Villa von der Heydt (Kerstenplatz)

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The von der Heydt villa on Kerstenplatz (also called von der Heydt 's house) in Elberfeld was the parent house of the von der Heydt family of banking and merchants . The villa was in the immediate vicinity of the Heydt-Kersten & Sons bank on Neumarkt, which was later built at the end of the 19th century, and was destroyed in the Second World War.

history

Daniel Heinrich von der Heydt (1767–1832) took over the management of the bank in 1807 after the death of his father-in-law Abraham Kersten , after becoming a partner in 1798. In 1815 he moved into the Kerstensche house , which was initially listed in the address book as C.613 - later under the house address Kerstenplatz 6. Since then, it has been the headquarters of the von der Heydt family in Elberfeld.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the facade of the house was stylistically revised, this probably happened around 1880 with the construction of the new banking house von der Heydt Kersten on Neumarkt.

During the air raid on Elberfeld on the night of June 24th to 25th, 1943 during World War II, the house, like many others in the area, was destroyed.

description

This free-standing town house on Kerstenplatz was used as a residential and commercial building; According to regional tradition, banking transactions were carried out in the basement, while the two upper floors were used for private life. Neither construction files nor official floor plans of the building have been preserved, based on two photographs of the street front and a city map from 1849, an almost square floor plan can be inferred. At the rear front, the floor plan shows a small, medium- sized plan , in which the toilets were located. The house was built in solid construction and follows the classicist construction method . The front facing the street had five axes and a central entrance, to which a double-sided five-step staircase led. The triangular gable was strongly profiled and had an accentuated eaves . In the triangular gable was a large circular rose window , behind which the family's sleeping quarters were probably. This window was held on the frame by two soaring lions (presumably it should show the Bergische Löwe holding the wagon wheel, which is supposed to represent a symbol for trade) so that the shape is reminiscent of a wagon wheel. These were probably added towards the end of the 19th century. There were also three dormers on each side of the roof .

The year 1754 is occasionally given in the literature as the year of construction, but this is not very credible due to the architecture, so a predecessor building from the same year as the establishment of the Kersten brothers' banking house can be assumed. The author Herman J. Mahlberg also suspects that the von der Heydt villa was built on the foundations of the old Kersten's house, which - typical for its time - could have been a half-timbered building with a basement and a stone base . The architect of the house has not been passed down, it can be assumed that it was a well-known architect, such as Adolph von Vagedes , at the time.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Stock: Wuppertal street names. Their origin and meaning. Thales Verlag, Essen-Werden 2002, ISBN 3-88908-481-8 .
  2. ↑ a b c Fehlemann, Stamm (ed.): Die Von der Heydts. 2001.
  3. ↑ The two existing photos show one without and one with lions.

Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 31 ″  N , 7 ° 8 ′ 50.3 ″  E