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House season from the northeast, April 2014

The Staffel house (also known as the Alte Vikarie or formerly Domküsterhaus ) is a listed half-timbered house on the Domplatz in the central Hessian city ​​of Limburg an der Lahn . Due to its "extraordinarily high-quality half-timbered facade", it is considered the most important late medieval residential building in the city.

After numerous changes of ownership, it has been the property of the Diocese of Limburg since 1903 and today, like the neighboring former cathedral house , part of the diocesan center St. Nikolaus , completed in 2013 , the residence and official seat of the Limburg bishop.

Previous buildings and ownership history

Early 20th century (drawing by Ferdinand Luthmer )

A property on the site of the current building is first mentioned in 1287, at that time owned by the Isenburg castle man Wilderich von Villmar . As Burglehn , this went to the von Staffel family in 1428 . In 1515, according to Philipp von Staffel , Johannes Mechtel's city ​​chronicle had the house built, which has been preserved to this day, and two or three previous buildings were abandoned. As a schoolmaster and pastor, he was a member of the monastery chapter .

In 1678 the present Staffel went to the Provost of Kesselstatt . After almost 175 years in the possession of this family, the veterinarian Johann Heinrich Steiger and his wife Anna Maria Unkelbach bought the house in 1852 . In 1878 Joseph Maldaner came into possession of the building before the diocese of Limburg finally became the owner in 1903. At that time the building was known as the Domküsterhaus . This is the name given to the neighboring house, Domplatz 6 , completed in 1904 .

Building description

The massive ground floor was built in 1515 on a barrel-vaulted cellar, which probably stems from a previous building. A three-storey half-timbered building with a steep gable roof rests on the high quarry stone base . A polygonal bay window extends into the gable on the east side , which is supported by arches. The octagonal stair tower on the south side was added in 1522. The framework has the curved K- struts typical of this period as well as crossed, curved footbands in the area of ​​the parapets . The surrounding bars are also striking . The entrance to the house is on the south side. The Rococo door leaf resembles that of the Byron house on Bischofsplatz , and the skylight is also in this style.

In 1977 the cross-frame windows were restored as well as the ribbon windows on the north side facing Domstrasse.

For historical, cultural and urban planning reasons, the building is a listed building and is part of the entire Old Town and Frankfurter Vorstadt complex .

Refurbishment and conversion to the office of the bishop

Condition before renovation (2008)
During construction in February 2013, the facade was not yet painted. The enlarged windows on the ground floor can be clearly seen.
Completely slated back of the building after completion of the renovation.

The Staffel house was extensively renovated from 2011 to 2013, whereby the building had to be completely gutted due to previous damage and provided with a supporting structure. Since then it has belonged to the newly created diocesan center St. Nikolaus and houses office and administrative rooms of the Diocese of Limburg .

Since 2007: preliminary research and planning

In preparation for the construction of the new episcopal residence and official residence (later called Diocesan Center St. Nikolaus ), an extensive examination of the building fabric was carried out on behalf of the diocese from March to August 2007. Building on this, architect Christoph Mäckler created a preliminary draft by December 2007, which provided for the renovation of the roof, windows, building services and surfaces of the Cathedral House and House Staffel with "minimal interventions in the [building] substance" as part of the building project. The usable area of ​​the Staffel house was given as 150 m², the budget as 1 million euros.

A tender draft from 2008 published in 2013 by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung contains a detailed spatial plan for the Staffel building, which is intended as a service building. According to this document, an entrance area with toilet, reception room and kitchen were planned on the ground floor. A secretariat, toilets and the offices of the bishop and his personal advisor should be located on the first floor. The planned usable area was between 95 and 117 m². An expansion of the second floor and the attic was not planned.

In spring 2010, the architecture firm commissioned at the time estimated the cost of the renovation of the building again at 1 million euros. The office of the architect Michael Frielinghaus , who was responsible for the planning from May 2010, began in August 2010 with the planning of a previously unplanned basement of the open space between the Domküsterhaus and the Staffel house. Access should be possible via the stair tower of the latter. The building application was submitted on August 31, 2010.

From May 2012: Damage to the framework and necessary new planning

From May 2012, when the building was gutted, major damage to the framework became apparent, which was attributed to previous improper renovations and repairs. The ceiling beams on the first floor had been planed down in order to achieve a greater ceiling height on the first floor. As a result, their cross-section was too small to be able to support the ceiling after the core was removed. Furthermore, new floor coverings had been applied over and over again over the centuries, some of which had a total thickness of up to 20 cm. Due to the heavier weight of the ceilings, load-bearing structures detached themselves from their tenons.

In the roof structure, rot was found on the rafter heads and supports , which meant that they were no longer stable and that they had to be replaced. By raising the collar beam system earlier , the statics were also disturbed. The security was carried out by covert carpentry measures. The north wall had to be completely renewed.

As soon as the damage became known, the renovation concept was redesigned with the aim of preserving the existing building fabric and reducing the loads. A so-called “house within a house” was planned to relieve the wooden structure.

From September 2012: Rescheduling and completion

At the “special request of the client”, the planning for the ground floor was changed from September 2012. The cloakroom and technical rooms were relocated under the stairs, whereupon both the staircase construction and the fire protection planning had to be changed.

The renovated building was moved into on July 19, 2013. The updated cost calculation by the architectural office from September 2013 shows two separate items for the Staffel building. The technical repair cost around 2.6 million euros, the renovation itself almost 1.6 million euros, the total costs are given as 4.2 million euros. The architecture critic Dieter Bartetzko described the renovation in an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as a "model case of sustainable monument preservation".

  • Bishop's desk

  • Bay window in the bishop's office with writing desk and view of the cathedral

  • Spiral staircase with LED-lit steps

  • Private library above the bishop's office

literature

Web links

Commons : House Staffel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Verena Fuchß: Cultural monuments in Hessen: City of Limburg. Stuttgart 2007, p. 246
  2. ↑ a b c d Ferdinand Luthmer: The architectural and art monuments of the Lahn area: Oberlahnkreis, Limburg district, Unterlahnkreis. Frankfurt am Main 1907, pp. 76, 128f.
  3. ↑ Verena Fuchß: cultural monuments in Hesse City Limburg. Stuttgart 2007, p. 84
  4. ↑ a b c Episcopal Ordinariate Limburg: Development of planning decisions at the Diocesan Center of St. Nicholas (PDF; 3.4 MB) 2013. Accessed on October 13, 2013. pp. 1, 5–9
  5. ↑ Bischöfliches Ordinariat Limburg: Draft of a tender for an expert procedure for a house of the bishop on Domberg (PDF; 802 kB) 2008
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Bischöfliches Ordinariat Limburg: (Untitled) (PDF; 7.9 MB) Overview of the rescheduling. 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013. pp. 4f.
  7. ↑ a b Dieter Bartetzko : The building everyone is talking about Published on October 16, 2013 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved October 25, 2013.

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 '19.3 "  N , 8 ° 3' 57.8"  E