old monastery walls of the former abbey in lorsch.
on easter sunday we returned to the bergstraße region, because quite frankly we realized that we wanted to see more of it! this time we stayed in the hessian part of the bergstraße, where we headed to lorsch, an age-old city that was once a big religious hub, with lorsch abbey being an important historic place for germany. you see, when it was erected in 764, it had already been a place of worship, but it gained significance as an influential abbey from the point on it was officially consecrated and given some relics of the martyr nazarius. it was turned into an imperial abbey by king charles the great in 772, which gave it important rights and liabilities that had great impact on history and the abbey's possessions. some of the most important scripts and documents of the early and high middle ages were also created here, amongst them the lorsch bee blessing, the lorsch dispensatory, the lorsch codex and the codex aureus of lorsch.
while many of the abbey's buildings didn't outlast to the present day ( it got destroyed during the 30 years war and then used as a stone quarry ), there are still some remnants to be found, for example the king's hall, a fragment of the old church, a tithe barn, the abbey walls and a bit further away the site of the very first abbey church ( altenmünster ). the abbey is an important and very rare relict of architecture of the carolingian era.
before we headed to the abbey, we stopped by the evangelical church ( 1896 ) just around the corner.
the church garden is known for having a part dedicated to peonies, though they mostly didn't bloom yet. it was still a pretty little gem, and probably must be popular with bridal couples.
i found white and lilac-coloured tulips!
as well as ornithogalum ( milchstern - milkstar - in german, in english known as star-of-bethlehem ).
this was one of the very few early peonies, and even already in withering stage! peonies are probably some of my most favourite flowers ( it's tough for me to decide on a favourite plant, because I LIKE SO MANY ). they always smell divine and fresh and their long-lasting flowering is a huge plus!
the church is situated on a former sand dune and appears quite majestic from down below.
tiny blue sweethearts ( offically forget-me-nots ;) )
in the distance you were already able to see the church fragment of lorsch abbey.
the king's hall is the only original carolingian structure on the premises of the former abbey and it is an impressive one! its facade is super decorative, something you probably wouldn't expect from a building dating back to the 8th century ( especially in europe ). it's always surprising to me to realize that people over 1000 years ago were able to create something so intricate and abundant. it sometimes seems to me that the people of the past were a lot more capable and intelligent than we want to admit. it takes quite some skills to build something that monumental, especially when you consider the times they got constructed, were machines were basically non-existant and everything was so much more difficult to build.
the king's hall's purpose is not entirely resolved, it probably was a mix of library, court hall, festival room and reception building. it definitely always was of great importance, otherwise it wouldn't ever have managed to survive to this day.
i can vividly visualize the reception of king charles the great in 774 or some important clerical figures like pope leo IX. in 1052.
carolingian architecture stood out with the incorporation of typically classic and byzantine elements of the ancient world. since charlemagne ( how charles the great was also called ) spent lots of time in italy to consolidate his powers, he of course got to know the architecture and therefore brought with him these impressions and influences of what imperial architecture should look like.
as a formative leader in those historic times he heralded the carolingian renaissance with his world views and visions, and thus had great effect on the landscapes, cultures and morals of europe.
when you go through the king's hall and up the hill, you will end up in front of the church fragment.
the other side of the king's hall is identical to the front, but missing one window in the upper floor.
these days you would look at it as some sort of city portal, as it leads to the old city core of lorsch. it is a very small building, i grant you that, but even if it is small, it is still a building of immense impressiveness and importance.
the fragment of the abbey church isn't less impressive, though it doesn't date back to the carolingian era. research yielded some results that point toward a reconstruction of former abbey structures in the 11th century, probably after there was a big fire in 1090. it was part of the nave of an ante-church that was attached to the main eastern part of the basilica.
the arch above the small portal probably was a connective opening that lead from the first floor of the church towers towards the nave of the ante-church, basically rendering it a gallery. since the church towers were demolished in the gothic era, the inner wall became a new facade, and a glass window was installed above the former opening. it dates back to the 14th century, but got restored in the 19th. the other windows above the buttresses are probably much older, judging by the simplicity of their design.
the newer and very typically gothic church window.
the older window openings point towards a more romanesque style.
chiselled into the sandstone were these lovely little embellishments.
the fragment from outside its hall. the eastern wall is relatively new, it actually wasn't a thing back in the old days. the nave of the ante-church was about a bay longer, but it got shortened eventually in the 18th century. the outer wall is clinkered with tiles, probably dating back to the 1950ies when the building was extensively renovated. now this part serves as some kind of outdoor altar.
kinda liked how minimalistic this was.
this being only a tiny part of the former abbey church makes you wonder how grand it was when all of it was still standing. here's a reconstruction of what it might have looked like in its heydays.
