Butchers' Guild Hall, Hildesheim

Last updated

The Butchers' Guild Hall (German: Knochenhaueramtshaus) is a half-timbered house in Hildesheim in the federal state of Lower Saxony, Germany.

Contents

Butchers' Guild Hall before being bombed in World War II. Knochenhaueramtshaus 1900.jpg
Butchers' Guild Hall before being bombed in World War II.

Today the reconstructed Butchers' Guild Hall houses a restaurant and the City Museum. Every year, a traditional Christmas Market is held in front of the Butchers' Guild Hall. It starts in the last week of November and runs through to Christmas Eve. Traditional products and handicrafts, Christmas merchandise, and local delicacies are offered.

History and architecture

The reconstructed Bakers' Guild Hall (left), Butchers' Guild Hall (middle) and Old City Tavern (right) today, seen from the City Hall. KnochenhaueramtshausMai.jpg
The reconstructed Bakers' Guild Hall (left), Butchers' Guild Hall (middle) and Old City Tavern (right) today, seen from the City Hall.
Details of the facade. CasaGremial1.jpg
Details of the façade.
Details of the facade. CasaGremial2.jpg
Details of the façade.
Traditional Christmas Market in front of the Butchers' Guild Hall. KnochenhaueramtshausWinter.jpg
Traditional Christmas Market in front of the Butchers' Guild Hall.

The Butcher's Guild Hall, an example of half-timbered building, is one of the largest structures in the Historic Market Place of Hildesheim. With its 7 floors and a height of 26 metres, it is considered to be one of the tallest half-timbered houses in Germany. The roof has a dimension of 800 square metres. [1] The portal has a width of 2.35 meters. The façade is decorated with colourful wood carvings, paintings, and German proverbs.

Origins

The Butchers' Guild Hall was originally built in 1529 in a Gothic style. The Architect's name, however, remains unknown. The building was used as a meeting place of the butchers' guild, which was a very wealthy and influential guild in Hildesheim in the Middle Ages. As the cellar has walls with a thickness of up to 1.4 metres which keep the temperature very low, it was used for storing meat and sausages. The Old City Tavern (German: Stadtschänke), another tall half-timbered house, was built opposite in 1666. In 1825, the adjoining smaller Bakers' Guild Hall (German: Bäckeramtshaus) was built, replacing an older guildhall. In 1884, the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th floors were destroyed by a fire, but rebuilt immediately. [2] On this occasion, detailed construction plans were made.

Destruction

During World War II, Hildesheim's neighbouring cities Hanover and Braunschweig suffered severe bomb damage as early as in 1943 and 1944 and many historic buildings were destroyed. As a consequence, the City Council of Hildesheim contemplated the dismantlement of the Butcher's Guild Hall, but this proved to be impossible. [3] Gypsoplasts were taken of the most valuable wooden carvings, a precise wooden model was made and many photos were taken of the building. [4] The construction plans were put in safekeeping.

On 22 March 1945 the half-timbered houses of the market place including the Butcher's Guild Hall were destroyed by incendiary bombs. Only the vault construction of the cellar remained. In the 1950s the houses were replaced by concrete buildings with flat roofs. One of these buildings was used by the Municipal Savings Bank. The Butchers' Guild Hall was replaced by a hotel with seven floors which was built from 1962-64.

Reconstruction

At the beginning of the 1980s, the hotel in the Market Place went bankrupt and the expanding Municipal Savings Bank needed a larger building. On this occasion, the city council decided to tear down the concrete buildings and to reconstruct the historic Market Place of Hildesheim in the original style. Many inhabitants of Hildesheim donated money for the project and provided old photos and drawings. Some of the old construction plans of the Butchers' Guild Hall were preserved. The foundation stone was laid on 27 October 1987. [5] 400 cubic metres of oak wood, 7,500 wooden pegs and 19,000 roof tiles, which were nearly 150 years old, were used. [6] The Roofing Ceremony was held on 15 January 1989, and the reconstruction was completed in December 1989. [7] The total costs of reconstructing the Butcher's and Bakers' Guild Halls amounted to DM 13.6 million, approximately €7 million.

