City fire of Meiningen
The Meiningen city fire was a major fire that broke out on September 5, 1874 in the center of the city of Meiningen and subsequently completely destroyed around a third of the historic old town . After the Great Fire in Hamburg, it was the most momentous city fire in Germany in the 19th century.
Fire disasters occurred in Meiningen in earlier centuries. A third of the city was destroyed in 1175, a quarter in 1380, three quarters in 1475 and a quarter in 1478. In 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, however, a total cremation of Meiningen by plundering Croatian troops under Hector von Isolani was prevented by extorting 3000 thalers. The most extensive city fire in terms of damage occurred in 1874.
course
On September 5, 1874, around 4 p.m., a fire broke out in the Amthor bakery in Schlundgasse near the market. Previously there had been weeks of drought and a moderate south-westerly wind was blowing that day. These climatic conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly. Fly ash and burning roofing material set fire to the town hall, 50 m away, as the second building . Fanned by the south-westerly wind, the fire spread very quickly to the northern and eastern parts of the old town and even easily jumped over the market square, which was 80 m wide at the time .
Favored by the predominantly narrow medieval buildings, the half-timbered construction , wooden cladding on facades and gables, missing fire walls and roof coverings lined with straw that caught fire quickly, the major fire could no longer be stopped. Only the moats of the former eastern city fortifications , known as the “bleaching ditches ”, were able to stop the sea of flames. Despite the relatively good equipment of the Meiningen fire brigades and the quickly rushing help from the surrounding communities, the fire brigade was powerless with the technical standard at the time . The fire brigade was only able to extinguish the last nests of fire on September 7th.
consequences
The city fire claimed one person. The fire destroyed 471 buildings, including 202 residential buildings, 76 inhabited and 193 uninhabited outbuildings. The fire reduced entire streets to rubble and ashes. 2500 citizens became homeless, that was around a quarter of Meiningen's population at the time.
The major fire completely destroyed the streets and alleys: Schuhgasse, Salzmannsgasse, Engelsgässchen, Metzengasse, Ölgasse, Büchsengasse. The streets Untere Marktstraße (½), Freitagsgasse (¾), Schlundgasse (½), Ernestinerstraße (¼), Untere Kaplaneistraße (½), Am new Thor (½) and Markt (¾) were largely destroyed (the degree of destruction in brackets ). In addition to the Renaissance town hall, many richly decorated town houses and half-timbered houses were lost as evidence of the great heyday of the city from the 15th to the 17th centuries. This also included the “Merkel House”, the dominant bay of which was later rebuilt (→ article: Half-timbered houses in Meiningen ).
The town church was spared despite its direct proximity to the fire site. This also applies to the southern row of houses on Schlundgasse, which was only around six meters away from the other side of the street where the city fire originated. The Büchner rear building , an imposing Franconian half-timbered house and now a well-known tourist magnet, narrowly escaped the catastrophe.
Housing the homeless turned out to be a major problem after the fire. Many initially moved into emergency quarters with relatives, in summer houses, barracks or public buildings until the new houses were completed. The Werra-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft provided twelve freight cars for railway families. Duke George II also offered living space in his possessions. The city also had several barracks built in a hurry. Another problem with clearing the fire sites was the storage of the huge amounts of fire debris. For this purpose, the city initially used new construction areas in the north of the city, and continued to use the “powder lawn” and the “middle lawn” west of the old town.
reconstruction
The rebuilding of the burned down city districts took place after an extensive six-month project planning period, mainly in the years 1875 to 1878. The city took the opportunity to apply the latest developments in urban planning . A new, spacious road network was created with deep sewer systems and modern street lighting (gas). All streets continued to receive new names. At the pressure of the ducal house, the latest architecture was also applied to the new buildings . Against the resistance of the burned down homeowners, new and stricter building regulations were introduced because of the higher costs. In addition to other provisions, only solid houses with a minimum width of 10 m were allowed to be built on newly parceled plots. With the exception of the town hall ( neo-Gothic ) and the imperial post office ( neo-renaissance ), the new houses, mostly three or four storeys high, were built in an eclectic style.
Since not all of the burnt down house owners in the city center were able to rebuild due to the generous new parcels and high land prices, new residential areas were built for them on “Drei 30”, “Weidig” and “Schafhof” in the east of the city.
More than a thousand bricklayers and henchmen from all over Germany and numerous builders and hauliers from the region were involved in the reconstruction . Among other things, they built around twelve million bricks . Many German and Austrian cities supported the city of Meiningen with donations in its reconstruction. A few years later, as a thank you, the coats of arms of 14 cities were attached as a stone relief to the facade of the newly built bank for Thuringia . The city named two major streets after Berlin and Leipzig , the largest donors.
In Meiningen, unique in terms of urban planning, a large cityscape was created in just a few years , which shaped the Wilhelminian era and which, thanks to its successful execution, is now a listed building and a magnet for city tourists .
See also
literature
- Meininger Mediengesellschaft : Stadtbrand 1874. In: Meininger Heimatklänge. Edition 9/1999.
- Reissland / Heinritz: Meininger views. Meiningen State Museums, 1982.
- Kuratorium Meiningen (Ed.): Stadtlexikon Meiningen. Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809504-4-2 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Hermann Pusch: Stadtbrand Meiningen. Meiningen City Archives.
- ↑ All information in the paragraph: Stadtarchiv Meiningen.
- ^ Section: Meiningen City Archives
- ↑ Karin Köhler: Committee against the greatest need. Meininger Heimatklänge, issue 9/1999.
- ↑ Helmuth Tischer: After the flying fire like a phoenix from the ashes. Meininger Heimatklänge, issue 9/1999.