1847Demolition of the Landgrave’s Castle

On February 8, 1847, all relevant authorities (city council, county council, upper building directorate) voted not for renovation and restoration—as we might wish today—but for the demolition of the Alsfeld district court. This was of great significance because the court was housed in the former landgrave’s castle of Hermann “the Learned,” meaning this historically important building disappeared irretrievably from the cityscape.

In the 1380s, the Landgrave had decided to make Alsfeld his residence city and have a castle built there—a testament to the city’s importance at that time. Three copperplate engravings by Dilich (1605), Merian (1640), and an unknown artist give us an idea of the approximate appearance of the landgravial castle: it featured a masonry stone ground floor, above which rose two or possibly three more floors and a high Gothic roof, adorned with eight small turrets.

Following the demolition decree, the contracts for the dismantling work, including carpentry and masonry, were publicly advertised several times. This meant that Alsfeld citizens planning to build, who needed timber, sills, purlins, beams, posts, stairs, railings, doors, windows, stones, etc., could purchase these directly at the demolition site. Thus, original components from the castle may still be found today in many older Alsfeld houses where they were installed in the mid-19th century. (MNic)