress was also handed over to the French by the Kurmainzer troops. After the reconquest of Frankfurt by Prussian and Hessian troops on December 2, 1792, the opponents in the Vordertaunus faced each other directly. The French occupation of the Königstein Fortress was not prepared to hand over the fortress. For this reason, the bombardment of the city and fortress began on December 6, 1792.
Even if the population fled to the neighboring towns when the siege began and the number of fatalities remained limited, 80% of the city was destroyed by fire as a result of artillery fire. However, the fortress did not surrender and was therefore enclosed. Only on March 8, 1793, the French troops surrendered. On March 21st, Kurmainz troops advanced into the city and replaced the Prussian conquerors.
The Königstein Fortress was now used as a central remand prison for French sympathizers. In addition to the existing prison wing, the other buildings of the fortress were also used to detain those who were suspected of supporting the revolution in the electoral state. On November 17, 1794, a revolt broke out against the harsh conditions of detention. The prisoners tried to improve the sanitary and prison conditions by going on a hunger strike, but could not prevail.
After Prussia left the coalition on April 5, 1795, Austrian troops were deployed to reinforce the Kurmainz on May 14, 1795. The prisoners were released during the year.
In 1795/1796 the castle and town changed hands in quick succession. On September 22, 1795 the Austrians and Kurmainz withdrew. However, the attempt by the French to take over the fortress on September 25th failed. The French troops looted the city for 11 hours and withdrew on October 13 because of approaching coalition troops. On October 14th the fortress was taken again by Austrian troops.
On July 11th, the Königstein fortress was again taken over by the French after the Austrians had withdrawn and the Electoral Mainz occupation surrendered. However, the French suffered a heavy defeat in the battle of Amberg on August 24, 1796 and had to retreat to the Rhine line.
The French, unable to hold the Königstein Fortress, decided to destroy it. The attempt to subvert it failed because of the hard rock, the plan to set fire to the castle from the tower because of the danger to the city.
On the evening of September 7th, the 32-meter-deep cistern in the central courtyard was filled with wood, cannonballs and gunpowder. This explosive device, weighted down, was supposed to destroy the fortress. However, the explosive device exploded during the work. Part of the castle building collapsed. The 10 to 15 man strong demolition squad was buried under the rubble.
As a result, the destruction was not so great that rebuilding would not have been possible. However, it was not rebuilt. The rubble was subsequently used as a quarry for the reconstruction of the city of Königstein.
Duchy of Nassau
With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803, the Mainz electoral state was dissolved. Königstein fell to Nassau-Usingen . With the establishment of the Duchy of Nassau in 1806, Königstein became part of the new state. Königstein remains the official seat of the Nassau office of Königstein . On April 4, 1849 Königstein becomes part of the Idstein district as part of an administrative reform . On October 1st, 1854, however, the old Königstein office was restored.
In 1813 the Capuchin monastery is closed. In 1851 a cold water sanatorium was built, which led to an economic boom. As part of the development of the cure in Königstein , an extensive infrastructure was created, such as the Hilda temple .
mayor
The March Revolution also led to changes in Königstein. On March 14th, Georg Eigner was dismissed by the city in a riotous state . This is less directed against the person owner (who later worked as a local councilor and member of the state parliament), but was a protest against the lack of local self-government . According to the Nassau municipal code of 1816 , the town council was established by the sovereign and had more extensive powers than the two mayors elected by the town. After the Nassau municipal code was passed in 1848 , Jakob Hees, a mayor with extensive powers, was democratically elected for the first time. Hees remained in office until 1854.
The other mayors were:
- Wilhelm Fischer, 1855–1870
- Ludwig Brühl, 1870–1881
- Wilhelm Friedrich, 1881-1894
- Franz von Schildt, 1894–1901
- Josef Sittig, 1901–1908
- Dr. Bruno Beyer
- Gustav Böhm, from 1926
Prussia
After the Duchy of Nassau lost the German War in 1866 on the side of the German Confederation under the leadership of Austria , it was annexed by Prussia . Königstein became part of the Prussian administrative district of Wiesbaden and on February 22nd, 1867 of the newly created Obertaunuskreis . From 1878 to 1881 Bernhard von Schenck was the bailiff in Königstein.
However, Königstein's ties to the House of Nassau remained close. Grand Duke Adolf of Luxembourg remained the owner of the castle ruins and the old Electoral Mainz office, the Luxembourg Palace .
