Hunting lodge Hohe Sonne
The building known as the Hohe Sonne on Rennsteig , about six kilometers south of the Wartburg town of Eisenach , on Bundesstraße 19 , is the already ruined successor to a baroque hunting lodge from the mid-18th century.
history
Duke Johann Wilhelm von Sachsen-Eisenach had a large zoo laid out as a hunting facility, which stretched from the Rennsteig in a southerly direction through the forest over the Karthäuserberg down to Wilhelmstal. An entrance to this zoo was on the site of today's Hohe Sonne. To protect the zoo from poachers, the hunter's house was built next to the gate. Even then, the chosen site was very conveniently located at the crossroads of several regionally important routes from Eisenach, Mosbach, Ruhla , Etterwind, Eckardshausen and Wolfsburg-Unkeroda , Nürnberger Straße (now the federal highway) and the Rennsteig. The house was also used as a resting place and was later licensed under the name “Zur golden Füchsin”. Today it is almost unnoticed on the road that leads down to Wilhelmstal.
In 1741, Duke Ernst August I inherited the western Thuringian area with the center around Eisenach. The duke had two passions - building castles and hunting. In the nearby Eltegrund , near the forest village of Winterhausen, there was a princely hunting lodge since the 16th century. Now the always impatient Duke ordered the construction of a private hunting lodge in the forest area "Hohes Kreuz" - directly on the ridge on the Rennsteig. The state master builder Gottfried Heinrich Krohne was won as the architect , the stucco work was done by Johann C. Michel from Weimar, assisted by an Italian plasterer Paolo Sotai . The building complex was completed around 1747 and, in addition to the hunting lodge (with a tower), consisted of two pavilions, stable buildings, storage rooms and a kitchen house. The hunting lodge, located at a height of around 430 m, was the ideal starting point for extensive amusement in the princely hunting areas in West Thuringia. As a result of hasty and probably sloppy construction, this building complex only existed for a few years. When the advantages of the Wilhelmsthal palace complex in the nearby Eltetal became apparent as a summer residence, the future fate of the Hohe Sonne hunting lodge was sealed, it was sold (or leased) and from then on served as a rest house and overnight accommodation for travelers.
From 1777 Goethe visited the area several times and was enthusiastic about the scenic attractions. After the more and more dilapidated outbuildings were gradually demolished around 1800, only the protective wall, the hunter's house and a shed remained of the original building. Before the First World War, the forest village belonged to the municipality of Mosbach , while the surrounding forest was largely owned by the grand ducal, then state forest. At present, the districts of Eisenach (in the north), Mosbach (in the east), Eckardtshausen (south) and Wolfsburg-Unkeroda (west) meet at the castle.
DEDIL The Friday party on the Hohe Sonne
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Eisenach “Friday Society”, an association of Eisenach dignitaries , met regularly on Fridays on the Hohe Sonne . Her motto was the Horace quote “DEDIL” (“Dulce est desipere in loco”, which means “It is pleasant to be a fool in a suitable situation”). The legend of the copper engraving shown here tells you who is shown in the picture. Seen from left to right, they are the Princely Thurn- und Taxische Poststallmeister Jungherr, the Provincial Directorate Oettelt, the Oberrentmeister Voigt with dog, the Privy Government Councilor Heerwart, the Council Assessor and book printer owner F. von Goeckel, the Grand Ducal Saxony-Weimar-Eisenachischen Baurath and brickworks owner Johann Wilhelm Sältzer , the council and later mayor of Eisenach Carl Christian Wilhelm May , a guest named Louis Teysson, the professor Müller and the factory owner Karl Eichel .
