Princely barracks / Royal district court
Princely “Grenadier Company”
As a residential town, Kirchheimbolanden was also a military base in the 18th century with a “grenadier company” and a “hussar brigade”.
While the hussars were stationed in the “Husarenhof” [Standort 36], the grenadiers were stationed on the northern edge of the courtyard. The up to 80 grenadiers were commanded by a lieutenant colonel. Other officers and non-commissioned officers included a captain, two to four lieutenants, two sergeants, a fourier and five corporals.
Together with the “Hussar Brigade”, the “Grenadier Company” belonged to the “Upper Rhine District Contingent”, which comprised the troops of the imperial territories on the Upper Rhine, i.e. the Electoral Palatinate, the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and 47 other “dominions” including Nassau-Weilburg, Nassau-Usingen, Nassau-Idstein, Nassau-Saarbrücken and Ottweiler. Prince Carl Christian (reigned 1753-1788), his father Carl August (reigned 1719-53) and grandfather Johann Ernst (reigned 1675-1719) were at times commander-in-chief of the entire “district contingent”.
“Royal District Court”
As ambivalent as the 23-year French “interim period” that followed the Nassau-Weilburg era in 1792 was perceived, it also brought “progress”, especially in the legal system. Civil and criminal law were now determined by new guiding principles: the freedom of the person and equality before the law. The “courts of peace” were key instruments for establishing and enforcing these principles.
The district courts emerged from them during the Bavarian period. The one in Kirchheimbolanden was responsible for the area of the district office (until 1862 the district commissioner’s office).
The official building erected for this purpose in 1881/82 is a typical Bavarian government building. The plans were drawn up by Ludwig von Stempel (1850-1917), who later became head of the Bavarian Supreme Building Authority in Munich. Old photos show the front with the Bavarian coat of arms on a balustrade. Law and the state were to be expressed so effectively.