From the 1880s onwards, a number of important urban development steps took place:
- 1884/1891 Foundation of the Ursuline Monastery (nucleus of the St. Angela School)
- 1888 Construction of the Protestant church on Burgweg
- 1899 opening of the "Taunus Institute" as a Higher School for Girls (now Taunus High School )
- 1902 Inauguration of the Königsteiner Bahn and opening of the Königstein train station
- 1905/06 construction of the synagogue on Seilerbahnweg
- 1906/07 construction of the Grand Hotel (today KVB clinic)
- 1912 Construction of the St. Josef Hospital
Weimar Republic / French occupation
After the First World War , Königstein with Oberreifenberg and the western part of the Obertaunuskreis was in the "bridgehead Mainz " of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland . On December 14, 1918, the 287th French infantry regiment moved in with a colonel, two majors, 1,800 men and 250 horses as an occupation force. After the Peace Treaty of Versailles , the occupation by the French victorious power should last 15 years. Since the district administration was not allowed to administer the occupied district, the Königstein district was formed from the occupied district .
Königstein remained occupied by 700 French soldiers until 1925, the residents were subject to occupation rights and every visit to a neighboring town meant crossing the border. In 1924, the customs duties on this border were abolished. In 1925 the French occupation was replaced by a British one, who finally left Königstein in 1929. On October 1, 1928, the Königstein district was dissolved again and Königstein rejoined the Obertaunus district. To commemorate the regaining of independence, a liberation ceremony was held on the night of June 30th to July 1st, 1930 and the rock of freedom in the Woogtal with the inscription "We are free!" consecrated.
Jewish health resort
Königstein was considered a "Jewish health resort" - this was a topic especially during the Nazi era. A high proportion of Jewish guests (e.g. Otto Klemperer , Kurt Hahn , Carl Sternheim , Botho Graef ) mainly reached the internationally known Dr. Kohnstamm (the name was retained even after the founder Oskar Kohnstamm's death in 1917) and the Hotel Cahn, which attracted many Frankfurt Jews because of the kosher food, and from 1906 they could easily take the train for a day trip in a short time could arrive.
Since Königstein was also a prominent residence of Jewish citizens (e.g. Mathilde von Rothschild , Sigismund Kohn-Speyer , L. Albert Hahn , Hermann Wronker , Albert Katzenellenbogen , Julius Blau , Max Neisser , Adolf Sabor , the family of Richard Musgrave ), came well-known “names” to the spa town via their friends and guests. It is noticeable that the poet Stefan George , who is known to have frequented his school friend Oskar Kohnstamm's , moved two streets further after his death and the sale of the sanatorium to his sister, Anna George. There he received members of the George Circle for whom rooms had been specially rented. This included, for example, Ernst Morwitz , with whom he hiked and dedicated a poem to him about the ascent to Falkenstein Castle . Georges and Kohnstamm's long-time school friend Karl Wolfskehl had contacts one street further to the Dr. Amelung. There, friendly relations with the Wolfskehl dynasty in Darmstadt even went so far that the Amelung family took over the evangelical sponsorship of a member of the Wolfskehl family (as reported by Prof. Walther Amelung in his memoirs).
The provisional mayor Müllenbach commented in 1938 by commenting on the continued existence of the Kohnstamm sanatorium in the discussion about the Aryanization , saying that “Königstein's reputation as a 'Jewish health resort' would be re-established in a way that cannot be repaired”. It should be noted here again that the new owner of the renowned Kohnstamm sanatorium, Carl Frankl, as the brother of the famous fighter pilot Wilhelm Frankl , also ensured popularity.
In 1937, 24 boarding houses still avoided the pressure to add an addition to the directory - but in 1938 all 54 boarding houses and restaurants included the addition to the housing gazette: "All houses are run free of Jews."
Even after the Second World War , famous personalities of Jewish descent were drawn to Königstein. So spent z. B. Max Dessoir here his old age, as well as the wife of the publisher Samuel Fischer and aunt Ruth Landshoffs - Hedwig, geb. Landshoff. Both died in Königstein. The visit of Paulette Goddard , Charly Chaplin's wife is also guaranteed.
time of the nationalsocialism
When the National Socialists came to power , officials in Königstein were also dismissed and replaced by supporters of the new regime. As a popular summer residence for wealthy Frankfurters, a number of wealthy people lived in Königstein among the 73 Jews. During the Reichspogromnacht on November 10, 1938, the Königstein synagogue on Seilerbahnweg and a number of private houses of Jewish citizens were set on fire and destroyed. The Villa Rothschild was surrounded by the Reich Labor Service and protected from destruction on the instructions of the acting mayor Müllenbach . According to Müllenbach's plans, the house was to serve as a health resort - he might want to have it for himself. Not least because of this arbitrariness, Müllenbach was dismissed from his post on June 1, 1939. The sanatorium Dr. Kohnstamm was expropriated in 1938. At the end of 1938, the last seven remaining Jews in Königstein were taken to concentration camps.
