Walluf

Walluf is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. With 5,581 residents¹ in its 6.74 square kilometer area, it is the most densely populated community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis.

Walluf is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. With 5,581 residents in its 6.74 square kilometer area, it is the most densely populated community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis.

Mayor

Mayoral elections are held every six years. The most recent mayors were: 2020–incumbent: Nikolaos Stavridis (SPD) 2002–2020: Manfred Kohl (SPD) 1996–2002: Jürgen Knode (CDU) 1994–1996: Heinz Spiekermann (CDU)

Culture and sightseeing

Along the Wallufbach between Niederwalluf and Oberwalluf, there were once numerous mills, of which only remnants remain today. This area between the former villages is now the site of the new centrally located City Hall. An ancient path in the parkland through by the Distrikt Paradies (paradise district) along the Wallufbach combines the two districts.

Wallufer Turmburg

The remains of the Wallufer Turmburg (castle tower) are on the eastern outskirts of Niederwalluf, consisting of not much more than the foundation of a square tower. One well-preserved section of wall is about long and thick. Excavations in the area of the castle have indicated that was built in about the 10th century for protection against Norman attacks. Potshards found at the site date to the sixth to ninth centuries. The castle was surrounded by a wall and the tower itself was probably surrounded by a moat. The castle tower was destroyed around 1200 and in 1263 came into possession of Frank von Wiesbaden. It is not known whether the castle tower still stood at this time, but the Knights of Landau already were based about 2 km away at the Hof Armada in Frauenstein. Today, the site is open year-round to visitors and is occasionally used for choir concerts and church services.

Johanniskirche (Church of St John)

The ruins of the Johanniskirche (Church of St John) are east of Niederwalluf. Once the center of the village, the church now consists only of a square of stone walls, measuring about by , which date from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 16th centuries. Its northern wall includes remnants of two previous structures from the 10th and 12th centuries. The first structure was built by the inhabitants of the nearby castle tower, which dates to the 10th century and lies only a few meters southeast of the church. Built in approximately the year 1000, the original church consisted of a small hall, about by , with an attached square choir (or possibly a tower). It was about below the current ground level. The stones of this level have a red color that is evidence of a fire, in which the first church was obviously badly damaged. In the 12th century (about 1197), the church had apparently become too small and an extension was added on the north end. To connect this addition with the original church, two arched gateways were broken through the northern wall. The stones around these gateways were not laid in conjunction with the original wall, but rather were built onto the old stones. The brighter color of the stones suggests that the arches had been broken through the wall after the fire. The latest building dates to the 14th century. The original church had apparently been destroyed and was rebuilt, this time at the present ground level. The arches were again closed, but the floor area of the church was increased in the southwest and the walls made higher. Above the level of the first two buildings, one can see finely carved gray stones, which came from a quarry in Oppenheim and had apparently been taken from the castle tower (which had been destroyed around 1220). The last building initially had circular windows. Their irregular outbreak traces are evident in the high Gothic windows, which were built later (around 1500 to 1508). The building served Niederwalluf as the parish church until the 18th century, even though, by this time, the village itself had migrated to the west, on the other side of the Wallufbach. In the mid-18th century, the people of Niederwalluf built a new chapel, the Adelheidkapelle, in the center of the village and dedicated it also to St. John the Baptist. The altars and artistic objects from the old parish church were transferred there. From the beginning of the 19th century, the original church, badly damaged in the war of 1793–95, was abandoned. It served only as a barn and ice cellar. In his sketch book of 1813, the Mainz painter Caspar Schneider (1755–1839) portrayed the Church of St. John's in a westward-looking view of Niederwalluf. In the foreground of the sketch is a rubble mound under which the castle tower is buried. The small church is in a ruined state. A remainder of the plaster can also be discerned on north interior wall and the outer walls and the late Gothic tracery of the window is only partially damaged. A high arch is shown in the east wall. It had been made for a choir addition that was never completed and had been only sealed with a temporary wall of inferior construction until the church's destruction. The sketch also shows the remains of part of the high steep roof, which had once been crowned by a small bell tower. It was probably the Johanniskirche which Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described in 1814, during a visit to the Rheingau: "Nearby there is a ruined chapel, which sits on a green mat with its green ivy-covered walls standing wonderfully clean, simple and pleasant." Dr. Ferdinand Kutsch (1889–1972), director of the Museum Wiesbaden, conducted excavations in the area of the Johanniskirche in 1931 and 1932. Buried remains of the old castle tower were rediscovered and the previously unknown architectural history of the church was reconstructed. Some restoration of the church was done in the 1970s. In 2000, at the initiative of Elmar Lorey, the Kulturinitiative Alte Johanniskirche eV (Old St. John's Church Culture Initiative) was founded to organize events for enrichment of the cultural life of Walluf. The town rehabilitated the Johanniskirche remains for use as a cultural event venue. A line of dark stones in the newly introduced floor shows the course of the first structure's walls. Outside the north wall, another line of paving stones indicates the walls of the second construction.

