Town Hall (Volkach)
The town hall (address Marktplatz 1 , formerly house number 64) of the city of Volkach am Main is the representative administrative seat and landmark of the Lower Franconian city. It is located on the central market square in the middle of the old town .
history
Previous construction
The history of the Volkach town hall and its predecessor buildings is closely linked to the history of the city. In 1258 Volkach was first understood as “civitas”, that is, as a city . With the rise to the city, the self-organization of the citizens living there received some privileges over the rule. In the course of the 14th century, the previous lay judges' constitution was transformed into a council constitution . The city's 18 councilors needed a place where they could meet regularly.
The old town hall was built . It was first mentioned as "Burgerhaus" in a document from 1484. The previous building of today's town hall stood on the so-called "lower square". The location is controversial. While Egert prefers a place in the north-east corner of the city near today's Gänseplatz, Schneider assumes that the old and new town hall could have been almost at the same location, at least in the south-west corner.
During excavations in 1993, the remains of a filled barrel vault and several fragments of oven ceramics, clay vessels and iron parts as well as remains of food were found below today's town hall . The high-quality tiles , in addition to single-colored green ones, also multicolored glazed ones, suggested a representative building at this point. The son of the carver Tilman Riemenschneider, Bartlmä Dill Riemenschneider , could possibly be associated with the tiles.
The old town hall was the starting point of a Gothic Way of the Cross , which was built around 1520 and led from "des Pilatus Haus" to the Kirchbergkirche. The old town hall is shown in the Volkacher Salbuch by Niklas Brobst von Effelt from around 1500. The imaginative picture shows a building with stepped gables and a round arched portal. A bay window could have been added to the house, from which proclamations were made to the citizens. Egert speaks of a half-timbered building.
New building
In the 16th century the importance of the city of Volkach grew. By 1520 at the latest, the prince-bishops of Würzburg had sole rule of the city and had their new acquisitions expanded. In 1540 the prince-bishop's office , which had previously been located on the Hallburg, was relocated to the city. With the upgrading there was also a growing self-confidence of the citizens. The old town hall was felt to be too small and dilapidated.
On the Thursday after Remigi in 1543, the council decided "to pound a new town hall, because what you miss or piss on the old one is in vain". In the official request to the Würzburg prince-bishop shortly afterwards, the house was described as "bad and bawfellig". Bishop Konrad II von Thüngen was supposed to send a "building expert", i.e. a master builder , by next spring . The city's citizens should bear the costs of the new building.
In December 1543, the prince-bishop sent the "builder N. Steinmetz" and "Lorentz Gulman renthmeister " to Volkach. First of all, the location of the new building was discussed. The lower square as the location of the previous building was still up for debate. The decision was finally made on “the meat bank about one and a half grains far from georg pfeufershaus”. The accessibility of the building, which could be completely bypassed, was important for the councils. The old town hall was converted into a residential building and replaced by a barn until the 17th century .
With a resolution of April 17, 1544, construction work began. The new building was built on the market square and gave the western boundary to the square , which until now had almost reached the city wall. The building material had already been stored in the prince-bishop's building yard in previous years , so that work could begin immediately. On April 28, 1544, between five and six o'clock, the foundation stone for the town hall was laid.
Change of use
The exact time of completion of the construction can no longer be determined today. However, an order has been preserved, according to which the proclamations of the town servants should no longer take place in the parish church . The town hall quickly combined several functions. In addition to the council meeting room, the hall-like substructure also housed a department store . Since the cloth hall had to give way to the new building, the city’s cloth merchants soon moved in. In 1550 bakers are also recorded in the town hall.
In the period that followed, the building was regularly rebuilt. In 1595 work began on building a large wine cellar for the town hall. Previously, disputes between the councils had repeatedly postponed this expansion. In 1687 the cellar was expanded by Hans Cornel, but in 1689 it was already full of water. As early as 1611, a room had been converted into a so-called fool's house, in which criminals were housed. The scales and the calibration room were also housed in the town hall.
During the Thirty Years' War , the archive located in the building was destroyed by flames. After the war, the town hall was also used to hold weddings here. The only dance floor in town was located in the house. In 1678 a knight's day was held in the premises under the chairmanship of Captain von Wolfsthal . In the 1680s the roofs of the town hall were repaired, in 1695 the building was repainted by Hans Christ from Tüncher.
