Electoral Palace (Mainz)
The Electoral Palace in Mainz is the former city residence of the Archbishops of Mainz , who as such were also electors and rulers of the Mainz Electoral State .
history
The Archbishop of Mainz originally lived directly at the cathedral. The old private chapel (around 1137) at Mainz Cathedral still bears witness to this today . In 1475, however, the Mainz cathedral chapter elected Diether von Isenburg (for the second time) as the new archbishop. In his election surrender he had to hand over the city of Mainz to the cathedral chapter (which, however, only lasted until 1476 because of a civil uprising), and he also committed himself to building a castle in the city. Construction began in 1478 and the Martinsburg was built on the banks of the Rhine. It was completed in 1480. From then on, the archbishops preferred to reside there or in the second electoral residence, the Aschaffenburg Castle . Mainz became an electoral-archbishop's residence city. After the destruction in the Second Margrave War in 1552, the castle was restored in the Renaissance style, Archbishop Daniel Brendel von Homburg also built a chancellery and the St. Gangolph Castle Church around 1580 . These buildings and the Martinsburg were all destroyed under Napoléon Bonaparte during the French occupation of the city from 1798 to 1814, mostly to build grand streets.
However, as early as 1627 (during the Thirty Years' War ), under Archbishop Georg Friedrich von Greiffenklau , construction of a new palace began, but the Rhine wing was not completed until 1687. A Capuchin Father Matthias von Saarburg has been identified as the master builder . Due to the Thirty Years' War and the Palatinate War of Succession , which began in 1688, construction was delayed several times or a continuation was decided against. Although the original plan is not known, it can be assumed that a four-wing complex was planned, as in Aschaffenburg, where a new residence was started in 1604 after the destruction in the Margrave War. Because of the delays, the Martinsburg probably also stood still for the time being.
In addition to the wars and destruction in the Palatinate War of Succession, one of the reasons for the late continuation of construction is also to be seen in the fact that many electors of this period put their building efforts on representative aristocratic courts and above all the pleasure palace Favorite , which was started around 1700 under Lothar Franz von Schönborn City across from the Main estuary. This residence was destroyed during the siege of the city by coalition troops in 1793 .
The north wing of the Electoral Palace was largely finished in 1752 and was equipped in the following years. The wing leading away from the Rhine was only started under the Archbishops Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein (1743–1763) and Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal (1774–1802). A courtyard garden was also part of the baroque complex, but nothing has been preserved.
Mainz was occupied by French troops during the Revolutionary War. Napoleon I , who wanted to develop the city into a representative metropolis (Boulevard de l'Empire) , had the Martinsburg demolished in 1809 so that the wing on the Rhine side has been free since then.
During the Second World War , the castle was badly damaged in an air raid in August 1942 and burned down for two days. Only the facades and parts of the staircases were preserved. After the war, the north wing was first restored, and in 1950 was celebrated here again Fassenacht . Only the exterior was faithfully restored; the completely destroyed interior, on the other hand, was appropriately furnished. In the east wing there is now the Roman-Germanic Central Museum , in the north wing there is the well-known event hall known as the “academy hall”, in which the traditional joint meeting “ Mainz remains Mainz, as it sings and laughs ” of the four Mainz carnival associations takes place, each of which has been held since 1973 Broadcast live on television every year.
For several years there has been an urgent need for renovation; redevelopment has been postponed several times due to financial difficulties in the city. The facade is crumbling, especially the north side is badly affected by the decay. Cornices and details of the main sandstone building are dissolving. On the initiative of the German Foundation for Monument Protection , the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the private monument network are also restoring the palace. A planned facade renovation and redesign has been postponed to 2010/2011. In December 2010 it was announced that the funds for the castle renovation in 2011 will again not flow. The renovation work on the courtyard side of the palace was completed in 2013. The renovation of 17 window axes cost 2.6 million euros.
The construction
Stylistically, the Electoral Palace is one of the last buildings of the so-called “German Renaissance ”. The north wing, built later, is adapted to this style. The exterior with its oriel turrets at all corners is furnished with rich architectural decor (especially the windows). It was restored to the original including the roofs. Inside there was once a large main staircase by Balthasar Neumann , which was removed during the French rule.
Others
The Mainz Jacobin Club was founded in the castle on October 23, 1792 , the first Jacobin Club on German soil.
The palace is being marketed as a conference and event location by mainzplus Citymarketing GmbH.
See also
literature
- Architect Josef Prestel: The Electoral Palace in Mainz. : The architect , born in 1895, pp. 41–43 (online at ANNO ).
Web links
- The Electoral Palace in Mainz, "The Architect", 1895
- The castle in Mainz by Bernhard Peter (on building history and heraldry)
Remarks
- ↑ Erthal was also the last elector of the "old" electoral state, his successor, Karl Theodor von Dalberg , was elector-arch-chancellor only for the areas on the right bank of the Rhine and resided in Regensburg , to which the electoral dignity of the Electoral Mainz state had been transferred by the main Imperial Deputation.
Individual evidence
- ^ Christiane Reves: Building blocks for the history of the city of Mainz: Mainz Colloquium 2000 . Franz Steiner Verlag, Volume 55 2002, ISBN 978-3-515-08176-4 , pp. 142 .
- ↑ See on this: Ullrich Hellmann: The court garden in Mainz and the gardeners at the electoral court. A contribution to the garden culture of Mainz in the 18th century . Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2018. ISBN 978-3-88462-378-7
- ^ Information from the building department, Norbert Schüler , at the meeting of the building committee on May 7, 2009.
- ↑ Beck starts the red pencil - explosive savings proposals for the Mainz household , AZ Mainz , December 9, 2010.
- ↑ DPA-RegiolineGeo: Monuments: The renovation of the Mainz palace facade is progressing. In: Focus Online . October 21, 2013, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.mainzplus.com/kurfuerstliches-schloss.html
Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 24 ″ N , 8 ° 16 ′ 14 ″ E