Rigal Castle

Rigal Castle (2017)

Aerial view of the Chinese embassy, Rigal Castle in the middle and Rigal's Chapel on the right (2014)

The Rigal Castle (also Rigal'sches Schloss ) is a palace-like villa in the center of Bad Godesberg , a district of Bonn , which was built in 1849. It is located on Kurfürstenallee (house number 12) opposite the so-called "Rigal'schen Wiese". From 1982 to 1984 Rigal Castle was included in the then newly built complex of the Chinese embassy and was the residence of the Chinese ambassador until 1999; it is still used today by the People's Republic of China.

history

The villa was built in 1849 as a summer residence for the client Ludwig Maximilian Freiherr von Rigal-Grunland (1809–1885), a silk manufacturer from Krefeld , according to the wishes of his wife Caroline Melanie von Creutzer. The property included a small farm with farm buildings, orchards and a park on sloping terrain. Below the villa lay meadows and fields, including a riding meadow (today's “Rigal'sche Wiese”); to the south-west, the terrain extended to the slope of the so-called "Wacholderhöhe" , which rose to Muffendorf and Heiderhof . In 1854, Rigal-Grunland had the Ahrweiler path on his property partially relocated. On the northern edge of the property towards today's Friedrich-Ebert-Straße, he had the so-called Rigal'sche Chapel built as a private chapel and first Protestant church in Godesberg from 1856 to 1858 , which he donated to the Protestant parish of Bonn in 1860. With a donation on August 29, 1874, the property of the chapel also became the property of the Godesberg parish, which had previously become independent.

After the Second World War , the Rigal Castle, which at that time belonged to the Rigal community of heirs , was confiscated for occupation purposes . After 1950 the eight acres , consisting of a forest-like green area, of the property belonging to the Rigal'schen Schloss in the south-western part of the property was transferred to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and later to the Federal Republic of Germany. The first development on this site was the Im Etzental estate for employees of the British and French High Commission in three construction phases, 1950/51 and 1953 . The villa served as a property of the Federal Armed Forces Office from 1962 to 1970 . The German Savings Banks and Giro Association then planned to build a training center on the 1.2 hectare property and to have Rigal Castle demolished for this purpose. These plans failed after the state curator had determined the monument value of the house in June 1973 . At the end of 1973, the People's Republic of China acquired the site for their embassy. In 1981 the roof structure of the building was damaged by fire. After negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany were concluded, the People's Republic began to rebuild its embassy building in 1982, with Rigal Castle, intended as the ambassador's residence, being gutted and restored by 1983 ; Only parts of the surrounding walls have been preserved from the original structure. In connection with the construction work, a cross on the street in front of the villa, probably dating back to the 18th century, was moved to the east side of Rigal's chapel.

In the course of relocating the seat of government , the Chinese embassy moved to Berlin in 1999 ; a branch in Bonn was closed in 2005. The former embassy buildings are still owned by the People's Republic of China and have been home to a branch office of the embassy again since spring 2015.

architecture

The villa is a two-storey, late classicist brick building with a single-storey side wing, which has a three-story round tower on the west side and a two-story round tower at the end of the side wing.

Web links

Commons : Rigal Castle - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Theo Schultes: The silk ring or from the castle of the silk baron to the embassy of the People's Republic of China. In: Die Heimat , ISSN 0342-5185 , year 55/1984, Verein für Heimatkunde eV Krefeld, pp. 120–121. (with picture)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Eva Ammermüller: The Rigal'sche Chapel - a Huguenot foundation . In: Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 6/1968, Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV , Bad Godesberg 1968, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 86–95.

↑ Olga Sonntag : Villas on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn: 1819–1914 , Bouvier Verlag, Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-416-02618-7 , Volume 2, Catalog (2), pp. 40–44 (here: p. 44). (also dissertation University of Bonn, 1994)

↑ 1898–1955 Ludwigstrasse ( entry in the Bonn street cadastre)

^ Federal City of Bonn, Lower Monument Authority : List of Monuments of the City of Bonn (Annex: Object: "Im Etzental" settlement in Bonn-Bad Godesberg , April 14, 2000)

^ Hans-Peter Schwarz : Adenauer: Tea talks 1961–1963 . (= Rudolf Morsey , Hans-Peter Schwarz (Ed.): Adenauer - Rhöndorfer Edition ), Wolf Jobst Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1992, pp. 430, 620.

^ Michael Wenzel: Small stories Bad Godesberger Messages , 2nd edition 2011, p. 38/39.

^ Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 19/1981, ISSN 0436-1024 , p. 129.

^ Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 20/1982, Bad Godesberg 1983, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 138/139.

^ Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 21/1983, Bad Godesberg 1984, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 145/146.

^ Claudia Euskirchen, Olaf Gisbertz, Ulrich Schäfer and others (arrangement): North Rhine-Westphalia I. Rhineland . (= Georg Dehio (†): Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler ). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3422030930 , p. 185.

50.678353 7.156153Coordinates: 50 ° 40 ′ 42.1 ″ N , 7 ° 9 ′ 22.2 ″ E

[Ammermüller1968-1] Eva Ammermüller: The Rigal'sche Chapel - a Huguenot foundation . In: Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 6/1968, Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV , Bad Godesberg 1968, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 86–95.

[Sonntag-2] Olga Sonntag : Villas on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn: 1819–1914 , Bouvier Verlag, Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-416-02618-7 , Volume 2, Catalog (2), pp. 40–44 (here: p. 44). (also dissertation University of Bonn, 1994)

[3] 1898–1955 Ludwigstrasse ( entry in the Bonn street cadastre)

[Denkmalliste-4] Federal City of Bonn, Lower Monument Authority : List of Monuments of the City of Bonn (Annex: Object: "Im Etzental" settlement in Bonn-Bad Godesberg , April 14, 2000)

[5] Hans-Peter Schwarz : Adenauer: Tea talks 1961–1963 . (= Rudolf Morsey , Hans-Peter Schwarz (Ed.): Adenauer - Rhöndorfer Edition ), Wolf Jobst Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1992, pp. 430, 620.

[Wenzel2011-6] Michael Wenzel: Small stories Bad Godesberger Messages , 2nd edition 2011, p. 38/39.

[7] Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 19/1981, ISSN 0436-1024 , p. 129.

[8] Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 20/1982, Bad Godesberg 1983, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 138/139.

[9] Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV (Ed.): Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 21/1983, Bad Godesberg 1984, ISSN 0436-1024 , pp. 145/146.

[10] Claudia Euskirchen, Olaf Gisbertz, Ulrich Schäfer and others (arrangement): North Rhine-Westphalia I. Rhineland . (= Georg Dehio (†): Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler ). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3422030930 , p. 185.