Thurnner Hof Manor (Köln)

The former manor house was probably built in its current half-timbered form in the 16th century, as Paul Clemen wrote in the 1901 inventory of art monuments of the Mülheim district, which mentions the Thurner Hof as one of the few secular buildings. The stone, vaulted basement suggests that a building stood here before. Above it, accessed by an external staircase from the north, rises a two-story half-timbered post-and-beam structure with a two-and-a-half-story, steep, slate-covered gable roof with its ridge oriented north-south. An extension was later added to the west, over which this side of the roof is now hipped. The framework of the house is built without visible braces; the high main floors have cross-mullioned window openings. This corresponds to a number of large Bergisch half-timbered houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, but is unique in the (current) Cologne city area. In the lower floor, a hall with larger windows and stucco decoration was probably added in the 18th century.

In the early 1970s, the house was renovated and set up as an outpost of the Cologne Adult Education Center. During this process, the facade plaster was removed, and the damaged half-timbered facades were fitted with plastic fillings. Inside, dilapidated ceilings and walls were extensively clad. This, as well as a lack of building maintenance (damage to the roof), caused massive structural damage in the following decades. Since August 2010, the manor house has therefore been renovated as part of the labor market and urban beautification project "Win-Win for Cologne," among others, by the Cologne Youth Welfare.

The farm buildings of the Thurner Hof house the stables of the Dellbrück Riding Club "Kornspringer," which also uses the "Türmchen."

The garden complex consists of a cottage garden, a former moated ditch, and an orchard meadow, where the apiary is also located. The garden and the 16th-century half-timbered manor house form an aesthetic unit.

The Cottage Garden

The cottage garden is the heart of the garden complex. Boxwood-bordered beds lead to an old pear tree that stands in the center of the cottage garden.

In the flower beds, "old-fashioned" flowers such as pasque flower, red foxglove, peony, and columbine are grown. In March, fragrant violets can be discovered along the paths, followed shortly after by wild pansies. In June, hollyhocks tower over all other flowers. In the wild perennial bed, the inconspicuous wild tulips and pasque flower bloom early in the year, and in summer, the bright blue borage and Siberian iris.

In the vegetable beds, out-of-fashion useful plants such as garden orach, turnip greens, chard, parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke, and broad beans grow, among others. Vegetable cultivation is carried out for educational reasons in two different ways: as row mixed cropping according to Gertrud Franck, where plants are grown in a specific sequence in closely spaced rows, and as more traditional bed mixed cropping, where heavy, light, and medium feeders are grown one after another.

In the herb beds, too, one finds plants that were cultivated in a 16th-century manor house garden: rue, meadowsweet, myrrh chervil, and motherwort can be found here, as well as parsley, bay leaf, and wild garlic, which has become popular again in recent years.

The Moated Ditch

The moated ditch is the ecological heart of the garden. Generously supported by state funds, a working group of the VHS Cologne ensured the reflooding of the remaining part of the historic moated ditch. Due to the varying water depths, the diverse light conditions from deeply shaded to fully sunny, and the adjacent long dry stone wall, an extraordinary ecological diversity with a multitude of aquatic and marsh plants has developed here. Here one finds protected plants such as the yellow water lily and the white water lily, on whose leaves wagtails hunt for insects in summer.

In spring, yellow marsh marigolds line the water's edge, and in summer, the reddish-purple purple loosestrife, as well as bur-reeds, bogbean, and marsh iris. In March, one can see the spawn of common frogs in the water, and from April, also that of water frogs. The kingfisher, which breeds nearby, has part of its hunting ground here. It can often be observed looking for fish on the willow branches protruding above the water surface. Also to be observed is the grey heron, for which the ponds at Thurner Hof are also ideal hunting grounds. In summer, mallards also regularly breed here.

Due to the different habitats, a great variety of different dragonfly species can be found here. They are best observed from the jetty that extends far into the pond area, from which one can also see the courtship display of the moderlieschen and sticklebacks. Opposite the pond jetty is a long dry stone wall. Bumblebees and solitary bees nest there.

The Orchard Meadow

The largest area of the Thurner Hof garden complex is occupied by the orchard meadow. Here, too, an attempt is made to do justice to the historical ambience of the old knight's estate by selecting the cultivated varieties. Here, regionally typical old apple varieties such as the Rhenish Bohnapfel and the Rhenish Krummstiel grow. However, the aim of the teaching garden is also to be able to show visitors the entire spectrum of fruit, nut, and berry varieties. In addition to plums, one also finds apricots, peaches, cherries, a walnut tree, and hazelnut bushes, as well as rarer varieties such as medlars and the Sorbus domestica.

Numerous bird species find nesting opportunities in the wild hedges surrounding the orchard meadow. The goldfinch can be observed as well as the greenfinch. In winter, a larger number of long-tailed tits occasionally arrive, frolicking in the branches of the old fruit trees.