Hotel Hohe Sonne
Today's "Schloss Hohe Sonne" was planned and applied for as a hotel, the construction was evidently a precedent, it required a separate building permit, which was even the subject of a state parliament debate in the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach (around 1890). With the laying of the foundation stone on July 22nd, 1899, the Hohe Sonne was built. In the process, the remaining pavilion (chausseewärterhäuschen) also disappeared and was torn down. The new hotel and castle was built in the center of the plateau. The architect was the Weimar building supervisor Reichenbecher, the experienced building inspector Dittmar from Eisenach worked as the local site manager.
- "The plans for the construction were drawn up based on those of a hunting lodge that was located there in the previous century and was later demolished and stood in the same place."
The hotel initially received 20 hotel rooms. The guests and all materials were still transported by horse and cart. Business-minded farmers even offered horse-drawn sleigh rides lasting several hours from Eisenach train station via Pflugensberg, Weinstrasse and Rennsteig in winter. Since then, the Hohe Sonne has been used intensively as an excursion destination and hotel. First renovations and major renovations took place in 1923, 1928 and most recently from 1933 to 1934. Since 1956 the hotel has been run by the state trading company HO. The last major building renovation took place between 1971 and 1973. In 1985 the Hohe Sonne was closed.
As a provisional supply for the hikers, the state forest enterprise Eisenach built log cabins at the parking lot and opened a snack bar, this provisional arrangement has been in existence for 30 years.
Structural matters
In addition to the actual castle building, a relatively small, three- story main house with a mansard roof , the contemporary descriptions and illustrations also report on farm buildings, stables and accommodation for servants. Most of these buildings were built as half-timbered buildings with board cladding on the outside - for weather and rain protection.
The useful life and durability of these structures were limited. The whole complex was surrounded by a sunny meadow and partially preserved stone wall with access gates. A small tower with a mounted, gilded sun served as a landmark and landmark; it was easily recognizable from the surrounding mountains and from the Wartburg . In order to make the nearby Wartburg more tangible, a wide visual corridor was laid out in the 19th century. The Wartburg water pipeline was built in 1886, which was the first time that the Hohe Sonne had a drinking water supply.
The building known as the “castle” with the little turret was last used as a hotel and restaurant for excursions in the 1980s, but was closed as early as 1985 due to building damage that could not be repaired. The building and the property are privately owned and inaccessible. Appeals from citizens' groups, associations and the city administration to save the listed building remained without consequences until 2012. The request of a Swiss prospect to tear down the former hunting lodge and instead build a post-modern building made of glass and steel was rejected. In 2012 there was a Dutch investor who wanted to restore the ailing facility and turn it into a hiking hostel.
On November 20, 2014 the building was listed by the Thuringian State Office for Monument Preservation as one of sixteen endangered castles in Thuringia. In 2016, plans to secure it became known. These have not yet been implemented (as of September 2018).
tourism
The Hohe Sonne is the starting point for hikes into the Drachenschlucht . During the GDR era, when it was not possible to enter the border area , all Rennsteig hikes and, until 2001, the GutsMuths Rennsteig run began here . The Lullus path X 16 coming from the Edersee also ends here .
See also
Waldsiedlung Hohe Sonne Eisenach
literature
Eberhart Matthes: From the history of the city and the district of Eisenach , in: Eisenacher Schriften zur Heimatkunde. Issue 4. Eisenach 1979 p. 76.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ NN: start of construction on the high sun . In: Eisenacher Zeitung . Eisenach November 11, 1899.
- ↑ Lotar Köllner: The Ruhla house. (History of a lost Ruhla hunting lodge on the Rennsteig). In: Heimatblätter , EP Report 2 Marburg 1992 p. 108 f.
- ↑ Norman Meißner: Hope germinates for "Hohe Sonne". The hunting lodge is to become a hiking hostel . Thuringian regional newspaper, August 16, 2012
- ↑ Michael Helbing: Monument Office lists 16 endangered castles and mansions. Thuringian General , November 20, 2014.
- ↑ The broken hunting lodge Hohe Sonne near Eisenach is secured. Retrieved September 17, 2016 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ' N , 10 ° 19' E