Medieval gems of Germany: Herborn (Dillkreis)

[Patrick]

Here is part 3 of my photo tour through smallsized old towns in Germany.
This one is about Herborn, a town of approx. 9000 inhabitants (20000 inh. including surrounding villages within the town's borders), situated at the River Dill (which flows into the River Lahn, which you may remember from my Limburg an der Lahn-Thread) between the landscapes of the Westerwald and the Lahn-Dill-Bergland in Western Hesse. You can reach the town via the A45 between Frankfurt-Gießen-Siegen-Lüdenscheid-Dortmund.

The town was founded in 1048 AD.

Let's begin with some photos of the old downtown, its houses and streets.




This is the town hall, located at the market square. Built in 1626.




This region between Gießen and the Ruhrarea (Dortmund) is known for cladding the houses with slate shingles. Many houses here have a shingle-side and a framework-side.




















I really like the narrowness of these old alleys.








The car in the foreground is the odd one out and would better fit to some american suburb














This area looks like a pretty nice neighborhood to me






The building in the background is the train station across the Dill River.




More pictures (of the castle Herborn and the upper town) will follow later.

Enjoy

[tonyssa]

Nice place!

[edubejar]

I like the look of very historic, small German towns.

[isakres]

Ok..this is a niiice town....next time i visit Germany Im gonna skip the big cities!!!


Is that a 1000-1100 AD architechture...or the town had a lift up over the years.......


Pull out those cars an put some chickens and pigs around..and we'll get a middle ages postcard lol...

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by isakres

Is that a 1000-1100 AD architechture...or the town had a lift up over the years.......

The oldest house dates back to 1445. In 1626, there was a bigger fire which destroyed 214 houses.


Now we head to the castle Herborn, which is located west of the oldtown on a hill. It has been first mentioned in 1350 and nowadays it's home to an evangelic theological seminar.








A view over the old town as seen from the castle







This is the "backside" of the castle




Behind the castle, there are also some old houses










Once, here was a wall.




Here too, a tower is left and finally we get to see the Dill River




That's it

[Dr.Mabuse]

Originally Posted by isakres

Ok..this is a niiice town....next time i visit Germany Im gonna skip the big cities!!!


Is that a 1000-1100 AD architechture...or the town had a lift up over the years.......


Pull out those cars an put some chickens and pigs around..and we'll get a middle ages postcard lol...

to be honest i dont know one germany city with 1000-1100 AD architecture still alive or even older, except cathedrals, churches and castles and roman buildings like the Porta Nigra.

Fires, Wars (not only ww2), destruction, break ups and abridgements during centuries are reasons why aren't there houses from e.g 1000-1100 AD.

As the oldest single standing house in germany counts the Römer 2-4-6.

The Römer 2-4-6 is a Gothic timbered house constructed in 1289. It is located in the historical old German town of Limburg an der Lahn.

With all the things mentioned above, it comes close to a wonder, that we have any buildings older than 1945.

And i dont know if timber framed houses were ever builded between 1000-1100 AD. Dunno the architecture style

From Wikipedia
Timber framing was the most popular building technique from the 12th to the 19th century. The oldest buildings still standing are from the 13th century.
The German Framework Road is a traveling route that links cities with picturesque half-timbered buildings. It is more than 2000km long and stretches across the states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse, Thuringia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/cont.php3


*edit*
if you like older buildings please click this link
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=#post37916362

Just a random exmaple of a pre 1000 AD building, a church of course. More or less original with surley renovations done.

First mentioned in the year 910, but possibly older.

[isakres]

Thanks for the info Patrick and Dr Mabuse...

I have a thing with old fashioned towns...the more i see the pictures the more i like them.......it is good to preserve historical buildings and houses despite they were re-built or not...

Cheers guys! keep em coming pls

[Dr.Seltsam]

Really nice pics! Thanks, Patrick!

Originally Posted by Patrick

What a fantastic place to deposit an electrical panel!

[isakres]

.......maybe they thought it could be used as a bench next to the fountain.

[christos-greece]

Amazing photos of this beautiful town

[SYDNEY]

Thanks for such a charming thread, it is like living in a fairy tale

[Clay_Rock]

Great photos! Thanks for posting them.

[Rohne]

Originally Posted by Dr.Mabuse

As the oldest single standing house in germany counts the Römer 2-4-6.

So it's only 2 years older than Schellgasse 8 in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen (the city's oldest timber frame house). But I doubt that Römer 2-4-6 is the oldest single standing house - maybe you just forgot to add the term "timber frame".

And i dont know if timber framed houses were ever builded between 1000-1100 AD. Dunno the architecture style

Even if there were more buildings left from this period I doubt a single one would be timber frame. Timber framing came up with gothic architecture. In the part of Frankfurt's old town (Germany's timber frame capital until 1944) that is going to be reconstructed, a romanesque 12th century building stood (hope it will be rebuilt too) and even this one was completely built of stone...

[pixel2008]

Very nice, picturesque town.

[Dr.Mabuse]

Originally Posted by Rohne

So it's only 2 years older than Schellgasse 8 in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen (the city's oldest timber frame house). But I doubt that Römer 2-4-6 is the oldest single standing house - maybe you just forgot to add the term "timber frame".



Even if there were more buildings left from this period I doubt a single one would be timber frame. Timber framing came up with gothic architecture. In the part of Frankfurt's old town (Germany's timber frame capital until 1944) that is going to be reconstructed, a romanesque 12th century building stood (hope it will be rebuilt too) and even this one was completely built of stone...

i did not know that, thank you. do you know more example of older houses? neither be orginal or original reconstructed in germany?

[AJphx]

beautiful town, thanks for the photos.

[Max BGF]

Great town/photos!

Interesting combination of clapboard and timble frame.
Beside the old town also beautiful: site, green, creek, overgrown castle.

[Max BGF]

Btw: From your Signature-Trilogy
Medieval gems of Germany: #1 Limburg, #2 Michelstadt, #3 Herborn
I personally like the pics from Herborn the most, @Patrick.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Max BGF

Btw: From your Signature-Trilogy
Medieval gems of Germany: #1 Limburg, #2 Michelstadt, #3 Herborn
I personally like the pics from Herborn the most, @Patrick.

thx

well, it's a chronological order, of when I took the pics

[frank hannover]

Nice City ! I was sitting in my first car , with three other gang members when we heard in the radio something about a disaster in a city called Herborn.
We checked out where it is located and we visited it , roughly 1 - 2 hours from my town of Hersfeld . A gas filled truck was unable to stop from a long , steep road into the town of Herborn . He crashed full speed into a building ,
with some outdoor ice coffee bar (and guests) around it. Result: Several old style buildings were blown up , several people were killed or injured (burned),
the truck driver survived .