"The history of our traditionel house reaches back to the year 1395"

The building which is now the Deidesheimer Hof was constructed in 1781.
At that time, it was owned by a well-known Palatine wine merchant.
Around 1900 the house was rebuilt in Renaissance style, and has become a historic and architectural monument of the City of Deidesheim.
In the twenties, the property was bought by the Deidesheim wine-growers’ cooperative.
The gastronomical career of the Deidesheimer Hof began.
Also in the twenties, the Hahn family, who started a large winery in Deidesheim, opened up the first wine tavern in Berlin and catered for the Berliners’ appetite for Palatinate wines and specialties.
In 1970 the Hahn family bought the Deidesheimer Hof. Later the building was renovated and the restaurant extended.
In 1992 the Hahn family cancelled their affiliation with the association "Romantic Hotels" in order to become a member of the world’s most charming hotel association, the "Relais & Châteaux".
In 1990 opening of the new gourmet restaurant "Schwarzer Hahn" and bar "Schwarzer Hahn" with "Vinothek" and wine cellar.
In the same year the honouring with a star in the guide Michelin took place.
In 2000 the Hahn family was able to buy the neighboring winery Dienheimer Schloss. It is being renovated and incorporated into the principal hotel.
In August 2001 the Deidesheimer Hof was awarded the 5th star of the German hotel classification. That makes the Deidesheimer Hof the second hotel in Rheinland-Pfalz, that has been given 5 stars since the beginning of the classification in the year 1996.
Since July 2004 Stefan Neugebauer, born 1st July 1975 in Fulda, is Chef de Cuisine for the restaurant “Schwarzer Hahn”.
In his career he worked together with the most famous chefs in Germany such as Heinz Winkler, hotel Residenz in Aschau and Dieter Müller, restaurant Dieter Müller in Bergisch Gladbach.

Schloss Deidesheim

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Hambach Castle near the urban district Hambach of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is considered to be the symbol of the German democracy movement because of the Hambacher Fest which occurred here in 1832.

Hambach Castle is located on the mountain Schlossberg (literally translated "Castle mountain"; elevation: 325m) in the eastern outskirts of the Palatine Forest. The estate ruled both as a protection castle and as a robber baron castle over the trade roads and the northern route of the Anterior Palatinate section of the Way of St. James.

Archaeological finds prove that the area of Hambach Castle was used in late Roman times. In late Carolingian Dynasty times and Ottonian dynasty times a castle of refuge was built there. Portions remain in front of and under the outer ring wall.

Probably in the first half of the 11th century, a new castle was built inside the former estate. It got its name because of the surrounding magnificent sweet chestnut forests. There is little known about its early history; there are speculations without any proof that it was founded as an Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) or that Emperor Henry IV had started his Walk to Canossa here in 1076. The only thing certain is that between 1090 and 1104 bishop Johann I of Speyer signed over the estate together with Castle Meistersel to the Bishopric of Speyer, which stayed the owner to the end of the 18th century.

The big estate was said to be one of the most important facilities of the Bishopric of Speyer in the late Middle Ages. This is indicated by the many residencies of the bishops since 1180. Despite this the first "Burgmannen" primary were known as Imperial Ministeriales and not as commissionaires of the church, especially the first one, Burkhard of Kästenburg, who is provably in the imperial service from 1154 to 1186. His brother Trushard of Kästenburg, proven 1178–1201, had a brilliant career at the court of Henry VI.

The descendants of Trushard had no connection to the Kästenburg. Other houses of "Burgmannen" took place here, among them since 1256 the ministerial family Schnittlauch of Kästenburg, the Earls of Zweibrücken (1284) and the Earls of Veldenz (1311).

Especially during the 13th century, larger building projects took place. Nikolaus I was consecrated as Bishop of Speyer in the castle chapel on July 12, 1388. More construction was done at the end of the 14th century and in the second half of the 15th century by the bishops Nikolaus I and Matthias I. The castle was the home for the Episcopalian document archive at the end of the 14th century.

Later the importance of the Kästenburg declined, one reason being the erection of the new estate Hanhofen after 1414/20 (later Marientraut). In 1466 the Kästenburg was the property of the Bishopric of Speyer, which Prince-elector Friedrich I protected for Bishop Matthias. An inventory taken one or two years before shows the castle still decently equipped.

During the German Peasants' War in 1525 the Kästenburg was occupied and looted, but not destroyed, by the "Nußdorfer Bauernhaufen" (literally translated: Nußdorf peasant bunch). In 1552 it was conquered and burned down by troops of Margrave and mercenary-leader Albrecht Alkibiades of Brandenburg to whom a tribute of 150,000 gulden was denied. Bishop Marquard of Speyer, who was in office from 1560–81, only arranged a very provisional rebuilding of the residential buildings and made the ruin the seat of a forester.

