Schillerhain – Wikipedia

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The waiting tower on the Schillerhain

The Schillerhain is a district of Kirchheimbolanden in Rhineland-Palatinate. [first]

The Schillerhain is located west of the center of Kirchheimbolanden on a hill about 80 m higher.

The Schillerhain has been known as Wartberg since the Middle Ages, since the Wartturm, which was still existing today, was built on it, which was a supplement to the city fortification.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the Schillerhain was a bold hill in the west of Kirchheimbolanden, also called Geißberg, which was used as a goat pasture and for sandstone mining. [2] [3]

Creation [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

On the occasion of Friedrich von Schiller’s 100th birthday in 1859, Schiller celebrations were held all over Germany in honor of the freedom -thinking poet. In Kirchheimbolanden, too, the vocal association “Liederkranz” praised the poet with a joint concert and a speech. As a memory of this festival, one wanted to make a citizens’ parking facility, especially since it was only ten years ago that 17 free tores had lost their lives in the fight for a life in a free, democratic country in Kirchheimbolanden. [4]

The citizens founded a Schiller Association to create a place that was reminiscent of the poet and the struggle for freedom for democracy and at the same time also a beautification of the bare hill at that time. This Schillerverein, later beautification association, bought Ackerland and received generous donations and foundations of wealthy citizens who were associated with requirements for the city fathers. [5]

Regarding the sale of fields, it was recorded:

»The acquisition takes place for the municipality of Kirchheimbolanden, which from then on the fields belong to the following editions:

a) The city of Kirchheimbolanden unites the property that it belongs to it, which adapts to the purchase object, which the waiting tower included with the plots above. The resulting whole is converted into a system that has to lead the name Schilleranlage and must never be used for another purpose.

b) The Schillerverein pays the purchase price without the involvement of the city treasury of Kirchheim, on the other hand, the system is entitled to manufacture at its own plans and discretion. The city of Kirchheim also does not need to contribute to the laying of the square and restoration of the waiting tower.

c) The city has the obligation to maintain the Schiller facility according to its purposes and to carry their taxes, levies and other loads. « [6]

For decades, the association designed and created this Schillerpark with the involvement of all citizens, still made possible by donations and foundations. Commercial Council and Director of BASF Dr. Heinrich von Brunck acquired the restoration with outbuildings on the Schillerhain in 1893 and later made his foundation the following editions in favor of the general public: [7]

»It acquired the Butz’s estate on the Schillerhain at a purchase price of 25,000 m to dedicate it to the general public interest. This great gift provides a eloquent testimony of the noble way of thinking and the community’s community. The administration of the Brunk Foundation is transferred to a special committee, which the respective mayor, as representative of our city, then belongs to the respective board members of the district and forestry office as well as the board of the beautification association and the gift provider or a deputy of the same. [8]

Equipment of the system [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

To 1900 [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

The park was equipped with shady leaves and avenues, monuments and pavilions as well as a restoration and offered a look over the city and in the distance to the Haardtrand, Odenwald and Taunus. The waiting tower was restored and expanded as a lookout tower.

In 1862 the waiting tower was improved and provided it with a spiral staircase and an entrance door. In 1874 the Kaiser Wilhelm-Pavillon was established and the production of paths and the terrace on the Geißberg, today known as the “war honorary”. In 1876 the veranda was built in front of the waiting tower, and the Bismarck pavilion was set up, also called spring house, at the current location of the war honor and a cast iron urn on a rock group between the lawn. Warning boards were attached to the protection of the system everywhere and benches were set up. The refreshing salon, called “Lindenschänke”, was built in 1877. This salon consisted of an open hall, basement, also stables, poultry yard and business garden. In 1879 the snail tower and a fountain were built. The Sulzbach Pavilion was set up in 1882. A mirror ball was set up the following year. In 1886 a playground was set up and on the way from Dannenfels there was numerous signs to the Schillerhain. In 1888 the “Cleopatra” was set up. The ladies took off on this less dressed figure and so it disappeared at some point. In 1891, the warrior association set an oak to the veranda of the waiting tower to commemorate the Generalfeldmarschall Graf von Moltke and put on a plaque on the east side of the tower. The pavilion on the snail tower was donated by the brothers Karl and Heinrich Giessen in 1891. In 1893 the Schillerhain received a flora made from Terracotta (spring goddess). On May 17, 1896, the unveiling of the Schillerdenklang was celebrated – a bronze bust from the Geislingen bronze goods factory. From there also came the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I, which was set up the following year, the festival developed into a spring and folk festival with pageant through the city to Schillerhain, singing and lectures as well as concerts. Similar festivities took place in 1905 for the hundred years of death of Schiller. [9]

