Photo: Namenloser Hobbyhistoriker · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Profanierte Marienkapelle

Late medieval round building in Ludwigsstadt with an exhibition on its construction history and the original parlor of regional writer Rosa Meinhardt.

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About the museum

The distinctive round building, with an octagonal half-timbered upper floor and a diameter of about ten meters, was built in 1487/88 according to tree-ring dating, on the foundations of an older octagonal predecessor from the second half of the 14th century. It is first mentioned as the "Marienkapelle" (St. Mary's Chapel) in a sales contract of 1584. During the Reformation the chapel was deconsecrated in the 16th century; it first served as a residence and inn, and later as a hospital and poorhouse for the community.

In 1789 the nailsmith Meinhardt acquired the building and set up a smithy on the ground floor; the family kept it for almost two centuries. The regional writer Rosa Meinhardt lived here from 1905 to 1958. The town bought the chapel in 1986, had it scientifically studied and archaeologically excavated, and comprehensively restored in 1993/94. Since 1995 the building has belonged to the Hermann-Söllner-Stiftung and has been looked after by the Geologisch-Heimatkundliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft.

Today the first floor displays an exhibition on the history of the building and the excavation results. On the second floor is the original parlor of Rosa Meinhardt; in an adjoining room a small display recalls her poet friend Isidor Wilhelm from Lauenstein and his son, the painter Prof. Hermann Wilhelm.

Highlights

Late medieval round building with half-timbered upper floor from 1487/88
Original parlor of regional writer Rosa Meinhardt
Exhibition on building history and archaeological excavation
Memorial room for Isidor Wilhelm and Prof. Hermann Wilhelm

Permanent exhibitions

Geschichte der Marienkapelle und archäologische Grabung – Exhibition on the first floor about the building's changing uses and the results of the building investigation and excavation.
Wohnstube der Heimatdichterin Rosa Meinhardt – Original parlor preserved on the second floor, next to a room in memory of Isidor Wilhelm and Hermann Wilhelm.