The cornerstone
Wheel deflectors to protect the corners of buildings and gateways were already used by the ancient Romans.
Two copies have been preserved in Harxheim.
Christian Frieß with his son Walter around 1950
Image source: Frieß family
The wheel deflector at the corner of the building Gaustraße 13 is often called corner stone in Harxheim. Other names for such stones, which used to protect house corners and gateways from the wheels of passing carts, include: Impact or bouncing stones, scratching, protective or deflecting stone. When there were no tractors and the field work was still done with horses, the horses were always in a hurry to get water and fodder in their stable after work at noon and at the end of the day. Once in the village, in many cases they could no longer be kept in check by the farmer. They took – sometimes at high speed – the curves a little tighter, so that these stones were necessary so that the car pulled behind did not graze the corners of the houses.
The second Harxheim cornerstone at the corner of Obergasse – bowling alley
Image source: Irmgard Kaiser-Vreke
In Harxheim there is even a second corner stone, it is located at the corner of the Obergasse to the bowling alley.
Probably in earlier times there were other such stones in our place. For example, a cornerstone that no longer exists today can be seen in an old photo of the former Fechenbacher Hof at Untergasse 21.
Former cornerstone on the building Untergasse 21 (undated)
Neudecker family
Corner stone on Gaustraße in the street scene of 1959
Image source: Irmgard Kaiser-Vreke
Wheel deflectors were already known to the ancient Romans. However, they have become rare in today’s streetscape. In the Middle Ages, they were usually very simple in design, and in rural areas, as in the case of this specimen, it has remained so in subsequent centuries.
However, in the case of urban or manorial buildings, the wheel deflectors were later also often decorated.
References:
Wheel deflector, 2022, in Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radabweiser&oldid=224531071
