Residential Palace

Baroque Era

Kirchheimbolanden Residential Palace

A three-winged palace complex with an open courtyard facing the town was planned for Kirchheimbolanden. However, only the 55-meter long eastern (right) side wing and the eastern (right) part of the central wing were completed in 1706/09.

The fact that this construction, initiated under Count Johann Ernst von Nassau-Weilburg (reigned 1675-1719), was not continued may primarily have been due to the extremely costly Baroque expansion of the Weilburg Palace complex.

The Kirchheimbolanden palace construction therefore initially remained incomplete. Only Count/Prince Carl August (reigned 1719-53) then had what his father had begun completed into a three-winged complex.

As early as 1792, the palace went up in flames. For the French revolutionary troops, it was a symbol of the old monarchical order. The stele of the Mozart Fountain in the suburb commemorates this [Location 43].

However, only the ground floor of the east wing of the Baroque palace complex is original. It was therefore a fortunate coincidence that in 1994/95, the existing structure (the east wing, which had been rebuilt several times in 1807, 1861/62, and 1910) could be combined with new elements (central and west wings), thus allowing for an understanding of the original scale of the Baroque palace complex.

French Architectural Style

A 19th-century lithograph, created before 1861, of the Kirchheimbolanden Palace garden wing shows the architectural form and structure by the Nassau-Weilburg court architect Julius Ludwig Rothweil. The high windows of the ground floor, which sits on a basement level, are prominently featured. The building is crowned by a two-story mansard roof.

After a fire in 1861, however, this architectural structure was significantly altered. The first mansard roof story was then converted into a regular upper floor, and a hipped roof in the 19th-century style was placed above it.

Thus, the current palace building, in its garden facade, only conveys a partial image of the original planning and construction. However, the lithograph clearly shows Rothweil’s crucial art-historical connections to the Versailles palace building style of the late 17th century, whose groundbreaking development was carried out by Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708). Glagny, the palace built for the Marquise de Montespan within the overall Versailles complex, should be particularly considered as a model for Kirchheimbolanden.

Since the “French taste” was formative for Rothweil from the beginning, he simultaneously realized an early work of this style on German soil in Kirchheimbolanden. In doing so, he adopted architectural ideas that he had first implemented in 1700/02 at Philippsruhe Palace in (Hanau-) Kesselstadt am Main. Here, elements from Glagny (single-story design, mansard roof) were pre-formed in the wing buildings for the Kirchheimbolanden palace project, which thus represents not only a stage in Rothweil’s architectural development but also an intermediate step in the transfer of “French fashion” to Germany.

32.3 the Kirchheimbolanden Princes of Nassau-Weilburg

Kirchheimbolanden was a residential town for three Nassau-Weilburg princes in the 18th century.

The two most influential princely couples were Carl August and Auguste Friederike Wilhelmine, as well as Carl Christian and Caroline. They are depicted on the stele of the Mozart Fountain in the suburb [Location 43].

CARL AUGUST * September 17, 1685 in Weilburg; † November 9, 1753 in Weilburg; stays in Versailles from 1699 to 1701; ascended to power in 1719 as Count of Nassau-Weilburg; elevated to Imperial Prince in 1737. Under his rule, the completion of the palace, St. Paul’s Church, the Ballhaus, and Amtsstraße were primarily built/completed in Kirchheimbolanden. Entirely in the spirit of his time, he promoted the development of the state. This is expressed, for example, in his “Poor Law” of 1734 or a “School Regulation” of 1737. Carl August was guided by the state understanding of the early Enlightenment. Thus, in the “School Regulation,” he established compulsory schooling from Michaelmas (September 29) to May. Unexcused absences were punished with a fine. His church policy was characterized by tolerance, because although he himself was a Lutheran, the Reformed congregation was to be considered partakers of all privileges previously exclusively held by the Lutheran congregation, and no distinction was to be made in the future (Decree of January 13, 1738).
CARL CHRISTIAN * January 16, 1735 in Weilburg; ascended to power in 1753; † November 28, 1788 at Münsterhof in Dreisen near Kirchheimbolanden. Under his rule, the New Avenue and the Orangery were notably built in Kirchheimbolanden. His social policy was exemplary for the 18th century. For example, he provided for the survivors of his officials by establishing three widow’s funds (for secular officials, clergy, and teachers) or by setting up a poor fund to eliminate begging. However, the subjects were resistant to innovations in ecclesiastical or educational matters. Thus, Carl Christian could only enforce the introduction of an elementary school reader, which was to be equally binding for Lutherans and Reformed, with Palatinate military force (the “ABC Book” dispute of 1777) [Location 43]. During his reign, the Kirchheimbolanden Palace became a “Court of Muses.” It was primarily shaped by Carl Christian’s wife Caroline (1742-87). The visit of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1778) [Location 32.6] can therefore also be attributed to her and her courtly “musical flair.”
FRIEDRICH WILHELM * October 25, 1768 in The Hague; ascended to power in 1788; † January 9, 1816 in Weilburg. His reign left no architectural traces in Kirchheimbolanden. Because in September 1792, French revolutionary troops were approaching the city. The princely family – and with them the entire court – fled to the Nassau territory remaining on the right bank of the Rhine, while a profound political change took place in Kirchheimbolanden, finding its symbolic expression in the burning of the palace. For the Kirchheimbolanden residence, this meant an abrupt end. On the right bank of the Rhine, however, Friedrich Wilhelm – married to Luise Isabelle zu Sayn-Hachenburg since 1788 – was generously compensated for the loss of Kirchheimbolanden in the Imperial Deputation Act of 1803 with former Electorate of Trier territories along the Rhine and Lahn rivers, as well as in the Westerwald. Friedrich Wilhelm’s and Luise Isabelle’s son Wilhelm, born on June 14, 1792, in Kirchheimbolanden – just three months old during the flight from the French revolutionary troops – attained the Nassau ducal dignity in 1816. And not to forget: In 1890, Friedrich Wilhelm’s and Luise Isabelle’s grandson Adolph founded the Grand Ducal Dynasty of Luxembourg, which still reigns today.

