Thursday, 17 April 2025

In the town of Pirmasens, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France

 Once Upon A Time There Was A Wealthy Town, one that I visited many times In the 1970s:

========================================================================
(in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) The town of Pirmasens is the center of the southernmost part of Rheinland-Pfalz along the French border. Like Rome it was built on seven hills. The surrounding region is quite rural, so this town feels like a metropolis. The nearest real cities would be Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken, but getting there takes 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the route and means of transport. So Pirmasens plays its role as a regional metropolis, though on a low level. Until 1736 Pirmasens was part of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg and still hardly more than a village. But after the death of the last Count of Hanau, the territory became the property of Prince Ludwig IX of Hessen-Darmstadt, who chose it as his residence. While his father ruled in Darmstadt, the prince took the chance to implement his dream in his own property: build up an army. Ludwig was a soldier through-and-through who turned Pirmasens into an army base. Like the Prussian kings,he recruited very tall guys. Pirmasens grew into a garrison town in a short time. The present main square is the former parade ground. The flourishing of the town ended when Ludwig died in 1790.

+ The largest sqare in the city center is the former parade ground. (Prince Ludwig IX. had it installed to exercise his troops.) In the 1870s a school building was erected on the western side of the square, which was later turned into the new Town Hall The square has since been redesigned; a row of modern colonnades surrounds it. Outside the colonnades trees have been planted to add a bit of green. The church in the corner of Exerzierplatz was built from 1750 to 1758 as the parish church of the Reformed, i.e. Calvinist, community. The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a Lutheran land, where the Calvinist confession was not tolerated. Only here in Pirmasens they managed to obtain freedom of faith, their own parson and church due to the fact that many soldiers came from other territories and the number of Calvinists among them was large. The church’s name refers to Johannes (Jean) Calvin the reformer. At first it was known as the Reformed Church until it received its present name in 1931. In World War II the church suffered severe damage. The facades and steeple were rebuilt in their original shape. The Lutheran parish church substituted the old parish church which became too small. In WWII it was damaged, but was rebuilt. It is on Hauptstraße, in Pirmasens’s main shopping area. The building attached to the steeple of Lutherkirche was built around 1760 together with the church and served as a school building for children from soldiers' families. In the old residence and capital of the county, Buchsweiler in Alsace, Landgrave Ludwig IX was not allowed to have soldiers display his ownership of the land. In Pirmasens, he could do as he liked. The church was destroyed by WWII bombs, but was later rebuilt.



No comments:

Post a Comment

In the city of Singapore, Republic of Singapore

  (in the city of Singapore, Republic of Singapore)   Singapore: A Futuristic Oasis of Adventure and Innovation  Singapore, a dazzling met...