Nursing home
CastleMeerholz
Meerholz Castle
Meerholz Castle is a castle in Meerholz, part of the town of Gelnhausen in the Main-Kinzig district in Hesse. The complex was built in the 16th century in place of an older monastery as the residence of the Isenburg-Meerholz branch line of the County of Isenburg.
A Premonstratensian convent has been documented in Meerholz since the 1170s. After the Reformation, the monastery came into the possession of the Counts of Ysenburg-Büdingen. They had the castle complex built between 1555 and 1564. The construction met with resistance from the town of Gelnhausen, which, as a mortgaged imperial city, invoked the imperial privilege that no castle-like building, nor castle with walls, battlements, and moats, should be built within a radius of one hour. However, the protest remained ineffective.
The castle later served as the residence of the Isenburg-Meerholz branch line. In 1904/05, a further conversion into a hospital and retirement home followed. This created another inner courtyard and parts of the complex were reshaped in the Neo-Gothic style. In 1929, the Meerholz branch line died out, and in 1942, the city of Frankfurt acquired the property. It is still used today as a nursing home by the Inner Mission.
Complex+
Meerholz Castle is essentially a four-winged complex. The eastern part is occupied by the castle church with a tower from 1560, and a farmyard is attached to the southwest. On the northern slope below the castle is an extensive park.
The older inner courtyard consists of two- and three-story buildings, parts of which, however, were altered with the renovation in 1904/05. Conspicuous in the east of the courtyard are two stair towers on an octagonal plan with portals and "Welsche Hauben" (onion domes), the latter probably a Baroque addition. Also historic is the volute gable of the south wing. In the northeast of this older inner courtyard, the addition from the early 20th century connects. This includes another inner courtyard and a tower in Neo-Gothic forms.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 50.1856, 9.1458