Altefeld main stud
The main stud Altefeld was a 1913 by Upper Landstallmeister the Prussian Stud Administration Burchard von Oettingen based main stud in the district Altefeld the community Herleshausen in Werra-Meissner in Hessen .
history
The barren plateau known as Diebenritt on the south-eastern edge of the Ringgau with the Vorwerk Lüstefeld was one of the extensive holdings of the Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels . Until the late 19th century, this remote region was known as Hessian Siberia and was used for agriculture and sheep farming.
In 1881, Landgrave Alexis von Hessen , who had his residence at Augustenau Castle in Herleshausen, acquired the Altefeld estate and the Lüstefeld Vorwerk near Lüderbach to expand his farms. Alexis was the Prussian general of the cavalry à la suite ; in 1888 he willingly made the Altefeld maneuver available for a military maneuver, Prussian cavalry units were housed in all neighboring villages and field exercises took place over several weeks. The officers and veterinarians involved noticed the special climate and soil conditions, as well as the peace and seclusion of the Altefeld, which was the reason for the last main stud establishment of the Prussian state. The Prussian government began looking for suitable locations for another stud farm in 1913, and Gut Altefeld was rated positively.
“The area ... with its climatic conditions, which are particularly suitable for horse breeding, was a perfect choice. Another advantage was seen in the heavy clayey soil on shell limestone! ... The precipitation is held in the less permeable soil and enables the splendid flowering of fertile mountain meadows and sweet grass forage. In addition, they promised ... a favorable promotion of the bone structure. The harsh climate on the plateau ... gave hope that strong and healthy horse material would grow here. "
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On January 29, 1914, the Prussian House of Representatives approved the purchase of Altefeld. Now a contiguous field of 800 hectares was acquired through targeted purchase and land swap; it came mainly from the property of Landgrave Chlodwig von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and consisted of around 50 percent pasture land and meadows and 40 percent forest.
Oberlandstallmeister Burchard von Oettingen was responsible for the following years of construction up to 1918 . With generously provided government funds, he created a complete stud according to the most modern standards of the time. The transport services were handled by the 12 teams of the Altefeld estate and by rail. Prefabricated timber was mainly procured from the neighboring town of Creuzburg . First, however, the paved Heidelbergstrasse had to be laid out as the central construction axis. Another paved access road led down into the valley to Herleshausen train station. Paths branching off along Heidelbergstrasse led to the stables and residential buildings.
The stud facility was designed in such a way that it could be self-sufficient. The stables and the associated keepers' houses were spread across the stud area: there was a stallion stable for four thoroughbred stallions with their own guardian building, cover halls, broodmare stalls, loose stalls for young mares and young stallions. At the same time, the mansion-like buildings of the estate administration were erected - the estate manager's residence was particularly splendidly furnished as "the castle". The Gasthaus St. Georg (now a hotel), a school for the children of the stud employees, a gardening shop, a forestry department, a blacksmith's shop and a sheep farm around the former estate. The power supply was secured by the hydropower plant of the turbine-equipped Ölbachmühle. For the work on the stud, helpers could be recruited from the surrounding areas, farmers supplied the stud with straw, fodder and food in autumn.
After the First World War , the Landstallmeister Hans Althaus took over the management of the stud until 1922, followed by Count Sponeck and Count Kalnein . In February 1919 the first thoroughbred mares from the Graditz and Beberbeck studs were relocated to Altefeld. The state racing company and the Prussian racing stable from Hoppegarten were also transferred to the Altefeld Stud along with their horses. The stallions resident in the stud were supplemented by further acquisitions from abroad - always valuable racehorses from the USA, Australia, England, Ireland and France. Stud operation with private horse owners from all over Germany was a profitable business for the stud.
The last head of the stud until 1930 was Hermann Großcurth , he had to cede the horses intended for breeding to the Graditz main stud. Part of the staff of the stud remained on the Altefeld until 1932, which continued to exist as a state-owned domain economy and raised cattle in addition to Ermland foals . As a result of the housing shortage, land for 30 Neusiedlerhöfe on the Altfeld was approved and given preference to farm workers. But as early as April 1, 1935, the lease agreements were terminated, and the Wehrmacht urgently needed another army stud, which was subordinate to the Remonteamt Mansbach, Hünfeld district . Under Captain Leberecht Opitz , up to 350 two-year-old horses were quartered and trained at the Altfeld stud every year.