Churches

Currently there are two Roman Catholic churches in Walluf (one in Niederwalluf and one in Oberwalluf) and one Protestant church in Niederwalluf. Church of St. John the Baptist (St. Johannes der Täufer), Niederwalluf – Documentary evidence shows that the dedication of the present church was in 1314. The foundations of the church are Gothic. The oldest part of the church is the chancel, which probably goes back to the Adelheid (nobility) chapel built in the 13th century. The Adelheid chapel probably originally extended right and left one street over, on a street which is still named "Kirchgasse" today. Between 1648 and 1649, the Adelheid chapel was extended on side of the church facing the village, up to where a small annex now stands. In 1718 there was another widening of the church, in which the three windows on the Rhine-facing side were added. Two of the windows bear an inscription with the year of construction that indicates the work was overseen by Peter Kirn. Inside the church on the same side there is a marble panel, which also names Kirn as overseer of the construction which added to the area of the existing church by a third. The last addition was completed in 1954–55 after plans of the architects Paul and Fritz Johannbroer. The Baroque high altar was probably a later gift, since it is too high for the Gothic chancel. On the two sides were altars to the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph dating to 1659 and 1661, respectively. Saint Joseph is the patron saint of Niederwalluf. Until the beginning of the 20th century, a wooden figure of Mary treading on the Serpent stood in the Marian altar. Until 1907, a Baroque figure with Joseph with the Child stood in the Joseph's altar. When the statue of Mary was replaced by a portrayal of her as mother with her child, the figure of Joseph was replaced by one without the child. The two older figures, together with one of Saint Nicholas, are still visible on podiums at the Rhine side of the church. The pulpit dates to 1603. On its panel is a depiction of a marsh alive with vipers – the crest of Niederwalluf. Over the crest are three flowers and the year 1576. The old baptismal font also dates to 1603. The two paintings Birth of Christ and Presentation of the Lord are works of Rhenish peasant art. The school and dating of the painting Assumption of Mary into Heaven cannot be ascertained. The Wooden Pietà has stood since about 1700. On its back is the emblem of the Crusaders. The church received new windows in 1968. The organ was built in 1978 by the Förster & Nicolaus Company. Church of Saint Martin, Oberwalluf – The parish of Saint Martin in Oberwalluf has, since 1803, possessed a valuable relic: the Bußgewand (penance garment) of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia. The Bußgewand, made from coarse linen, dates back to 1225 and according to legend was a gift to Elizabeth from Francis of Assisi. The church displays it once a year. It had previously been located in the Tiefenthal monastery, after knights of the Teutonic Order (who considered Elizabeth their patron saint) had brought the object from Marburg to the Rheingau. After the secularization of the Tiefenthal monastery, the Bußgewand came to Oberwalluf. Church of the Savior (German Heilandskirche) is the house of worship for more than 2100 Protestants in Walluf, Martinsthal and Rauenthal. It was founded in 1902¹ when Protestants in Oberwalluf and Niederwalluf numbered only 261. Ground was broken on a parcel of land called the "Vorderer Galgengipfel" ("Front Gallows Summit") on 2 May 1902, the 100th-anniversary of the Tolerance Edict of the Rheingau. Construction was completed in just six months and the solemn inauguration was held on 26 October that year. The architect of the church was Ludwig Hofmann, born in Herborn. He described the construction style as "Early Gothic", which is most recognizable in the big window groups to the left and right. The small church was built for about 200 visitors, 164 in the nave and 30 in the organ loft. The walls are made of stone, primarily quartzite from a quarry in Schlangenbad. The edges of the walls, windows and pinnacles are made of yellow and red sandstone. The building materials and style of the towers give it a fortified, castle-like appearance. Inside, the walls are plastered and painted. The original painting was reproduced as part of a thorough renovation in 1993. The painted frieze is crowned with a crenellated band made of tin, again giving the impression of a castle. The chancel window depicts the patron of the Church, the Risen Christ. The representation, in the style of the Middle Ages, depicts Jesus as Savior, standing returned from the dead on the stone rolled away from the tomb. All of the windows were restored in 2005. The altar, pulpit and baptismal font created by Walluf stoneworkers. The Gothic crucifix above the altar is much older than the church itself, made around 1470 in Oberfranken. The organ was made in 1904 by the Raßmann company in Möttau. For space reasons, the organ loft is only accessible from the outside via a narrow spiral staircase in a stair tower. Three bells hang in the bell tower, ringing daily at 12:00 and 6:00 p.m., in addition to ringing before Sunday services.

Sports

Two football clubs are based in Walluf, SG Walluf 1932 e.V. and FSV Oberwalluf 1951 e.V.. As of the 2008–2009 season, SG Walluf competes in the Verbandsliga Hessen-Mitte (the second-highest level in the state). The club won the league title in 2000, earning promotion to the Oberliga Hessen (now the Hessenliga). After two seasons in the Oberliga, they were again relegated to the Verbandsliga. FSV Oberwalluf competes in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Kreisliga A. Both clubs play at the sporting ground in the Johannisfeld on the Rhine.

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1377602857 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.