Palmbach Waldensian Trail
The Waldenserweg Palm Bach is a culturally historic history trail in the Karlsruhe district of Palm Bach , who as a memorial in the form of a path through the town center to escape the Waldensian remembers who had founded in 1701 after the expulsion from your home place Palm Bach.
Structure of the Waldensian Trail
Location and course
The cross-shaped Waldenserweg has the Waldensian Church at the intersection of Talstrasse and Henri-Arnaud-Strasse as its center. Information boards designed on both sides are set up at twelve stations, on which the history and backgrounds of the respective historical sites can be learned. From the Waldensian Church you can walk in a north-south direction to the parish hall and the old town hall, which today houses the Badisches Schulmuseum Karlsruhe . These places form three of the twelve stations.
In an east-west direction, the path runs from Langensteinbacher Strasse over Waldenserplatz, at the intersection at the Waldensian Church and past the cemetery over Grünwettersbacher Strasse to the green park. The other nine stations can be visited here.
In addition to the information steles, there is the Waldensian monument “Gate of Arrival” on Waldenserplatz in Talstraße. It symbolizes the expulsion and the faith of the Waldensians and was designed by the artists Barbara Jäger and OMI Riesterer.
The Waldensian Trail is a total of 1.1 km long and was inaugurated in 2015 as part of the celebrations for the 300th Karlsruhe city birthday.
Stations
The steles provide information that relates directly (history of the installation site) or indirectly (equivalent in the place of origin Piedmont) to the installation site:
| number | Location | front | back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Entrance to Langensteinbacher Strasse | The Waldensians and the Reformation / Palmbacher Waldensians in the Chisonetal | Food and agriculture of the Waldensians |
| 2 | Waldenserplatz Talstraße - First City Hall | The Waldensians found La Balme | The first Palmbach town hall |
| 3 | Waldenserplatz Talstraße - Waldensian monument | Description of the Waldensian Trail - route guidance | The Waldensian monument "Gate of Arrival" by the artists Jäger and Riesterer |
| 4th | Talstraße - formerly Milchhäusle, Platz "Linde" | The historic center / Milchhäusle / Friedenslinde | The privileges of the Waldensians |
| 5 | Talstraße - green strip by the church | The Waldensian pastor Henri Arnaud | Petrus Waldus - The Waldensians in the Middle Ages |
| 6th | Courtyard of the Waldensian Church | Today's Waldensian Church | Church life / The first Palmbach church |
| 7th | Evang. Municipal House on Henri-Arnaud-Strasse | German Waldensians - The Waldensians today | The Waldensian coat of arms |
| 8th | Old Town Hall on Henri-Arnaud-Strasse | The town hall with school (former Waldensian school) | Timeline - Palmbach history |
| 9 | Talstraße - first school building | The first Palmbach school building | The French school in La Balme / language |
| 10 | Grünwettersbacher Strasse - cemetery | “Square of Remembrance” - Waldensian names / collection of gravestones | “Place of Remembrance” - Waldensian burial culture |
| 11 | Grünwettersbacher Strasse - green triangle | The expulsion of the Waldensians - The way to Germany | Timeline - history of the Waldensians |
| 12 | Footpath to Grünwettersbach - Grünpark, in the Wettersbach sculpture park | Water supply in Palmbach / Brunnen | Mulberry trees and silkworms |
Accessibility and guided tours
All areas of the Waldenserweg, the locations of the steles and the Waldenserplatz with the monument are barrier-free and can be reached via public transport via the barrier-free Im Winterrot stop .
The trail is open all year round and freely accessible. Guided tours for groups of visitors are offered by appointment. The Waldensian Church is open to the public every day.
Historical background
Waldenses
The Waldensians are today a Protestant Reformed Church with a large presence in Italy. Originally founded as an association of religious lay people in the 12th century by the Lyon merchant Petrus Valdes in southern France and persecuted by the Inquisition , the Waldensians formed one of the most important groups of dissident Christians in Western history during the Middle Ages.
Valdes had the Bible translated into the vernacular at the end of the 12th century and, after giving up his fortune, preached as a layperson. The Waldensians were then condemned and persecuted as heretics by the Catholic Church .
In 1698 around 3,000 French Waldensians and Huguenots were expelled from what is now Piedmont because of their Reformed faith ; they then settled in southern Hesse and Württemberg. 450 of them were taken in by Landgrave Ernst Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt and settled near Mörfelden. Among them were the later Palmbach Waldensians.
Since there were too few fields to cultivate, the Waldensians asked for admission to the Duchy of Württemberg in 1701 and received permission from Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg , the brother-in-law of the later Karlsruhe city founder, Margrave Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach , to settle on his fallow land Land in the Grünwettersbach district.
Palmbach
28 Waldensian refugee families founded Palmbach in 1701 and initially gave it the name La Balme (“The Refuge”), just like the Waldensians' former home town. In 1725 the place name Palmbach appears for the first time in the marriage register. In the same year the first church for the 96 residents was built.
The Palmbach Waldensians maintained close contact with the Waldensian settlements in Untermutschelbach and Schöneberg near Mühlacker . Through the exchange and epuration contract of 1806, the place became Baden and German was introduced as the official language in schools and churches. Between 1830 and 1870, 84 of the 300 residents emigrated to North America.
In 1975 the place was incorporated into Karlsruhe as a district and in 2014 had around 1,850 inhabitants.
Visual impressions
Waldenserplatz with the “Gate of Arrival” in the center of Palmbach
View of Waldenserplatz from the side arm of Talstrasse
“Gate of Arrival” and stele coming from the Waldensian Church
Monument at night
Stele in Talstrasse
Stele at the cemetery
Stele on Grünwettersbacher Strasse
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Information page on the Waldenserweg in Palmbach , accessed on April 6, 2016
- ↑ a b c Heinz-Theo Krahl: Local chronicle of the Waldensian village Palmbach in: Festbuch der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Palmbach "for the 40th anniversary of the founding party from September 1st to 3rd, 1979"