The former fortress wasn't damaged during the Thirty Years' War, but during War of the Palatinian Succession in September 1688, French soldiers destroyed the erstwhile abandoned castle. It was once more provisionally restored from 1701 to 1703.

In 1797 the castle was declared to be French government property. In 1816 after the Congress of Vienna the ruin became the property of the Kingdom of Bavaria together with the complete "linksrheinische Pfalz" (literally translated: left-Rhine Palatinate). A short time later citizens of Neustadt gave the worthless estate to the Bavarian King Maximilian II as a "wedding present". Because of this, the castle is also called "Maxburg" in colloquial language. In 1844 Bavaria began to rebuild the castle in neo-gothic style, August von Voit had provided the plans.

In the context of the Hambacher Fest of 1832 the then ruined castle was the focal point of the discontent of the Palatinate people over the repressive measures of the Bavarian administration which had been in office since 1816. The administration had retracted important rights which had been given to the people by French Revolution troops (governing 1797/98-1815). Since the Hambacher Fest, Hambach Castle has been considered a symbol of democracy.

Before the 150th anniversary of the Hambacher Fest in 1982 the castle was completely restored for about 12 million DM (about 6 million €). During a further renovation period 2006-07 before the 175th anniversary in 2007, the castle was closed to visitation for one year. Today the national memorial is a museum and convention centre with about 200,000 visitors per year. During the whole year events and receptions of the federal state Rhineland-Palatinate, the District Bad Dürkheim and the city Neustadt an der Weinstraße take place here. A VIP guest in May 1982 was US President Ronald Reagan with his speech "an die Jugend der Welt" (to the youth of the world). Also Presidents of Germany mostly connect their inaugural visit in Rhineland-Palatinate with a visit to this historic site.

A mention of the "Maxburg" evokes a sense of affinity among students and academics: it is considered a stone symbol of freedom and fraternity especially among members of students' fraternities.

Since 1969 the castle has been the property of the - then newly created - District Bad Dürkheim. In 2002 it became part of a new charity: its owners are now the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Bezirksverband Pfalz, the District Bad Dürkheim and the city of Neustadt an der Weinstraße. The charity is supported financially by the Federal Republic of Germany.

Hambach Castle

Die Burg Stauf ist die Ruine einer Spornburg beim Ortsteil Stauf der Stadt Eisenberg im Donnersbergkreis in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Geschichte

Die Burg ist wohl noch vor dem Jahr 1000 entstanden und als „castellum Stoufenburc“ um 1012  belegt. Damit ist sie die älteste urkundlich nachgewiesene Anlage ihrer Art in der Pfalz.

Wegen ihres alten Namens „Staufenburg“ wird die Errichtung häufig dem Geschlecht der Staufer zugeschrieben. Dieser Auffassung trat 1913 der Historiker Hermann Schreibmüller entgegen, der wegen der Erwähnungen während der Ära der Salier diesen den Ursprung der Burg zuschreibt und den Namen auf die nachmaligen Besitzer zurückführt.

Spätmittelalter und Neuzeit

Graf Heinrich II. von Sponheim-Bolanden kaufte zwischen 1378 und 1388 die Burg auf. Auf dem Erbweg kam die Herrschaft Stauf nach dem Tod von Graf Heinrich II. (1393) an den Gatten seiner Enkelin, Graf Philipp I. von Nassau-Saarbrücken. Bis Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts blieb sie zusammen mit der Herrschaft Kirchheim im nassauischen Besitz.

Im Bauernkrieg 1525 wurde die Burg, die aus einer Vorburg (Südburg), einer „Mittelburg“ und der Kernburg (Nordburg) bestand, zerstört.

Von 1871 an war der Historische Verein Rosenthal Eigentümer der Ruine, bis sie im Juni 2000 an die Stadt Eisenberg überging.

Herrschaft Stauf

Seit dem 14. Jahrhundert gehörten zur Herrschaft Stauf die folgenden Ortschaften: Breunigweiler, Eisenberg, Göllheim, Kerzenheim, Kerzweiler (Korbsweiler), Pfrimm (Pfrimmerhof), Ramsen, Rosenthal, Sippersfeld und Stauf sowie die sogenannten Rheindörfer Bobenheim, Hochheim, Horchheim, Leiselheim, Mörsch, Pfiffligheim, Roxheim, Weinsheim und Wiesoppenheim.

