Walderdorffer Hof (Bensheim)
The Walderdorffer Hof is located in the old town of Bensheim and is considered the oldest half-timbered house in the southern Hesse region. It is an old noble court.
Age
To determine the construction time of the building, a dendrochronological investigation was carried out in 2000 on behalf of the city of Bensheim . Thirteen oak and softwood samples were taken for the investigation . Eight of the oak samples could be dated with certainty. It is certain that the trees used, from which the samples were taken, were felled in the winter of 1394 to 1395. It can be assumed that the wood was processed and used in 1395. This means that the Walderdorffer Hof was completed in 1395.
The construction
The construction features indicate the time range known as the transition period in half-timbered construction . In the Middle Ages , the wooden house formed a unit externally and internally. The roof and walls were not structurally separated from each other, the false ceilings were only drawn in gradually to separate the space. All beams, horizontal and vertical, were padded in length as continuously as possible and on top of each other to form an inseparable unit . In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, efforts were made to resolve this unity step by step. This endeavor left a multitude of corresponding characteristics at the Walderdorffer Hof. The old volumes of documents in the city archive indicate that the Walderdorffer Hof was originally a town house, which its owner Paul Guttes sold to Mr. von Walderdorff around 1580. Around 50 years later around 1630 the farm belonged to the Lords of Gemmingen . Around 1710 the house was owned by the von Überbruck and Rodenstein families, who finally sold it back to the citizens of Bensheim.
The house has been changed several times over the centuries. The formerly open portico on the upper floor was closed and the hall-like hall on the ground floor was shortened in height by a false ceiling. Almost every generation changed something according to their needs and the zeitgeist. And these changes did not always benefit the Walderdorffer Hof.
In 1964 the farm came into the possession of the city of Bensheim.
Origin of the name
The stately half-timbered house owes its name to the noble von Walderdorff family (also Wallendorf ). The first written mention of this noble family in connection with Bensheim comes from the year 1519. The Junkers von Schwalbach and Walderdorff were then collators of the Nicolai altar .
Todays use
Today the building is used on the ground floor as a restaurant and on the upper floor as a clubhouse of the local history association "Oald Bensem" eV, which has owned the Walderdorffer Hof since 2001.
meaning
The Walderdorffer Hof is under monument protection standing cultural . The stately home is counted among the most valuable half-timbered buildings in Hessen.
Individual evidence
- ^ Cultural monuments in Hesse: Walderdorffer Hof , accessed on April 17, 2008
Web links
State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (Ed.): Walderdorffer Hof In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse
Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ 57.1 ″ N , 8 ° 37 ′ 24.7 ″ E