The Upended Sugarloaf, another half-timbered house which had been destroyed in 1945, was rebuilt in the same way in 2009/2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hildesheim</span> City in Lower Saxony, Germany

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Leine River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herford</span> Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dassel</span> Town in Lower Saxony, Germany

Dassel is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district Northeim. It is located near the hills of the Solling mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Salzdetfurth</span> Town in Lower Saxony, Germany

is a town on the banks of the River Lamme in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main)</span> Quarter of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany

The Altstadt is a quarter (Stadtteil) of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I and is located on the northern Main river bank. It is completely surrounded by the Innenstadt district, Frankfurt's present-day city centre. On the opposite side of the Main is the district of Sachsenhausen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alsfeld</span> Town in Hesse, Germany

Alsfeld is a town in the center of Hesse, in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osterburg (Altmark)</span> Town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Osterburg is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, situated approximately 22 kilometres northwest of Stendal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankenberg, Hesse</span> Town in Hesse, Germany

Frankenberg an der Eder is a town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district, Hesse, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pritzwalk</span> Town in Brandenburg, Germany

Pritzwalk is a town in the district of Prignitz, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 20 km west of Wittstock, and 33 km northeast of Wittenberge. The river Dömnitz flows through Pritzwalk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombing of Hildesheim in World War II</span> 1944-45 air raids by the Allies on the German city of Hildesheim during WWII

The German city of Hildesheim, c. 30 kilometres south of Hanover, was the target of eight Allied air raids in 1944 and 1945 and suffered considerable bomb damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upended Sugarloaf</span> Building in Hildesheim, Germany

The Upended Sugarloaf is a half-timbered house in the city of Hildesheim in the federal state of Lower Saxony in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Market Place, Hildesheim</span>

The Historic Market Place is a historical structure in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Nicholas' Chapel, Hildesheim</span> Church building in Hildesheim, Germany

St. Nicholas' Chapel is a former Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and is located in the southern part of the old city centre, opposite St. Godehard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital of the Five Wounds, Hildesheim</span>

The Hospital of the Five Wounds is a half-timbered house in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is in the southern part of the old city center, opposite St. Godehard and behind St. Nicolai's Chapel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town Hall, Halle (Saale)</span>

The Old Town Hall was a town hall in Halle (Saale), Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haus der Stadtsparkasse (Bremen)</span>

Haus der Stadtsparkasse is a Rococo landmark on the "Marktplatz" in Bremen, Germany. It was completed in the 1950s combining the historic front gable from another site with the more recent architecture of the remainder of the building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rathscafé (Bremen)</span>

The old Rathscafé, now named Deutsches Haus, is a listed building on the market place (Marktplatz) in Bremen. It is part of the monument ensemble No. 1–21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raths-Apotheke (Bremen)</span>

The Raths-Apotheke is a listed building on the Market Square (Marktplatz) in Bremen, Germany. After suffering war damage, the building was restored with two gables in the Neobaroque style in 1958, re-establishing the square's sequence of gabled buildings dating from the 1820s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schütting (Bremen)</span> Building in Bremen, Germany

The Schütting, situated on the Marktplatz in Bremen, initially served the city's merchants and tradesmen as a guild house. In 1849, it became Bremen's chamber of commerce. Since 1973, it has been under monument protection. It lies on the south site of the Bremen marketplaces directly across from the town hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elevated entrance</span> Entrance of medieval castles

An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of entering a fortified building or residence. In the case of circular towers, a large opening in the main wall at ground level was a potential weakness and experts on castle design have argued that the elevated entrance served a structural as well as defensive purpose.

References

  1. Heinemann, Erich: Historischer Marktplatz Hildesheim, p.45. Hildesheim 1990.
  2. Borck, Heinz-Günther: Der Marktplatz zu Hildesheim, p.110. Hildesheim 1989.
  3. Meyer-Hartmann, Hermann: Zielpunkt 52092N09571O - Der Raum Hildesheim im Luftkrieg 1939-1945, p.87. Hildesheim 1985.
  4. Meyer-Hartmann, Hermann: Zielpunkt 52092N09571O - Der Raum Hildesheim im Luftkrieg 1939-1945, p.92. Hildesheim 1985.
  5. Borck, Heinz-Günther: Der Marktplatz zu Hildesheim, p.100. Hildesheim 1989.
  6. Heinemann, Erich: Historischer Marktplatz Hildesheim, p.43. Hildesheim 1990.
  7. Borck, Heinz-Günther: Der Marktplatz zu Hildesheim, p.100. Hildesheim 1989.

52°09′10″N9°57′05″E / 52.1528°N 9.95139°E / 52.1528; 9.95139