City Palace Krefeld

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East facade of the Krefeld City Palace, today part of the town hall

The City Palace , also called Palais von der Leyen , is the former city ​​palace of the silk weaver family von der Leyen in the center of the Lower Rhine city ​​of Krefeld . The classical building was erected in the late 18th century under Conrad von der Leyen and almost completely destroyed in the Second World War . After its reconstruction in the 1950s, it now forms the core of the Krefeld town hall and is a listed building .

history

Client Conrad von der Leyen, portrait of the 18th century

Conrad von der Leyen, royal Prussian councilor and eldest son of Peter von der Leyen , had acquired a piece of land in the west of what was then the city wall around Krefeld at the end of the 18th century and wanted to build a new prestigious house there as his family's ancestral home. On July 29, 1790, he submitted an application to break through the Krefeld city wall at this point with royal permission and to be allowed to lead around the property for the new building. He was given permission to do so on September 20 of the same year. Construction of the city palace began in February 1791. The plans for the new building were provided by the architect Martin Leydel , who planned a main building and two free-standing side wings as a remisent tract and stables as well as a riding arena. Presumably, however, it was not an independent design by Martin Leydel, but was probably based on existing sketches by his brother Michael Leydel, who died in 1782 .

The most magnificent house in Krefeld at the time was built by 1794, which impressively showed the wealth and reputation of the client and, due to its size, looked like a monumental building in relation to the city of that time . Even contemporaries called the building "the castle ", which is why it is known today as the city castle and (more rarely) von der Leyen castle. However, the magnificence and size of the palace also drew criticism: The builder had "exceeded the barriers of commercial frugality too far and completely shook off the fetters of Mennonite convenience". When the building moved in in September 1794, the construction work was not yet fully completed. When French revolutionary troops occupied Krefeld just two months later in the course of the coalition wars , French soldiers were quartered on the top floor of the Palais.

Conrad Wilhelm von der Leyen sold the palace to the city of Krefeld in 1860; 19th century portrait

After Conrad von der Leyen's death in June 1797, his son Friedrich Heinrich inherited the property. However, he and his family hardly ever used the building, because they found it impractical and uncomfortable, but Napoleon Bonaparte took up quarters in the palace when he visited Krefeld in 1804. Under French rule, the economic situation of the owner family was no longer as rosy as it was in the 18th century, and Conrad von der Leyen's descendants viewed the large city palace as a burden. His eldest daughter Maria was the last member of the family to live in the palace. When she died on January 24, 1857, she left a will in which she had decreed a lifelong right of residence for her maid, companion and the gardener. Her heir, Conrad Wilhelm von der Leyen, was therefore unable to sell the unloved building for the time being. Only in 1860 did he get the opportunity: on January 12th of that year for 25,000 Reichstaler he sold the building  to the city of Krefeld, which wanted to use it as the new town hall. The city plan initially received a lot of criticism, because the building was still far from the city center at that time, but with the gradual growth of Krefeld, the initially unfavorable location was put into perspective. The city had some alterations due to the intended use made and the building completely renovated . The old lattice windows were replaced by casement windows and the solidly constructed wooden pillar porch, which was ailing at the time, was renewed. In 1865 large statues in the form of Prussian eagles were placed on the eastern corners of the building, which remained there until the beginning of World War II. The construction work had a total cost of around 60,000 Reichstalers.

In 1891 the palace was given an extension wing at its northern end in the neo-renaissance style, based on a design by the Krefeld city ​​architect Johann Burkart . Further extension buildings followed in the period from 1934 to 1936 at the southern end. The plans for this came from Josef Walther Hollatz. The entire complex was almost completely destroyed during World War II in 1943. Only part of the outer walls and the pillars of the portico have been preserved. After the end of the war, the two historic tracts were rebuilt in a modern way, based on the requirements of a town hall. The palace received a new, modern wing in the southeast in 1958 and a further addition in the north from 1985 to 1988 and is still used today as the town hall of Krefeld.

description

Floor plans of the ground floor (below) and first floor (above) of the city palace in the 18th century

The city palace is a three-storey building in the classicism style, the main wing of which is divided into eleven axes on the long sides by windows . Its design is influenced by English Palladianism and also shows elements of Louis-seize . At the north-west corner there is an extension wing from the end of the 19th century in neo-Renaissance forms. Both wings are covered by a flat hipped roof, which is almost invisible in the main wing behind a heavy, sweeping cornice with a crowning parapet . The east facade facing the then city is plastered white . Above a high rusticated ground floor is the main floor . Its high rectangular windows have a crowning roof and are connected to one another by a continuous parapet . The second and top floor of the building is lower than the two below.

The dominant design element of the east facade is a central, five-axis portico. Above the extended ground floor with five arched openings , six fluted colossal columns rise at the level of the two upper floors and taper towards the top. They stand on a cube-shaped base, have an Attic base and Ionic volute capitals . Five mosaics by the artist Hubertus Brouwer have been installed in the ceiling of the portico since 1967 . The garden facade on the west side has a similar design to the east long side. However, there the portico has been replaced by a flat, five-axis central risalit . Behind it was the so-called garden hall on the ground floor , while a concert hall was located on the first floor , which later served as a meeting room for city councilors. It had full wall paneling and windows and doors in the Louis-seize style, which were framed by wooden Corinthian pilasters . However, the interior was completely lost in a fire during World War II.

The facade of the north wing, which faces the garden and is designed in the style of the neo-renaissance, shows a lavish sculptural decoration in the form of floral decorations and some men's heads. Their basic shape is always the same, but they were varied by different headgear and mustaches.

literature

  • Eva Brües: Krefeld - 1st city center (= The monuments of the Rhineland. Volume 12). Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1967, pp. 45–47.
  • Willehad Paul Eckert: The Lower Rhine. The country and its cities, castles and churches. 4th edition. DuMont, Cologne 1982, ISBN 3-7701-1085-4 , p. 100.
  • Ludger Fischer : The most beautiful palaces and castles on the Lower Rhine. 1st edition. Wartberg, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2004, ISBN 3-8313-1326-1 , pp. 52-53.
  • Karl Emerich Krämer : Castles in and around Krefeld. 1st edition. Mercator, Duisburg 1981, ISBN 3-87463-091-9 , p. 65.
  • Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . Müller and Busmann, Wuppertal 1997, ISBN 3-928766-26-0 , pp. 82-88.
  • Regine Zweiffel, Felix Burandt: 66x Krefeld. Places, people, trees. 1st edition. Zweiffel, Krefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-00-041276-9 , pp. 114–115.

Web links

Commons : Stadtschloss Krefeld  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the city of Krefeld , status 11/2019 (PDF; 196 kB)
  2. ↑ a b c Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 82.
  3. ^ Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 83.
  4. ^ A b Karl Emerich Krämer: Castles in and around Krefeld. 1981, p. 65.
  5. ↑ a b Eva Brües: Krefeld - 1. Stadtmitte 1967, p. 46.
  6. ^ Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 87.
  7. ↑ a b c Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 88.
  8. ↑ a b c Ludger Fischer: The most beautiful palaces and castles on the Lower Rhine. 2004, p. 53.
  9. ^ Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 84.
  10. ^ A b Regine Zweiffel, Felix Burandt: 66x Krefeld. Places, people, trees. 2013, p. 114.
  11. ^ Clara Bettina Schmidt: Michael Leydel. An architect of civil construction during the Enlightenment . 1997, p. 86.

Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 2.6 ″  N , 6 ° 33 ′ 32.5 ″  E