Middle Ages

Kirchheimbolanden from 500 to 1500 AD

The mandate of the 1368 city charter to establish it as a city was subsequently implemented with great vigor. Above all, the building program envisioned an 850-meter-long city wall with eight defensive towers. Large parts of the western and southern sections of the fortification are still preserved, as are two defensive towers and city gates. Kirchheimbolanden – called Kirchheim in the Middle Ages – thus became the center of a county whose territory comprised barely more than 2,000 inhabitants.

For them, the weekly market provided daily necessities. It took place in today’s Mozartstraße, which served as the city’s main axis, with St. Peter’s Church and the “Stadthaus” at its upper end and the lord’s castle at its lower end.

Kirchheimbolanden thus offers a tangible experience of the medieval urbanization that occurred in the 14th century across some 2,000 German small towns.

Outlying Tower

Outlying Tower

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Outlying TowerCity of Kirchheimbolanden The city charter that Count Henry II of Sponheim (reigned 1350-1393) received for his village Kirchheim from Emperor Charles IV in 1368 was significant in several ways: with the right to fortify, it offered protection and...

House of Diakonie

House of Diakonie

House of Diakonie"Tu Ora" – "You Pray" The House of Diakonie (Mozartstraße 11) stands out as the building at the top of Mozartstraße, which slopes down from here. It is connected to the neighboring house at Langstraße 28 (Protestant Rectory) by a wide gateway. Here,...

Rotenkirchner Gate

Rotenkirchner Gate

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Rotenkirchner Gate Rothenkirchen Monastery The Rothenkirchen Monastery, founded by Werner II von Bolanden (1118 – approx. 1190) and his wife Guda (HANC DOMVM FECERVNT WERNER ET GVDA) around 1160, is located an hour (3 km) north of the "Rothenkircher Gate". Of the...

Noble Estates

Noble Estates

Noble Estates38.1 the Fausts of Stromberg The Fausts of Stromberg were ministeriales of the Counts of Sponheim in the 14th century. Like their 'lords,' they originated from the Hunsrück. In Kirchheimbolanden, no less than four members of this family served as...

The White Horse

The White Horse

The White Horse The Noble Geispitzheim Family The Geispitzheim lineage existed from the High Middle Ages until the 18th century. As early as 1083, a document from St. Alban's Monastery in Mainz mentions "Appo von Geisbodenheim". A century later, Werner II von...