The town hall gradually lost its various functions. In 1696 the German school was relocated to a building behind the town hall, in 1704 the armory was built onto the city wall and in 1710 the linen weavers who had previously presented their goods in the town hall left the building. After the dissolution of the Principality of Würzburg, Volkach came to Bavaria . In 1806 the Grand Duchy of Würzburg was established in a short period of time . In honor of the new regent Ferdinand of Tuscany, a festival was held in the town hall. In 1814 they became Bavarian again.
Administrative center
In the 19th century the town hall was converted into a real administrative center. The roof was repaired in 1846 and further renovations were carried out in 1856 . Since 1877 the school in the town hall existed again , a total of four classrooms on the second floor and another one on the ground floor was prepared for it. For this purpose, the previously existing columns on the ground floor were removed and replaced with walls in 1879 by Michael and Johann Zerr. In the course of the renovation , new chimneys were also built and the foundations were renewed.
After a new meeting room had been set up on the first floor during the renovation , a tower extension began to be built on the west side and all single windows were extended to double windows. After the interior renovation was completed, the exterior of the building was also changed in 1880. The outside stairs were removed and completely rebuilt. In May 1881 the roofs above the outside stairs were removed .
After the Second World War , the city of Volkach continued to grow and the school in the town hall was gradually outsourced between 1951 and 1976. In 1965 the roof structure of the town hall was renovated. In 1974, as part of the municipal reform, the interior was completely renovated. All interior walls were removed, reinforced concrete ceilings were drawn in and iron beams were installed. The meeting room was enlarged and the town hall equipped with an elevator. On the second floor, the “ Real Room” was created as a second meeting room.
The archive, initially housed on the first floor, was moved to the former Procuratorate of the Carthusian Monastery in the incorporated Astheim after 1980 . The Volkacher Mainschleife tourist information office later moved into the ground floor . The town hall is one of the focal points of the historical building ensemble of the old town . The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation has classified it as an architectural monument with the number D-6-75-174-78. The underground remains of the previous development are listed as a ground monument .
Architecture and interior design
Building description
The Volkach town hall has a representative character. The building on the eaves is shaped by the Renaissance . It has a total of three storeys and ends with a steep gable roof . The double flight of stairs leading to the first floor is particularly characteristic . A polygonal half-timbered bay was installed in the center, which in earlier times also assumed an important political function for the social life of the city as a herald bay.
The ground floor was initially designed as a hall . A total of eleven columns were built to support the building above . In addition, the outer walls, which are 1.35 m thick, were reinforced here. The ogival gate entrance on the east side of the building points to the diverse uses, especially of the ground floor, in the past. To the left of the passage is a hexagonal window that belonged to the so-called madhouse inside the town hall.
The large council chamber is now located on the first floor. It has 1.20 m thick outer walls and presents a total of four window axes on the side of the east facade, which are formed by double windows in the neo-Renaissance style . After the renovation in 1880, the outside staircase to the first floor had a tracery parapet . They were later restored to their original condition, so that only the wide tower platform below the bay window has tracery today. The steps of the stairs were made of Thüngersheim sandstone.
The facade of the second floor also has a window structure similar to that of the first floor . Originally there were a total of six windows here; since the redesign at the end of the 19th century, there have been two double windows on both sides of the bay window. There is a cornice between the first and second floors . The bay window has simple St. Andrew's crosses, and the three fields facing the market square have rectangular windows. The bay window ends with a pointed helmet that does not protrude over the roof.
The slate-covered roof of the Volkach town hall has simple hipped dormers , but with polygonal roofs they are reminiscent of the roof of the central bay window. They run in two rows to the left and right of the bay window. Representative ornaments were attached to the ends of the roof . The west side facing away from the market square has been shaped by a stair tower since the renovation in the 1880s , the appearance of which leans against the bay window on the front.
inner space
The interior of the town hall was completely gutted in 1974 so that the original room layout is no longer comprehensible today. However, the profiled ceiling beams worth preserving were exposed at that time . The large conference room with a coffered ceiling was specially designed . The inner staircase, which is accessed through the stair tower, was made of sandstone from Thüngersheim, similar to the outer staircase. The only unchanged element is the wine cellar below the former market hall.
