Walderdorffer Hof Manor

To determine the construction period of the building, a dendrochronological investigation was carried out in 2000, commissioned by the city of Bensheim. Thirteen oak and softwood samples were taken for the investigation. Eight of the oak samples could be reliably dated. It is certain that the trees from which the samples originated were felled in the winter of 1394 to 1395. It can be assumed that the wood was processed and installed in 1395. This means that the Walderdorffer Hof was completed in 1395.

The building features point to the period known as the transitional period in half-timbered construction. In the Middle Ages, the wooden house formed a single unit, both externally and internally. The roof and walls were not structurally separated from each other; intermediate ceilings were only gradually introduced for spatial division. All beams, horizontal and vertical, were as continuous as possible in their length and joined over each other to form an inseparable unit. In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, efforts were made to gradually dissolve this unity. This endeavor left a multitude of corresponding features on the Walderdorffer Hof. It can be gathered from the old deed volumes in the city archive that the Walderdorffer Hof was originally a burgher's house, which was sold by its owner Paul Guttes to the Lord of Walderdorff around 1580. About 50 years later, around 1630, the Hof belonged to the Lords of Gemmingen. Around 1710, the house was owned by the Lords of Überbruck and Rodenstein, who eventually sold it back to Bensheim citizens.

Over the centuries, the house was altered several times. For example, the formerly open arcade on the upper floor was closed, and the hall-like room on the ground floor was shortened in height by an intermediate ceiling. Almost every generation changed something, according to their respective needs and the spirit of the times. And not always did these changes benefit the Walderdorffer Hof.

In 1964, the Hof came into the possession of the city of Bensheim.

The stately half-timbered house owes its name to the noble family of Walderdorff (also Wallendorf). The first documented mention of this noble family in connection with Bensheim dates back to 1519. The Junkers of Schwalbach and Walderdorff were then collators of the Nicolai Altar.

Today, the building is used on the ground floor as a restaurant and on the upper floor as a club house for the local heritage association "Oald Bensem" e.V., which has owned the Walderdorffer Hof since 2001.

The Walderdorffer Hof is a cultural asset under monument protection. The stately residential building is considered one of the most historically valuable half-timbered buildings in Hesse.