32.4 Kirchheimbolanden Court and Court Life

In the 18th century, a princely court was the political and cultural center of the state. The Nassau-Weilburg residence of Kirchheimbolanden thus also had a dual function, which was to be fulfilled by the court and court life.

In the 1750s-80s, the court included, among others, the respective acting president, court marshal, master of the horse, lieutenant colonel, captain, and several lieutenants. As barons, they all belonged to the nobility. They received their status and rank directly from the prince. This also resulted in their involvement in court life, whose “stages” were the palace, the church, the orangery, the gardens, the Ballhaus, and the comedy house.

The princess and her children also played a special role. A painting dated 1778 shows Princess Caroline surrounded by her sons and daughters [Location 28]. In the Museum in the City Palace Kirchheimbolanden, it serves as a display wall, giving the “Nassau-Weilburg Room” its Baroque flair.

Princess Caroline, depicted here as the second from the left, played a central role in court life, especially due to her passion for music.

The music writer Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubert (1730-94) praised her as a connoisseur and patron of music. She played difficult concertos by Schubert, Johann Christian Bach, Vogler, and Becke with immense ease. She always masters Allegro and Presto.

Accordingly, there was also a full-sounding orchestra at the Kirchheimbolanden court. CD recordings by the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim under the direction of Hans Oskar Koch provide a charming impression of this court music:

“ABC Book” Dispute

In the 18th century, readers for elementary school instruction primarily contained biblical texts and excerpts from the catechism. The selection was strictly based on denominational considerations. Accordingly, a Lutheran “ABC Book” differed from a Reformed one.

Entirely in the spirit of the Enlightenment, Prince Carl Christian therefore wanted to introduce a common reader for both denominations. He therefore commissioned the Kirchheimbolanden clergy, the Lutheran pastors Hahn and Liebrich, as well as the Reformed preacher Des Côtes, to develop a religiously neutral “ABC spelling and reading book.”

The result has entered general school history. Hahn and Des Côtes are therefore also depicted on the stele of the Mozart Fountain in the suburb [Location 43].

However, the new book was rejected, especially in many Lutheran communities. There was open resistance, and on February 19, 1777, even a riot in front of the Residential Palace in Kirchheimbolanden, so the prince requested Palatinate military aid.

However, even under state pressure, it still took four years until the book could be used in all Lutheran and Reformed schools in the Kirchheimbolanden district. Thus, the will of the state and parents regarding schooling could already be at odds in the 18th century.

“European Mozart Ways”

The “European Mozart Ways,” as a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe,” connect Mozart sites in Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

One of these Mozart sites is Kirchheimbolanden. Here, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent a week at the Nassau-Weilburg court in January 1778. In a letter to his father, he wrote from Kirchheim-Poland: “I played twelve times in total and once, upon request, on the organ in the Lutheran church, and I presented four symphonies to the princess and received no more than seven Louis d’or in silver money.” Did he therefore overestimate the possibilities of the princely court in Kirchheimbolanden?

But the visit had a lasting impact: because the “Mozart Organ” in St. Paul’s Church has been an important traditional site for recordings of Mozart’s organ works since the 1960s.

No less importance is attached to the court music in the Nassau-Weilburg residence. Newer recordings of it are also available.