big trees were providing some much-needed shadows on the otherwise pretty open plan abbey grounds.
there are some more buildings scattered everywhere, but even though they are old and historic, they don't possess the same importance than the actual abbey-related buildings. from left to right: a part of the tithe barn, a small lithic house called adalher house ( formerly a pigpen ), the former district's forester house and electoral house. all of them were built after the monastery ceased to exist ( after 1621 ).
the electoral house was built in baroque times from 1701 to 1725 by lothar franz von schönborn - a mainz bishop.
the tithe barn was constructed in the 16th century with remains of the old abbey buildings. it now houses the museum of lorsch abbey, presenting several excavation finds of the area.
behind the barn you can find a kitchen garden. it is equipped with lots of herbs and plants that you can find inside the lorsch pharmacopoeia.
seriously, the former pigpen is tiny house material, and i love tiny houses and want to live in them. by the way, i think it's a very luxurious pigpen 😅 i would've liked to be a pig living in there, minus the slaughtering perhaps.
the district forester's house was built in the late 19th century together with the pigpen.
we wanted to explore more of lorsch and its surroundings, so we did that instead of buying a ticket for the museum or some guides. the weather was lovely, so it would've been a shame to spend it inside the tithe barn. on the way into the city core we passed by this post-modern kindergarten.
the old city hall and the market square. the city hall was built with the plans that were used for the heppenheim city hall (1714 - 1715 ), it is almost a copy of that building.
there are more timber-framed houses on the square, turning it into a harmonious ensemble.
this curious-looking thing is a guild tree, it showcases all the local residential professions.
i loved this fountain! it's called the 'tabakbrunnen' ( tobacco fountain ) and refers to the cultivation of tobacco, something that was tradition in the upper rhine valley from the 17th century until the late 20th century. the tobacco was used for cigars mostly. the woman sitting on the rock is a seamstress who sows the tobacco leaves on a twine for later hanging. i also loved the little boy who plays with the cat.
meow!
a random mural i discovered, clearly a blast from the mid-century past!
we eventually found ourselves near the open air laboratory lauresham ( lauresham is the old name of lorsch ), which is basically an outdoor museum with focus on experimental archeological research. it showcases a central yard from the 8th & 9th century, with economic buildings like barns and magazines, but also a little chapel it seems. i would love to check this out in the future, i reckon it's pretty interesting!
these impressive creatures were also part of the outdoor museum! they are breedings that are supposed to look, live and behave like the extinct cattle species aurochs. there was another one on the field and i learned that both of them are male and called david and darius. i don't know about you, but if i were a female aurochs i would totally fall for these gorgeous boys. they had such a calm demeanor!
along the river weschnitz, which is a 60 kilometer long distributary of the rhine river.
not far away from the river you can find some raised foundation walls displaying the former position of the very first abbey church - altenmünster. it is situated outside the abbey walls a few hundred meters away. this church was only used by the monastery for about 3 years before they moved to the place where you can now find the official remnants of the powerful lorsch abbey. it was built in 764 as a propietary monastery by the district count cancor and his mother williswind, but the monastery soon passed on to a very influential archbishop, chrodegang of metz. he had the connections and ideas to turn the little sleepy monastery into one of the most important abbeys in the kingdom of the franks, which consequently meant they needed to move to a bigger monastery. the altenmünster church probably existed for a few more centuries after the move, but over time it went to ruins and even was completely forgotten until someone found a note in the lorsch codex that located the original and first church near the river weschnitz. in the 1980ies they raised these foundational walls in memory of that old forgotten structure.
we sat down to enjoy a little picknick and eat some easter eggs ;)
on the way back to our car we passed by this historic tobacco barn from 1850 where they hung up the tobacco to dry.
the next goal we headed for was this romantic castle - auerbach castle near bensheim - only about 6 kilometer away from lorsch. it was built by the landgraves of katzenelnbogen around 1230 to collect tolls along the mountain road of the 'bergstraße'. it was one of the most modern castles in that day and age and said to be impregnable. during the 30 year war ( 1618 - 1648 ) it got conquered eventually, because the structure was not up to date anymore, and the warfare was so advanced that even the most massive castle wouldn't stop the invaders. soon it would fall to ruins, until some 'samaritans' finally took to restoring this historic place. there is a restaurant next to the castle that offers medieval feasts, and there are various happenings every year to enliven the castle, like walpurgis night dances or festivals. the entrance into the castle is without any fees, which makes it a very popular destination.
some trees found their way into the castle premises and enhanced it with their fresh green glory. the castle is situated on the auerberg hill above bensheim on an altitude of 345 meters.
the fact that it was embraced by trees and nature made it really charming to me! overgrowth and old castles are a match made in, well, whatever heaven you believe in.