Burgruine Stauf

Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the House of Wittelsbach. Part of the palace is used by the University of Mannheim. The castle, which features tapestries, furniture, paintings, porcelain and silverware can be visited on a free-flow basis with audioguides.

Origins

The city of Mannheim, founded in 1606, was fortified and at the present site of the castle there was a fortress called Friedrichsburg, sometimes serving as alternative residence for the Elector, one of the most important territorial princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The actual palace dates from the 18th century. When Elector Karl III Philip had confessional controversies with the inhabitants of his capital Heidelberg, he decided to make Mannheim the Palatinate's new capital in 1720. Karl Philip decided to construct a new palace as his residence on the site of the old Friedrichsburg. It was part of a general trend among the German princes to create grand new residences in that era.

Construction was commenced solemnly on June 2, 1720. The building process was intended to cost about 300,000 Gulden, financed by an extraordinary “palace tax”, but in the end, the palace cost about 2 million Gulden and severely worsened the Palatinate's financial situation. The first administrative institutions began using the palace in 1725, but Karl Philip was able to transfer his court to the new residence only in 1731. Construction was not completed until 1760.

Karl Philip died in 1742 and was succeeded by a distant relative, the young Count Palatine of Sulzbach and later Duke of Bavaria Charles Theodor. During his reign, the palace and the city of Mannheim saw their zenith. The glamour of the Elector's court and Mannheim's then famous cultural life lasted until 1778, when Karl Theodor became Elector of Bavaria by inheritance and he moved his court to Munich. Although Mannheim kept the title of “residence”, the palace was used merely as accommodation for several administrative bodies.

Things worsened further during the Napoleonic Wars, when Mannheim was besieged. During Napoleon's reorganization of Germany, the Electorate of the Palatinate was split up and Mannheim became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden, thus losing its capital/residence status. Some glamour returned to Mannheim Palace when Stéphanie de Beauharnais, the consort of Grand Duke Karl of Baden, resided here after 1806. For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the palace served no uniform purpose, being used as a representative building and a museum for the city.

In World War II, the palace was heavily bombed and partly destroyed. Many people supported demolishing it after the war to create space for a more modern city architecture. These plans came to nothing and in recent years the palace has been renovated extensively thanks to private donations and government funding totaling more than 54 million euro.

Use as University

Elector Karl Theodor founded the Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften as early as 1763, and although there was no continuous existence of a scientific college in Mannheim, the Wirtschaftshochschule, or business college, founded in 1907, saw itself in the tradition of Karl Theodor's earlier college. The college expanded its subjects program in 1967, thus gaining “university” status. The University of Mannheim still uses Mannheim Palace as its central building complex and although many university buildings are dispersed all over the city center, key institutions such as the rectorate or the main library are accommodated in the palace, besides countless lecture halls and offices.

Structure

The site of the palace is impressive, although the construction of roads and railway tracks has diminished its dominating look. To the southwest, it faces the Rhine and Ludwigshafen. To the northeast the palace presents its 450 m long front to the Mannheim city centre. By surrounding an area of 6 hectare the castle is one of Europe's biggest palaces and the second biggest one in Baroque style, second only after Versailles. For reasons of prestige the architects made sure that Mannheim Palace has one more window than Versailles. The Breite Straße runs from the palace to Mannheim's central square, the Paradeplatz.

The central part of the palace is the Mittelbau with its representative halls. Today, the Mittelbau holds state rooms and the Rittersaal hall. The Mittelbau is flanked by the Ehrenhof West and Ehrenhof Ost wings, which include the Court of Honor in front of the Mittelbau. In those two wings, there are mainly lecture halls and offices of the university's humanities section. Below the Ehrenhof, there is a massive bunker dating from World War II. Initially constructed as defensive military fortification designed to protect up to 1,500 residents or valued materials from Russian and Allied bombing attacks, it served as a hotel with a capacity for up to 65 guests after the war. Today it is used as occasional exposition space for modern and urban art, e.g. during the Long Night of Museums in Mannheim.

The northern wing includes the impressive Schlosskirche (palace church) and the law section, as well as Mannheim's Amtsgericht (lower district court). The southern/eastern wing is much larger than the northern one, including the Schneckenhof yard (a popular university party ground) and holding most of the university's central institutions, as well as the largest lecture halls and the central Hasso Plattner Library. Two sculptures are located on the central courtyard and represent the two founders of the Mannheim Palace Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine and Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.

The palace has been repainted in a bright ocher/yellow, the Mittelbau (Corps de Logis) has been thoroughly rebuilt (including a new roof construction), and the Ehrenhof (Court of Honor) was restructured and paved with granite.