With the outbreak of the war, the city's sanatoriums and hotels were converted into military hospitals and the spa business came to a complete standstill. Temporary homes were built in Altkönigstrasse and on the current site of the Taunusgymnasium to take in refugees and bombed-out people. In 1945 there were 2,500 hospital beds in Königstein (for comparison: the city had 3,568 inhabitants before the war).
Although Königstein was declared a hospital town and should not have been bombed according to the Geneva Convention , an air raid on Königstein took place on February 2, 1945. 19 dead and much destruction were the result. On March 29, 1945, Königstein was occupied by American units. Hubert Fassbender was appointed mayor by the occupation authorities.
post war period
In the post-war years, Königstein hosted the new democratic politicians several times. In 1949 the Prime Ministers met at the Villa Rothschild. The Federal Association of the Young Union , the youth organization of the CDU , was founded at the first German meeting from January 17 to 21, 1947 in Königstein.
In 1949, the state agreement of the states of the Federal Republic of Germany on the financing of scientific research institutions ( Königstein State Agreement ) was agreed in Königstein . The Königstein places since then determine how the individual states of the Federal Republic of Germany are to participate in joint financing.
A year later, in the course of deliberations in the Villa Rothschild - the then House of the States, a regulation called the Königstein Agreement arose . Thereafter, the office of the President of the Federal Council changes annually between the Prime Ministers or first mayors of the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany in the order of the decreasing number of inhabitants (of the federal states).
In 1954 the "House of Encounters" was built in Königstein and the East Priest Aid was launched. The spa business also revived. Königstein managed to make a name for itself again both nationally and internationally as a health resort. The spa was opened in 1977.
In terms of organization, Königstein came to Hesse as part of the Obertaunuskreis after the Second World War. As part of the regional reform in Hesse , Königstein becomes part of the Hochtaunuskreis . In the course of the regional reform in Hesse, the community of Schneidhain was voluntarily incorporated on April 1, 1972 and the communities of Falkenstein and Mammolshain on August 1, 1972 by a state law to Königstein im Taunus.
swell
- Schlott, Christoph, archeology around Königstein, self-published by the Verein für Heimatkunde i. Ts. EV
- Beate Großmann-Hofmann, Hans-Curt Köster: Königstein im Taunus: History and Art, 2nd edition 2010, Langewiesche publishing house , ISBN 978-3-7845-0777-4 .
- Krönke, Rudolf, Königsteinerisches, 1973, Association for Local History, Königstein i. Ts. EV
- Krönke, Rudolf, People and Events in Königstein, 1997, Sutton Verlag GmbH.
- Helmut Bode: Königstein, Falkenstein im Taunus, Frankfurt 1968.
- Schlott, Christoph, 2000 years Taunus, 1991, Terra Incognita.
- Magistrate of the city of Königstein, 150 years of cure in Königstein, 2001, Magistrate of the city of Königstein.
- Local history sheets in Königstein im Taunus, 1953-2004, Association for Local History.
- City administration of Königstein / Taunus, Königstein in the past and present, 1963, self-published by the city administration.
- Sturm-Godramstein, Heinz, Jews in Königstein, 1998, Magistrate of the City of Königstein.
- Ferdinand Luthmer: The buildings and art monuments of the eastern Taunus, 1905 (reprint 1973, ISBN 3-500-27300-9 ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbert Pohl: Magic belief and fear of witches in the Electorate of Mainz. A contribution to the witch question in the 16th and early 17th centuries, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner 1998, p. 66.
- ↑ The origin of the bombs that caused the fire remains unclear. See Johann Heinrich Liebeskind : Recollections of a journey through part of Germany, Prussia, Courland and Livonia - during the French stay in Mainz and the unrest in Poland , Strasburg & Königsberg 1795, p. 58ff digitized
- ↑ Beate Großmann-Hoffmann: Effects of the Revolution 1848/49 in Königstein
- ^ District committee of the Obertaunuskreis: The Obertaunuskreis and its communities 1867–1927, 1927
- ↑ Magistrate of the city of Königstein im Taunus (ed.): 150 years of cure in Königstein: from the beginnings to the present; 1851-2001. Königstein 2001, p. 105.
- ↑ Ibid. P. 104
- ↑ www.wahlrecht.de - Election of the President of the Federal Council & Königstein Agreement
- ↑ Law on the reorganization of the Obertaunus district and the district of Usingen (GVBl. II No. 330-18) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 227 , § 5 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
- ↑ Gerstenmeier, K.-H. (1977): Hessen. Municipalities and counties after the regional reform. A documentation. Melsungen. P. 268