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Rathaus Saarwellingen (ehemaliges altes Schloß)

Floor plan of Saarwellingen Castle
The floor plan of the 2nd Saarwellingen Castle from 1766
Watercolor drawing of the castle of the Counts of Kriechingen
The castle of the Counts of Kriechingen before the extension in 1879 (watercolor drawing)
Saarwellingen Castle 1933
Saarwellingen Castle after the extension (1933).
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The old archway of Saarwellingen Castle
The old archway was completely destroyed by artillery fire in 1945.
Inauguration of the new archway at Saarwellingen Castle
May 24, 2003: Cutting of the opening ribbon by the then mayor Werner Geibel (right) and the chairman of the board of the Kreissparkasse, Hermann Paulus (†) (left). In the background the fanfare "The Crichinger".

Beschreibung

The town hall of the municipality of Saarwellingen has a long tradition. It is the only building that still speaks of the proud history of our municipality today. The building was built in the era of the duodecimo princes in 1766 by the last counts of Saarwellingen, the Count of Wied-Runkel. However, it was expropriated as early as 1794 during the French Revolution, to then become the property of the now formed civilian municipality Saarwellingen in 1818. After an expansion in 1879, the house was then used as a school for almost 100 years, until it received its designation as a town hall in 1978.History, development and use to dateIn 1376 the "Veste Wellingen" is mentioned for the first time, but the castle is undoubtedly older. The castle was last inhabited during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648); it was plundered several times. In 1662 only the "now ruined Wellingen castle" is mentioned. Since 1659 the rule of Saarwellingen entirely belongs to the Counts of Kriechingen. In 1681, Kriechingen came to the County of East Frisia by inheritance. The rule is now far away and the Saarwellingers become difficult subjects. They even conduct lawsuits at the Imperial Chamber Court against their rule.In 1715, the East Frisian rule built a small castle on the former castle grounds to strengthen their authority. The architect and contractor was Joseph C. Motte from Geneva. The construction work was finished in 1719. The castle burned down in 1766. The Counts of Wied-Runkel, to whom the rule of Saarwellingen had fallen in 1726, immediately began the construction of a larger and more beautiful castle which was also to serve as a residence. During the French Revolution the Counts were expropriated. The building was auctioned off in 1804 and went to Johann Rosier from Saarlouis, who later sold it to Johann Nicola Lacroix from Saarlouis. In 1818, the municipality purchased the castle and used it as a school.In 1879 the schoolhouse was expanded by an extension. It is the left half of the current town hall. During this expansion, the left gate was torn down. The building was severely damaged by artillery fire in 1944/45. The reconstruction took place in 1948, except for the completely destroyed right arch. In 1976/77 the castle schoolhouse was converted into a town hall.Historic Archway of the Saarwellingen Castle from 1766The baroque archway from 1766 adorned the right entrance to the castle courtyard until the artillery fire in January 1945. Shells had completely destroyed the vaulted arch down to the foundation. While the reconstruction of the also heavily damaged school house in the former castle could be completed by 1948, the renewal of the archway was omitted at the time. A similar archway on the left side of the castle had already been sacrificed to the school extension in 1879.With its central Castle Square, Saarwellingen has a historically interesting ensemble of buildings. Against this background, the municipality of Saarwellingen has already begun in the past years to renovate and refurbish individual objects in style. Thus, in spring 2002 the historic town hall could be returned to its intended purpose after extensive restoration measures.This particular measure was met with a great positive response from the citizens of Saarwellingen. Subsequently, many culturally interested community members were willing to get personally involved. Against this background, an interest group was founded at the beginning of 2002 with the aim of rebuilding the historic archway destroyed during the war in an authentic way, thus enriching the building ensemble at the castle square with another historically interesting object.In addition to purely historically motivated reasons, the initiators believed that the further restoration of the castle square, in the sense of a step-by-step restoration of the original building ensemble, could further support and sustainably promote the cultural identity of our citizens with their local community, but also with our region.The financing of the original restoration of the archway was entirely borne by donations from citizens and companies, other institutions as well as the activities of the interest group. The work to rebuild the "Historic Archway" took place in spring 2003. The archway was constructed using a stone from Alsace, which is identical in texture and color to the original. In addition, the outdoor stairs received a wrought-iron baroque railing.The opening of the archway was conducted in a ceremonial manner on Saturday, May 24, 2003. The contribution of the two Saarwellingen fanfare bands "Die Crichinger" and "Die Hesebacher" in their historical Landsknecht uniforms made the entire building ensemble appear in splendid colors.