Spa business [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

The location of Kirchheimbolandens on the edge of the Donnersberg forests prompted the city administration of Kirchheimbolanden to raise an air coret. In 1903, the beautifully situated Schillerhain was selected for the construction of a spa house. In the same year, BASF started building a recreation home on Schillerhain. These structural measures required the construction of a water tower. The inauguration of the municipal spa house took place on July 10, 1904. First, a gardener and Schillerhain keeper was employed, later the work around the Kurhaus took over the nurseries Mertz and Schitter. In the summer months, music bands guested in the music pavilion, and spa concerts were held on Sundays in the 1920s. The Kurhaus was initially leased several times. In the 1920s, too, a small youth hostel was set up in the former economic areas opposite the Kurhaus. The walking days took place in 1926-1928 came to the Schillerhain. Through a foundation of Ms. Privy Councilor Dr. Michel could u. the creation of the rose garden on the former tennis court. During the Second World War in 1943, the Schillerbüste, the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I and three plaques that were attached to the waiting tower (Friedrich III, Bismarck and Moltke) had to be cast because of their copper content. After the war, the Kurhaus temporarily served as a neighborhood of Allied troops, after which the Catholic Teacher Academy Landau was housed, from 1949 the Rhineland-Palatinate State Fire Brigade School. In 1951 a new Schiller statue of sandstone was set up. This comes from the workshop of the sculptor Richard Menges from Kaiserslautern. [ten] [11]

The park today [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Despite neglecting care in recent years, the structure of the still existing park in its original form, route and design is still clearly recognizable. In addition to the snail tower and the Schiller monument from 1951, none of the original temples, pavilions or monuments are available. The area with Kurhaus and Salon was sold in 1960 and converted into a hotel. [twelfth] The restoration – the historical “linden tavern” with beer garden and farm building was torn down to the original Kurhaus and parking spaces in favor of a large hotel cultivation in favor of a large hotel cultivation.

In Schillerhain there are three listed towers near each other.

  • The 11.5 meter high earlier Wartturm built in the 15th century ( ⊙ 49.6616944444444 8.002583333333 ) was converted into a lookout tower in 1859, the 10.5 meter high viewing platform of which can be climbed over 51 levels of a metal wall staircase. [13]
  • The snail tower is 45 meters north of the Wartturm. Instead of a staircase, a spiral -shaped access leads to a 4.1 -meter -high concrete slab of 7.8 meters in diameter to the middle -standing viewing pavilion. This was built in 1880-1884 as a Wilhelminian Belvedere. The octagonal wooden building is 7.4 meters high, offers five wooden benches on the inside and is crowned with a slate -covered roof. [14] Both towers offer a good overview of the surroundings. [15]
  • The former water tower was built in 1904 as a late start -up brick building and is about 65 meters western southwest of the waiting tower. Until his decommissioning in 1970, he supplied the higher districts of Kirchheimbolanden from a 30 -cubic meter steel container with water.

On Schillerhain there is still the Villa Michel, the Schillerhain curative education at the Evangelical Home Foundation Palatinate, for leisure activities the Jakob-Enders Stadium with a parking lot as well as a skate park and a beach volleyball field. There is also a restaurant with a beer garden on the sports field, and a few houses southeast.

  • Lucas, Konrad: Der Schillerhain.
  • Kremb, Klaus: The Schillerhain in Kirchheimbolanden. Historical interior design and political-cultural sensation. In: Kirchheimbolander booklets 2nd ed. From the city of Kirchheimbolanden 2001
  • The Schillerhain near Kirchheimbolanden. In: Zeitbilder. Illustrated supplement to the Palatinate Presse (May 17, 1896)
  1. ↑ City of Kirchheimbolanden – Statistics of the City of Kirchheimbolanden ( Memento of the Originals from February 22, 2014 in Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been used automatically and not yet checked. Please check original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. @first @2 Template: Webachiv/Iabot/www.kirchheimbolanden.de
  2. ↑ Lucas, Konrad: The Schillerhain .
  3. ↑ Kremb, Klaus: The Schillerhain in Kirchheimbolanden. Historical interior design and political-cultural sensation . In: City of Kirchheimbolanden (ed.): Kirchheimbolander booklets 2 . 2001.
  4. ↑ The Schillerhain near Kirchheimbolanden . In: Zeitbilder. Illustrated supplement by the Palatinate Press . 17. May 1896.
  5. ↑ The Schillerhain near Kirchheimbolanden . In: Zeitbilder. Illustrated supplement by the Palatinate Press . 17. May 1896.
  6. ↑ Grunder acquisition 1860, file 2504 (Kirchheimbolanden City Archives)
  7. ↑ The Schillerhain near Kirchheimbolanden . In: Zeitbilder. Illustrated supplement by the Palatinate Press . 17. May 1896.
  8. ↑ Brunck’s gift in 1893, file 2505 (Kirchheimbolanden City Archives)
  9. ↑ The Schillerhain near Kirchheimbolanden . In: Zeitbilder. Illustrated supplement by the Palatinate Press . 17. May 1896.
  10. ↑ Lucas, Konrad: The Schillerhain.
  11. ↑ Kremb, Klaus: The Schillerhain in Kirchheimbolanden. Historical interior design and political-cultural sensation . In: City of Kirchheimbolanden (ed.): Kirchheimbolander booklets 2 . 2001.
  12. ↑ Sales Kurhaus with Brunk’sche gift 1960, file 2836 (Kirchheimbolanden City Archives)
  13. ↑ Wartturm Kirchheimbolanden On Warttuerme.de
  14. ↑ Information according to your own measurements and explorations
  15. ↑ leisure offers ( Memento of the Originals from December 10, 2011 in Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been used automatically and not yet checked. Please check original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. @first @2 Template: Webachiv/Iabot/www.kirchheimbolanden.de On the website of the city of Kirchheimbolanden

49.66083333333 8 Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ N , 8 ° 0 ′ O