Highest castle

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View from the Schlossplatz
Gate construction of the Höchst Castle
Detail above the archway: St. Martin shares his coat

The Höchst Castle was the residence of the officials of the Archdiocese of Mainz in the former city of Höchst am Main , today a district of Frankfurt am Main . It consists of the Old Castle, built in the 14th to 16th centuries, and the New Castle, built at the end of the 16th century . Both are now owned by the German Foundation for Monument Protection . The Höchst Castle has been the focus of the Höchst Castle Festival every year since 1957 .

Old castle

The so-called Old Castle replaced a Gothic toll castle from the 14th century. Only the keep of this castle is still preserved. However, in 1681 it was given a baroque hood , which today gives the entire structure its uniqueness. In the lantern of the hood hung the city's storm bell from 1475. The bell is now in a barred niche in the castle wall.

"IR BURGER I WARN YCH EVERYONE SO IR HORET MYN SCHALLE - HYNGE CELLARS"

- Inscription on the bell

After the end of the Mainz collegiate feud (1461–1463) and the peace of Zeilsheim that ended it in October 1463, Archbishop Diether von Isenburg , who had been deposed and expelled from Mainz, was resigned to a small principality. This consisted of the Mainz offices of Höchst , Steinheim and Dieburg . He took up his residence in the Old Castle at Höchst.

The rest of the castle was in 1586 in the style of the Renaissance built. The Palas and the main part of the building was during the Thirty Years' War in January 1635 by the troops of Bernard of Saxony-Weimar burned. However, legend has it that a Brunswick captain named Zuckschwerdt refused to blow up the castle. The castle was not rebuilt after the war, the stones from the ruins were used in 1772 to build the Bolongaro Palace . Only the vaulted cellar remained of the large hall.

After the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803 and the dissolution of the Electorate of Mainz , the Höchst Palace became the property of the Duchy of Nassau . With the annexation of the Duchy by Prussia in 1866 after the German War , the castle fell to the Prussian state. In 1908 the Adolf von Brünings family , one of the founders of the Hoechst paint factory , acquired the decaying building complex from the Prussian tax authorities, had it renovated and opened the park to the public.

After the Second World War , the American occupation forces confiscated both parts of the palace in 1945 . From July 1945, the broadcasting center of the US was soldiers station American Forces Network (AFN), the crew quarters of the transmitter in the Old Castle here.

In 1961, Hoechst AG bought the castle from the heirs. The old castle was opened to the public. It became the seat of the Museum for Höchst History and the Hoechst AG company museum . In 1972, after extensive renovation, the new castle became the guest house of the board of Hoechst AG.

After the merger of Hoechst AG with Rhône-Poulenc and the relocation of the company headquarters to Strasbourg, the castle was transferred to Infraserv Höchst , which sold it to the German Foundation for Monument Protection on January 1, 2002 . The foundation thus returned to its place of origin: It was founded in 1985 with the support of the Hoechster board of directors. The decisive board meeting had taken place in the Hochster Schloss.

Today the monument academy of the German Foundation for Monument Protection is located in the offices of the palace . The Museum of Höchst History , which was formerly supported by Hoechst AG, is to be reorganized elsewhere. Its former museum rooms are currently being converted for new exhibition purposes and are therefore only accessible to a limited extent. Regular jazz events take place in the castle cellar. The castle courtyard, the newly designed castle terrace and the park in the moat are open to visitors during the day, even during the renovation work.

architecture

The representative gatehouse in the east can be assigned to the Renaissance. You can see the separation of the facade into two floors . The Doric column order prevails on the lower floor . The frieze contains the image of Saint Martin . In contrast, the Ionic order of columns dominates the second floor . The components are separated from one another by splendid painting and gilding .

The main building of the castle has a rectangular floor plan, at the north-eastern corner of which there is a lower round tower with a bell-shaped dome in the Renaissance style. In the south-western part of the main building is the Gothic keep with a baroque dome. The characteristic Renaissance gable of the roof dominates the northern and southern sides .

The new castle

West facade of the New Palace
New castle from the southeast

There are no reliable data on the origin of the "New Castle" complex, and the rest of the history is poorly documented. The building probably dates from the late 16th century and was probably a former aristocratic court. With the expansion of the city and the expansion of the Höchst Castle in the late 16th century, the New Castle, also known as the "Cavaliers Building", was created. It served as an electoral guest house. After secularization in 1803, the complex was transferred to the Duchy of Nassau and in 1866 to the Prussian financial administration. In the middle of the 19th century, the New Palace was owned by the Andreae-Winkler family, who ran a wine shop here until 1863.

In 1908 the von Brüning family bought the entire Höchst palace complex from the Prussian financial authorities and used it as an apartment and guest house. The property later became the property of the von Brüning Family Foundation . During the French occupation of Höchsts between 1918 and 1930, the castle was confiscated by the French and used as an officers' mess. The AFN studios were located in the New Palace from July 1945 to 1966.

The Hoechst AG acquired the entire palace complex in 1962 from that of Brüning's family foundation and established 1972 the New Castle as a representative guesthouse. In the course of the transformation of Hoechst AG into a management holding company, the complex was transferred to Infraserv Höchst , which sold it to the German Foundation for Monument Protection on January 1, 2002 for a symbolic price . As a result of the subsequent, gradual renovation, the Höchst local history museum, which had been housed there until then, had to close. The renovation was completed in 2013. The catering is leased to Eurest Germany . The New Castle serves as an exclusive event location with fine dining and a cultural program.

Others

The Höchst Castle, the Schloßplatz and the Höchst Castle Festival are spelled with ß despite the spelling reform .

literature

Web links

Commons : Highest Castle  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Multibeton: New Höchst Castle ( Memento from March 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ History of AFN Europe (Eng.)
  3. ↑ as: Reopening of the Old Höchst Castle . In: Monuments 6/2013, p. 74.

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 53 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 49 ″  E