Oldest half-timbered house / Nobel Court, 16th century
Right here, we are in front of the oldest half-timbered house in Nierstein, which has been standing here for over 400 years.
And that’s something very special. But why? Dr. Susanne Bräckelmann from the Nierstein History Association explains:
“Well the house at the Market Square number 3, also a former nobel court, is particularly interesting because we can see the year 1591 documented above the door, and because this building today is preserved as it probably looked back then, namely with half-timbering. We assume that this is what the nobel courts all looked like. We all know how many wars have raged in our region, so a lot has been destroyed and was then rebuilt. For example, the Haxthäuser Court, just around the corner, had to be rebuilt after the War of the Palatinate Succession and today no longer has the shape it initially had in the 16th century.”
But why, of all places, did this house survive all the wars, fires and attacks of the past centuries? Was it luck? Has it been protected by influential rulers? Well, we don’t know. What is certain, however, is that the court was once owned to the Hundt-von-Saulheim family, of which the famous Knight “Ritter Hundt” originated – the hard-drinking but fair sheriff and court lord of Nierstein, who is still a beloved figure, today. And who therefore inaugurates the wine festival in Nierstein every year, dressed in helmet and armor, holding a wine glass in the hand – right here at the Nierstein market square every first weekend in August.
All right, our next stop the Knebel’sche Court, the green house just on the left.
Route to the next station:
Knebel’sche Court
Arrived?
Oldest half-timbered house / Nobel Court, 16th century
Right here, we are in front of the oldest half-timbered house in Nierstein, which has been standing here for over 400 years.
And that’s something very special. But why? Dr. Susanne Bräckelmann from the Nierstein History Association explains:
“Well the house at the Market Square number 3, also a former nobel court, is particularly interesting because we can see the year 1591 documented above the door, and because this building today is preserved as it probably looked back then, namely with half-timbering. We assume that this is what the nobel courts all looked like. We all know how many wars have raged in our region, so a lot has been destroyed and was then rebuilt. For example, the Haxthäuser Court, just around the corner, had to be rebuilt after the War of the Palatinate Succession and today no longer has the shape it initially had in the 16th century.”
But why, of all places, did this house survive all the wars, fires and attacks of the past centuries? Was it luck? Has it been protected by influential rulers? Well, we don’t know. What is certain, however, is that the court was once owned to the Hundt-von-Saulheim family, of which the famous Knight “Ritter Hundt” originated – the hard-drinking but fair sheriff and court lord of Nierstein, who is still a beloved figure, today. And who therefore inaugurates the wine festival in Nierstein every year, dressed in helmet and armor, holding a wine glass in the hand – right here at the Nierstein market square every first weekend in August.
All right, our next stop the Knebel’sche Court, the green house just on the left.
Route to the next station:
Knebel’sche Court
Arrived?