Marienthaler Schlösschen
The Marienthaler Schlösschen is a monument in the Schweina district of the Thuringian town of Bad Liebenstein in the Wartburg district and is located in the southern part of the village.
The castle was designed as a two-storey, strictly symmetrical, classical building with a three-axis central wing. The outbuildings contained the functions required for the operation of the estate; at some distance from the castle there was a smelter from the 16th century and a copper hammer.
history
In the Middle Ages, the area south of Schweina belonged to the Wenigenschweina settlement (first mentioned in 1330). At the end of the 15th century, an estate was built there that belonged to the Lords of Rexrodt. Around 1558, Claus von Wechmar bought the estate, and he probably ordered the construction of a castle-like mansion in the Renaissance style . The Prussian colonel Ludwig Anton von Wechmar (1712–1787), a hussar general of Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War , was born in the castle. The estate was offered for sale in 1716 and came to the Liebenstein family of fishermen . Since this family in Liebenstein had their own property, the old castle fell into disrepair due to structural damage and neglect.Only one heir, the Meiningen forester Friedrich von Fischern, invested in the maintenance of the building from 1800, and in 1808 a side building was a new building Completed, on the advice of the builders involved, the old mansion was also demolished in 1812 and replaced by a new building.
The von Fischern family belonged to the landed gentry in the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen and in 1815 was entrusted with the administration of the ducal forests by the regent, Duchess Louise Eleonore . The constant absence from their estate in Wenigenschweina led to the decision to lease the estate for a longer period of time. The Herzoglich Meiningische Finanzkammer took over the estate in 1833 and renamed it. At the request of the now reigning Duke Bernhard Erich Freund , it was renamed Marienthal after his wife Marie (from Hessen-Kassel).
The property adjacent to the Marienthaler Schlösschen had been the site of a copper smelter since the 16th century, which was about 500 meters south on the banks of the Schweina . This company was acquired in 1853 by the industrialist Andreas Ziegler from Ruhla and a business partner. On the course of the Schweina river, an extensive factory for the manufacture of knives, small iron and brass goods was built within a few years. A successor to the company's founders acquired the Marienthaler Schlösschen as a residence in 1892. In the area up to the outskirts of Schweina there were other industrial companies and on the edge of the valley a small factory workers' settlement called Marienthal.
After reunification in 1990, a large part of the factory buildings, which were up to 100 years old, were demolished and the area around the castle is now an industrial wasteland.
Friedrich Froebel in Marienthal
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From 1851 the small castle, which also included a park area with walking paths and ponds, housed the pedagogue Friedrich Fröbel and a training center he founded for "nannies" on the upper floor of the main building. This made the Marienthaler Schlösschen one of the first vocational training institutions for women in Germany. Friedrich Froebel was visited here several times by another important teacher of his time, Adolph Diesterweg . It was here that the Prussian kindergarten ban also overtook him in August 1851. The already 70-year-old Froebel died on June 21, 1852 in the Marienthaler Schlösschen, he was buried in the Schweinaer Bergfriedhof. Under his successor, the educational institution existed in the main building of the castle until 1890.
Individual evidence
literature
- Ludwig Hertel: Marienthal In: Lehfeldt, Paul / Voss, Georg (ed.): Architectural and art monuments of Thuringia, Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen , Booklet XXXV, Salzungen District Court . Jena 1909. p. 88.
- Edith Raddatz: 160 years of Marienthal 1833–1993 . In: Altensteiner Blätter . Schweina 1993, p. 83-85 .
- Edith Raddatz: The field names of Schweina (after Erich Oeckel's notes from 1769) . In: Altensteiner Blätter . Schweina 1993, p. 64-81 .
- Marienthal. In: Between Ruhla, Bad Liebenstein and Schmalkalden (= values of our homeland . Volume 48). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1989, pp. 94–95.
- Eduard Fritze : History about Bad Liebenstein, Schweina, Steinbach and Atterode . Edited by Holger Munkel. Reprint of the Eisenach edition, self-published by the author, 1925. Elch Verlag, Bad Liebenstein 1999, ISBN 3-933566-09-6 .
- Roland Geißler : hiking guide to Bad Liebenstein and the Inselsberg , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2007, ISBN 978-3-938997-79-6
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ′ 49.8 " N , 10 ° 19 ′ 53.5" E