On April 1, 1941, the Altefeld Stud became an "Army Thoroughbred Stud" under the direction of Dr. Josef Pulte rededicated. During the German occupation of Poland and France, valuable breeding horses were captured there: 5 stallions and 125 thoroughbred mares came from Poland by rail, other stallions owned by the Rothschild family and the Aga Khan from France, which were handed over to the Altefeld Stud. The “Fohlenzuchhof Schoppenweier” near Colmar in Alsace was incorporated into the stud management. With its racing stable on the grounds of the Hoppegarten horse racing track , the stud successfully participated in horse racing events again. The army stud was dissolved at the end of the Second World War. On March 31, 1945, the Altefeld Stud was "overrun by the front" and handed over to the American military administration without resistance. Some of the prey horses were returned to their rightful owners in France, while several breeding horses were brought to the USA as living prey.
After the end of the war, the stud facility was transferred to the Office for Asset Control in the district town of Eschwege . It initially served as a pension stud and primarily to accommodate numerous expellees . From the end of the war to the beginning of the 1950s, up to 450 people worked and lived on the Altefeld.
On March 1, 1947, the state of Hesse handed over the stud farm, which was still managed in trust, in two parts: the so-called "Inner Stud" was transferred to the "Commission for Thoroughbred Breeding" in Hesse. The remaining land and buildings from the Altefeld estate were transferred to the "Kurhessische Pferdestammbuch Kassel". In 1957 the Federal Republic of Germany took over the former imperial property. The Federal Property Office sold with effect from 1 August 1962, the "Inner stud" with 105 hectares of pasture and 30 hectares of forest, the Hotel St. George and the majority of stables and guards apartments on the Hessian Stud Waldfried in Frankfurt . They bred racehorses at the stud until 1981, the stallion Elviro won the German Derby at the Hamburg-Horn racecourse .
The remaining part was taken over by the Hessian homeland for settlement purposes, thus the agricultural areas of some unprofitable farms in the neighboring towns were enlarged. A new 185 hectare farm was set up in the village of Altefeld. The approximately 210 hectare forest remained in the care of the Federal Forest Administration .
In the course of the regional reform on December 1, 1970, the place Altefeld was incorporated into Herleshausen.
In December 1981 the owner of the Waldfried Stud sold her part of the business in Altefeld and the Hotel St. Georg to a dedicated horse breeder. The existing building stock, which is under monument protection, has since been refurbished true to the monument; The horse breeding takes place according to the historical guidelines of the Prussian stud administration. The gray stallion Graditz was acquired as a breeding stallion by the Hessian State Stud Dillenburg for the rearing of German warmblood riding horses . In addition, a herd of Angus cattle was purchased in order to increase the profitability of the farm. At the end of the 1990s, the company was completely converted to organic farming. In 1998 a memorial was dedicated to the horse alchemist , whose mother came from the Altefeld stud farm.
architecture
For the construction of the main and ancillary buildings, an architectural style that was adapted to the landscape and the weather was chosen, while rubble stones from the immediate vicinity were mainly used as building material. The Altefeld Stud was built, among other things, based on the model of the Trakehnen main stud in an open form, in which the individual facilities are far apart and are distributed over the entire current location. This served to avoid the spread of equine diseases and animal diseases. The stud caretakers' housing complexes were placed next to the respective stalls, and stalls and houses were often built as double farmsteads.
Many stable buildings are identical in floor plan to those in Trakehnen . The houses all had a stable for two cattle, one for a couple of pigs and a chicken coop, as well as a large vegetable garden. Two octagonal summer stables that are symmetrically connected by long avenues are striking. One of the two stables is now used as a Catholic church, the other is empty. Some of the stallion stables were used as residential buildings.
Trivia
In November 2016, shooting took place on the estate for the youth film Ostwind - Aufbruch nach Ora , which was released on July 27, 2017.
A nationally known flea market took place in Altefeld until around 2009.
gallery
Main stud
main building
barn
literature
- Manfred W. Graf: The royal Prussian stud administration. ISBN 978-3931431419 , Thüringer Druckhaus, Eisenach, 2006
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Wolfgang Neitzel: Das Altefeld - the history of the place and the stud. In: Das Werraland, Eschwege 1986, pp. 22–24.
- ↑ a b c Hans Allmeroth: The Altefeld then and now - Prussian State Stud. In: Das Werratal, Eschwege 1925, pp. 158–161, 174–179.
- ^ Günther Hangen: Horse breeding in Kurhessen 1680-1980. In: Journal for Hessian History. Vol. 89 1982/83, pp. 182-188. content
- ↑ Utta Danella : The Waldfried Stud in Altfeld In: MERIAN - special issue June 1980 on Werraland, pp. 74-77.
- ^ "Ostwind" stars in front of Altefeld scenery , Werra-Rundschau from November 17, 2016, accessed on November 18, 2016
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 23.7 " N , 10 ° 6 ′ 58" E