Old towns of Germany: Butzbach (Hessen)

[Patrick]

Let's continue with my series about small-sized old towns in Germany. This thread is for Butzbach, a town between Frankfurt and Gießen in the federal state of Hesse. Butzbach has 12.000 inhabitants (24.000 if you also count the surrounding villages within the new city borders from the 70s). Butzbach was first mentioned in 773. Many houses in the old town date back to at least 1600. The market square of Butzbach is said to be one of the most beautiful in Hesse.

Here are the pics:





















































This is the market sqaure








That's the historic town hall which is curretly under renovation


This is a small preseved part of the city wall and the so called Hexenturm (witch tower)


Here the protestant Markuskirche (Markus church)


This is the castle of Butzbach (Landgrafenschloss). It's the town hall nowadays.


Enjoy

[Benonie]

Never heard of it but it looks lovely. I like the old style German houses.

[geoff189d]

Absolutely beautiful looking town.

[dutchmaster]

Great pics! Great architecture!

[dnobsemajdnob]

Beautiful.

However, houses dating to 1,600 isn't that old. American cities like NY, Boston and Providence, RI have many houses from that period.

[dnobsemajdnob]

Beautiful.

However, houses dating to 1,600 isn't that old. American cities like NY, Boston and Providence, RI have many houses from that period.

Anyway, it looks like this suburban town outside of NY. In fact, this NY village also has houses from the 1,600s.

[Chadoh25]

I love German towns and cities! They are so charming!

[christos-greece]

Really beautiful and gorgeous; thanks for the photos

[Embrace57]

The charm, beauty and COLOUR of all these german cities and towns is just wunderbar!

[dancle]

Yeah! This certainly is a beautiful city!!

Btw dnobsemajdnob the buildings on your pictures aren't from the 1600. They are just copies of german, french, brittish buildings, built late 1800 or beginning of 1900, maybe even later..

I'm no expert but I don't think there MANY buildings in the US from the 1600.
Correct me if I'm wrong!

[Tiaren]

Originally Posted by dancle

Yeah! This certainly is a beautiful city!!

Btw dnobsemajdnob the buildings on your pictures aren't from the 1600. They are just copies of german, french, brittish buildings, built late 1800 or beginning of 1900, maybe even later..

I'm no expert but I don't think there MANY buildings in the US from the 1600.
Correct me if I'm wrong!

You are right! I'd even say early beginning of the 20th century.
The timberframe there is only decoration.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by dnobsemajdnob

Beautiful.

However, houses dating to 1,600 isn't that old. American cities like NY, Boston and Providence, RI have many houses from that period.

Anyway, it looks like this suburban town outside of NY. In fact, this NY village also has houses from the 1,600s.

Ah, dnobsemajdnob, are you serious? Those buildings you showed are not historical buildings from the 1600's. They are quite modern and just copies of historical buildings. And there is a vast difference between original historical structures and modern copies. There is an atmosphere and age that simply cannot be replicated.

Yes, there are some places in the America's where you can find structures dating from the 1600's, but it is extremely rare. On the other hand it is the opposite here and extremely common.

[dnobsemajdnob]

Originally Posted by Justme

Ah, dnobsemajdnob, are you serious? Those buildings you showed are not historical buildings from the 1600's. They are quite modern and just copies of historical buildings. And there is a vast difference between original historical structures and modern copies. There is an atmosphere and age that simply cannot be replicated.

Yes, there are some places in the America's where you can find structures dating from the 1600's, but it is extremely rare. On the other hand it is the opposite here and extremely common.

Justme, you didn't read my post accurately. I did not say that those buildings in the photo are from the 1,600s. I said that houses in that same town are.

Those buildings, like the old looking buildings in Frankfurt and Liberty in London are simply made to look old. They were built in the 1920s.

[VelesHomais]

Incredible city. Thanks for the pictures.

About the discussion: there are, unfortunately, very few buildings in New York from 1600's and they are former farms, not beautiful city-buildings (they were destroyed in New York in the 19th century)

[dnobsemajdnob]

There are a lot more than you think. Both in NYC (mainly in Brooklyn, Queens and SI) and in the suburbs.

Anyway, back to this thread: This is a beautiful German town.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by dnobsemajdnob

Justme, you didn't read my post accurately. I did not say that those buildings in the photo are from the 1,600s. I said that houses in that same town are.

Those buildings, like the old looking buildings in Frankfurt and Liberty in London are simply made to look old. They were built in the 1920s.

No, I didn't misunderstand you. You mentioned US cities have many buildings from the 1600's and showed two photos. This was of cause quite misleading.

I am not going to be one to suggest the US doesn't have history. It certainly does. But there is absolutely no comparison in the shear number of historical buildings in even the most historic US city, compared with the average German town. German towns tend to be spared from the destruction of WWII, and the same with the suburbs of major cities. The history is on a completely different scale. And you also suggested that Butzbach looks like that suburban town outside of NY. Absolutely not. It may on the surface on that photo have a basic similarity, but there is a vast difference between a modern building made using older designs and the originals. The age and detail account for so much. It's a bit like people who claim the Disney castle is equivalent to Neuschwanstein.

It works the other way around as well. There are some new towns in Europe that were based on designs of American towns. To some Europeans they may say it's "just" like an American town. But to an American it would seem as different as if it was on another planet.

[dnobsemajdnob]

Originally Posted by Justme

No, I didn't misunderstand you. You mentioned US cities have many buildings from the 1600's and showed two photos. This was of cause quite misleading....

What I wrote was quite clear. I said: "Anyway, it looks like this suburban town outside of NY. In fact, this NY village also has houses from the 1,600s."

The buildings shown in the German town do look like the ones in that Village. You simply have a predisposition to assume otherwise; similarly, many Europeans have a predisposition to assume that mock Tudors, like Liberty in London and the timber structures in Frankfurt, are 500 years old. They are not.

Furthermore, I clearly did not say that the timber buildings in Scarsdale, NY are from the 1,600s. I said that that town (and surrounding towns in that area for that matter) have buildings from that era.

Anyway, back to the topic. I don't want to detract from this nice thread.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by dnobsemajdnob

The buildings shown in the German town do look like the ones in that Village. You simply have a predisposition to assume otherwise; similarly, many Europeans have a predisposition to assume that mock Tudors, like Liberty in London and the timber structures in Frankfurt, are 500 years old. They are not.

Anyway, back to the topic. I don't want to detract from this nice thread.

That's true. In fact, if I remember correctly, there is only 1 (one) half-timbered in the whole oldtown of Frankfurt which had more than 1000 of these houses which survived the WWII and is still standing. But I'll open another thread for half-timbered houses in Frankfurt (there are also other districts ) soon.

And thx for the comments, and I have nothing against that discussion, better as no comments at all

[nanacheri]

Butzbach was my home from 1964-1967. My husband was an Army officer with the 16th Signal Bn. stationed at Schloss Kaserne. We arrived shortly before Christmas with our 3 month old son. Seeing these pictures has filled my heart with the most wonderful memories. Thank you and God bless you!

[charliewong90]

cool medieval town.