the northern part of the castle was once the main entry, framed by a massive frontal wall and two towers ( of which only the north tower is still standing ).
you could climb on top of the frontal walls via staircases. some of them were pretty well lit!
here we stood on the south eastern part of the castle, overlooking the palas ( and some part of the castle chapel ). the tree you see here is an over 300 years old pine that magically survived up here ( nourishing itself by soaking up air moisture mostly ).
looking towards the south tower and the city of bensheim. the castle is encompassed by two baileys, an inner and an outer one. the outer one was broad enough to integrate bigger buildings, which you can see here. inside these you can find the restaurant i was talking about earlier and you can also choose to rent some vacation homes. the view from the towers was phenomenal and breath-taking, it overlooked the upper rhine valley and the odenwald mountains.
view to the east, where you can see the odenwald mountains. there was once another tower where you can see now a bastion, but it was destroyed during an earthquake in 1356. when you look closely you can see a 62 meter deep well in the corner between the northern wall and the palas.
a window of the integrated chapel of the castle.
this visit was very brief and since it was still kinda early in the day we decided to check out one more place in bensheim - the fürstenlager ( baronial repository ), a state park and former residence of the landgraves of hesse-darmstadt. this huge park is a wonderful place to flee from the upper rhine valley life, which can sometimes be quite overwhelming because of the population density. i loved it there! it is nestled into a small valley called roßbachtal, seemingly isolated from the city of bensheim. on 46 hectares you will encounter a park that was inspired by english garden architecture with a little hamlet right in the middle that was supposed to be a respite for rich people, but also commoners, since the reason why it got built in the first place was the discovery of three mineral wells that would be turned into a spa operation. unlike many hamlets like these that were only built as some kind of summer residence for noblemen, the hamlet here was always occupied and open to all kinds of residents!
we weren't able to see all of the park, so here's to hoping that there's gonna be a revisit in the future! in the midst of taking photos my camera battery died, so i was only able to snap a few mobile pictures after that.
english landscaping means incorporating already existing landscapes like meadows, vineyards, mountains and valleys and creating a strolling path network that links decorative features and small buildings for maximum enjoyment. they are always planned in a very idyllic way, almost in an escapist fashion. they are little havens of respite and relaxation, of removing yourself from reality and into a place that seems like there is not a single thing that can harm you, but all kinds of things that will elevate your soul. quite romantic, huh?
this little building was formerly the pastry cook's kitchen ( built 1790 -1792 ). all of the buildings were approximately erected at the same time, give or take. they are built in the neoclassical style, forming a coherent ensemble.
weißzeughaus & damenbau ( linen house & lady's building ). they were also built in 1790 and 1792. while the linen house was basically a washing and bathing building, the lady's building was for the ladies of the court ( as the name suggests :P ).
the linen house called to me especially... you can guess why :D and no, it wasn't because i felt like i needed to be cleaned. don't you think it's a cute little tiny house to live a perfect life in? unfortunately it is a house that never comes to rest as it is visited by lots of people throughout the year.
the gesundbrunnen ( health fountain ) is the main reason the resort got built, drinking the water coming from it was meant to be constitutional for the health. it is not to be mixed up with the goethebrunnen, another fountain in bensheim, situated in a different district, which is also sometimes called gesundbrunnen.
a guard house overlooks the main plaza of the little hamlet. it's not standing on its original position, which was a bit further away by the 'herrenwiese' ( gentlemen's meadows ).
there are long pathways leading through the park, guaranteeing that you will probably stay the whole day, especially if you are a stroller and bon vivant. sit down for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake at one of the gastronomical hubs you can find here and then just walk it off very slowly taking in all the little surprises the park has to offer. and if you are really adventurous, you could still walk 5 km to the felsenmeer, a boulder field full of melaquarz diorites and back. which is something i really want to do, it's been on my 'to visit' list for the longest time.
this lookout point was on top of the so-called altarberg ( altar mountain ) and stands on the premises of a former tea house. you had a really nice view onto bensheim from here, which i didn't take a picture of because my mobile's camera wasn't really equipped to take good panoramic photos. guess that needs to wait, too, when i visit another time, hopefully with a fully loaded camera!
since it was then about time to head back home to wiesbaden, we said goodbye to this gorgeous spot on the edge of the odenwald mountains. all the places we visited on that easter sunday were quite a handful, they definitely deserve a more thorough exploration, diving deeper into their histories. unfortunately sometimes my family has the habit of cramming too much into one day, as we never know if we'll be able to revisit again. for this part of germany, especially the odenwald / bergstraße region, i really do hope to return soon enough. it all seemed utterly magic to me, the old carolingian abbey in lorsch, auerbach castle and the tranquil fürstenlager park.
see you next time, stay curious!
Comments