House Krone
The Krone House – today privately owned – looks back on an interesting history. In the first decades of the last century there was a restaurant here, which was of great importance for the social life of the village.
The property is listed in the monument register of the Mainz-Bingen district.
House Krone on a postcard, to date about 1903
Image source: Hans Jürgen Müller
The Krone house at Gaustraße 19 makes a lasting impression in the streetscape simply by virtue of its size. Its name is explained by the crown above the courtyard entrance.
The spacious three-winged complex was built in 1871 over a baroque predecessor building and was designed for agriculture and viticulture. The main building facing the street with old louvered shutters and hipped roof is one of the earlier brick buildings in the region. The house entrances are on the left and right side of the gateway. To the left of the entrance is a two-aisled former cattle barn, cross-vaulted over columns. On the upper floor there used to be a large hall.
The anchor numbers 1871 on the former economy wing prove the date of construction
Bildquelle: Birgit Korte
At right angles to the main building, on the north side, there is the economic wing with wine press house and stables, also built in 1871. Anchor numbers still show the date of construction. At the rear, there is a large barn and an entrance – now bricked up – to the cellar of the farm at Enggasse 1, known as the Harxheimer Weinstube. This courtyard may have originally belonged to the estate as an old people’s partition house. The oldest parts of the rear buildings are probably much older than the rest of the farm. Today, the interiors have been largely remodeled and serve as private living space.
The house Krone has a varied history. It initially belonged to the old-established Happel family in Harxheim and was sold from 1896 to 1904 to the Butcher family Fritzsch rented. The Fritzsch family then continued their business in Obergasse until the mid-1990s.
In 1906 the Wenderoth family bought the Krone house and ran a butcher’s shop and an inn here until the 1930s. On the narrow strip to the right of the main building there was even a covered bowling alley at that time. The hall on the upper floor, about 150 square meters in size and equipped with a podium, was known as Wenderoth’s Hall and was apparently the central meeting place for important local events during that time. For example, at the beginning of the First World War in 1914, soldiers were sworn in here, and at the end of the war, the pictures of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Field Marshal von Hindenburg were torn from the walls by French soldiers.
In 1951, the Lutheran congregation exchanged the Lutheran parsonage at Bahnhofstraße 3 for the Krone house, which offered more space. Now the Protestant pastor lived here until 1958, further rooms were used as a kindergarten. Later, until the 1970s, the Krone house was a factory for the processing of foils.
In 1980, the Bodenheim association municipality bought the now rather run-down property, renovated it and converted it into living and event space. In 2005 it was resold to the current owner. The municipality of Harxheim was also interested in acquiring it at the time. It would have liked to use the space for community purposes, but did not get the chance. Instead, the new community center on Bahnhofstrasse was then inaugurated in 2019.
Wedding procession past the house Krone in 1954
Image source: Ahr family
Impression of the Harxheim Christmas market at Haus Krone
Image source: Irmgard Kaiser-Vreke
Nevertheless, Haus Krone has not been completely lost for Harxheim village life, because on certain occasions, such as village festivals, the private owner thankfully opens the gates. Thus, since 2011, the small but fine Harxheim Christmas market has also been held here regularly on the four Advent weekends.
To the right of the Krone house is probably the most imposing tree in the center of the village, an oak tree over 100 years old.
References:
Krämer, Gerhard (2021): Notes on Harxheim. Unpublished manuscript.
Krienke, Dieter (2011): Verbandsgemeinden Bodenheim, Guntersblum and Nieder-Olm. . .
Reßler, Tanja (2017): Economic Center “Alt Hashem”. In: Ortgemeinde Harxheim (Hrsg.): Festbuch 2017. Harxheim. Eintausendzweihundertfünfzig. Selzen. S. 129 – 143.
