Kurhaus (Bad Schwalbach)
The Kurhaus in Bad Schwalbach is a cultural monument under monument protection.
history
Under Landgrave Karl Emanuel zu Hessen-Rotenburg (reign 1778-1812) the construction of a society house was planned. This project failed, as did later attempts by the government of the Duchy of Nassau and private hoteliers. In the second half of the 19th century, the town of Schwalbach acquired the parish garden at the entrance to the Stahlbrunnental opposite the official building ( Rotenburger Schlößchen ).
The community announced an architectural competition. However, the award-winning designs (by H. Kafka, O. Schulze, Munich and Ms. Seitz, Heidelberg) were not implemented. Instead, in 1873, the architect Philipp Hoffmann , who had been retired from Prussian civil service as a royal senior building officer in 1870, took over the building project and reduced the scope of the planning considerably. The existing tithe barn on the site was demolished and the “Cursaal Building” was built from 1873 to 1878.
The driving forces behind the construction of the Kurhaus were the mayors Philippi (1851–1876) and Höhn (1876–1899). The secret advice Dr. Fenner von Fenneberg and Sir Francis Head. In 1876 the Kurverein commissioned the sculptor Weidl from Rottenburg am Neckar with the production of busts of the latter two, which were placed in the Kurhaus (today in the city archive).
During the First World War the Kurhaus served as a military hospital . From 1918 it was used as a town hall (the actual town hall had been confiscated by the occupying forces). After the approval, a casino was set up in the Kurhaus. The state spa hotel was built in 1930/31. The Kurhaus thus lost its importance. On April 1, 1932, the state of Prussia acquired the Kurhaus from the community for RM 300,000.
During the Second World War the Kurhaus was initially used as a transit camp for those doing military service and later as a special service for a secret military unit. After the war, the Americans used it as a spare parts store for the Air Force.
In 1947 the Kurhaus was opened again and used as a cinema and for dance events.
Building description
The Kurhaus consists mostly of light French limestone. The strongly plastic facade structure contains elements of the Renaissance style and is at the same time representative, splendid and monumental. The main facade is in the east towards the city center. The five-axis, formerly gable-crowned central building with two arcade floors and a portico in front stands above the basement. On both sides there are three-axis lower side wings, formerly with gable-shaped closing central risalites . There are five-axis, column-supported loggias on the north and south sides of the park.
Inside is the two-storey Kursaal, which is bordered by arcade walls with columns made of black Nassau marble. The walls and ceilings of the Kursaal, today's Red and Small Hall, are richly decorated with partially colored stucco.
literature
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Hrsg.): Kurhaus In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
- Willy Eschenauer: What the Kurhaus in Bad Schwalbach tells us ; in: Heimatjahrbuch des Untertaunuskreis 1971, pp. 83–85
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 22.1 ″ N , 8 ° 4 ′ 2.3 ″ E