Originally, important regal insignia such as the sword of execution were housed in the town hall . In addition, they had an important collection of official portraits of the respective prince-bishops from 1573 to 1795. However, many pieces have now been moved to the Baroque Barn Museum . Instead, new artistic works were created for the town hall in the 1970s. In the main corridor on the first floor there is the coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, a picture of Volkach's situation on the Main loop , as well as the coats of arms and signets of the districts.
In the meeting room itself, an artistic finish was to be created on the front in the 1970s. First, several individual images, modern sculptures and tapestries were discussed. Finally, the city council decided in favor of the artist Oskar Martin-Amorbach , who was to create a large historical painting. He chose a scene that takes place in the early 16th century and shows the first meeting of the townspeople with the new lord, Prince-Bishop Lorenz von Bibra .
Martin-Amorbach created a few sketches in the targeted size of 2 by 3.70 m. In May 1980 the painting was installed on the front. Lorenz von Bibra is depicted as a duke on horseback, the facial features were borrowed from the epitaph by Tilman Riemenschneider in the Würzburg Cathedral. Opposite him is the city society, which is chaired by Mayor Jorg Dankes. He receives a scroll from the bishop. Behind it are representatives of viticulture, the wine trade and the soldiers' class. For the architecture of the city, the artist took the pen drawings of the Volkacher Salbuch as a model.
Appreciation
The Volkach town hall is now a popular photo motif, adorns many publications on the Franconian wine region and stands as a symbol, next to the Maria im Weingarten church , for the Volkach Main Loop. Its shape is reminiscent of other administrative offices in the vicinity that were built almost at the same time, such as the Dettelbach City Hall , which was built a little earlier, or the New City Hall in Ochsenfurt. The town hall forms the backdrop for many events and festivals held on the market square.
The town hall has played a major role in depictions of the city since the 19th century. On June 27, 1871, the Nuremberg travel painter Eugen Freiherr von Löffelholz made a pencil drawing of the town hall. Later coins and medals were minted showing the town hall. In 1994 a coin was created to celebrate the anniversary of the building of the town hall in 1544. The town hall is often shown in combination with the market fountain .
See also
literature
- Hermann Buschmann: The town hall in Volkach . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach. 906-2006 . Volkach 2006. pp. 103-111.
- Gerhard Egert: City and Parish Volkach am Main (A contribution to the city's history). Part I. The urban territory from the beginnings to the end of the Old Kingdom in 1803. Diss . Würzburg and Volkach 1964.
- Hans Leicht: Historic town halls in Franconia . Wurzburg 1982.
- Herbert Meyer: Medieval station path to the Kirchberg . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach. 1993-2007 . Volkach 2008. pp. 69-72.
- Herbert Meyer: Nuremberg travel painter in Volkach . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Our Main Loop. 2008-2017 . Volkach 2018. pp. 225–228.
- Herbert Meyer: Volkach's reunification. To the history painting in the Volkach town hall hall . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Our Main Loop. 1978-1992 . Volkach 2008. pp. 95-99.
- Günther Schmitt: House chronicle of the city of Volkach as a mirror of the bourgeoisie. From the end of the 17th century until today (= Volkacher Hefte vol. 19) . Volkach 2017.
- Karl Schneider: Medieval tiles from the Volkach town hall . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Volkach. 1993-2007 . Volkach 2008. pp. 66-67.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: City and parish Volkach am Main . P. 68 and 101.
- ^ Schneider, Karl: Medieval tiles from the Volkach town hall . P. 66.
- ^ Schneider, Karl: Medieval tiles from the Volkach town hall . P. 67.
- ^ Meyer, Herbert: Medieval station path to the Kirchberg . P. 69.
- ^ Egert, Gerhard: City and parish Volkach am Main . P. 101.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 104.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 105.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 107.
- ↑ Schmitt, Günther: House chronicle of the city of Volkach as a mirror of the bourgeoisie . P. 76.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 110.
- ^ City of Volkach: Volkach Town Hall , accessed on March 19, 2013.
- ^ Leicht, Hans: Historical town halls in Franconia . P. 104.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 109.
- ↑ Buschmann, Hermann: The town hall in Volkach . P. 110.
- ^ Meyer, Herbert: Volkachs reunification . P. 97.
- ^ Meyer, Herbert: Nuremberg travel painter in Volkach . P. 227 f.
Coordinates: 49 ° 51 ′ 56.6 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 32.4 ″ E