“Three crowns”
Cityscape change
The extent to which the medieval townscape of Kirchheimbolanden was reshaped in the 18th century can already be seen in Schlossstraße 1 and 3. Whereas originally gabled houses were imagined here, eaves-supported house façades were now “modern”.
Today’s “Drey Kronen” restaurant was built in 1717 by master baker Philipp Leininger, according to the letters carved into the corner pillar. In 1772, the property was owned by Franz Hotter. In addition to the bakery, he also ran the “Zu den drey Kronen” inn here.
In 1792, Christian Johann Lambert (1749-1831), a cooper and brewer from Kreuznach, followed. He expanded the “Drey Kronen” with a brewery. The first years of his time in Kirchheimboland were full of political turbulence. Lambert came here in the same year that the Nassau-Weilburg residency came to an end. Fourteen years later, the “Old Empire” also collapsed.
Townscape design
The half-timbered construction method not only determined urban appearances in the Middle Ages. It even remained the standard for newly built town houses until the 18th century.
Accordingly, half-timbered construction was still common in the old town at the time when Count Johann Ernst von Nassau-Weilburg (reigned 1675-1719) began building the castle [Standort 32].
By the middle of the 18th century, however, half-timbered façades no longer fitted in with the image of a royal seat. The regent who succeeded Johann Ernst, Carl August (reigned 1719-53) – especially after he was elevated to the rank of prince in 1737 – therefore issued new building regulations. Although the upper floors of new buildings could continue to be half-timbered, they had to be plastered in order to give the residential townscape a “better appearance” and enhance the reputation of the prince.
Existing houses were exempt from this. This was precisely because Prince Carl August wanted to emphasize the innovation he had initiated in the design of the town. In Kirchheimbolanden, pre-princely half-timbered buildings and princely plaster buildings often stand side by side.
