Pirmasens: Once Upon A Time There Was A Wealthy City

Pirmasens is a town of 40.000 inhabitants, hence not very big, but it is the centre of the southernmost part of Rheinland-Pfalz along the French border. Just like Rome it was built on seven hills. The surrounding region is quite rural, large parts covered in forest, so a town this size feels like a metropolis. The nearest real cities would be Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken, but getting there takes 35 minutes to an hour depending on route and means of transport. So Pirmasens happily plays its role as regional metropolis, on a low level, though, judging from the selection of cheap chain shops in the pedestrian zone as well as the kind of people hanging out there. The streets became suddenly lively in the early afternoon when school was out, though. There are several large schools in the town centre, and children and teenagers commute in per train and bus from all over the wider surroundings.

Until 1736 Pirmasens was part of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg and hardly more than a village. But after the death of the last Count of Hanau, the territory became property of Prince Ludwig IX of Hessen-Darmstadt, who chose Pirmasens as his residence. While his father ruled in Darmstadt, the young prince took the chance to implement his dream in his own little property: build up an army. Ludwig was a soldier through and through. Instead of building a baroque residential town with a huge palace and gardens and all kinds of beautiful instalments, he turned Pirmasens into an army base. Just like the Prussian kings, he preferably recruited Lange Kerls, very tall guys. Tiny Pirmasens grew into a garrison town in short time. The present main square is the former parade ground. Military buildings dominated the town. Ludwig’s own palace, which does not exist any more, was rather plain and modest. The majority of the population were soldiers and their families, who received benefits to build houses and settle down. The flourishing of the town ended when Ludwig died in 1790. Some buildings, like the two protestant churches and the town hall, still tell of the Hessian era.

These buildings from the 18th century were the reason why I went to Pirmasens on that clear, sunny spring day: I needed their photos for an article about the County of Hanau in a history magazine.

Around 1900 Primasens experienced its second boom. The city became centre of shoemaking in Germany. Shoe factories settled all over town. Several factory buildings are still visible, most of them are now used for other purposes or empty. Since 1970, however, the production has been transferred to cheaper locations in Eastern Europe and overseas, and the shoe industry broke down. Few of the local companies have survived. The town’s economy has never recovered.

Pirmasens was heavily destroyed in World War II, so apart from a few rebuilt/repaired historical monuments the general appearance is post-war, and it has that certain atmosphere of a city whose economy is going down the drain. I admit that I am not too big a fan of this city – but since it receives so little attention I thought I’d grant it a page.

Walking Into Town

The train station is located on the northern edge of the city centre. There are local buses but the distance is walkable, so I did not bother with bus connections and waiting for them.

The station square is connected with a small park on the opposite side. The park isn’t special – a gravel ground, some benches, surrounded by trees and lawns and a few flower beds, and some bits of railway track as decoration. In spring, though, it has its moment of glory. The trees are Japanese cherries with big white, ‘filled’ blossoms. When they are in bloom the place undergoes a magical transformation for a week or maybe two. And I was there in this moment.

Down the street a fancy silver building catches the eye. This could just as well be a modern hotel or convention centre, or the office complex of some insurance company, but in fact it is the central fire station of the town. The building was completed in the year 2000 and has been the centre for all fire brigades, professional and voluntary, in Pirmasens and its suburbs since then, providing space for the equipment and cars and all modern technology they need. The tower serves for storing and drying the hoses.

The same street passes the finest Gründerzeit building in Pirmasens, the old post office, dating from 1893. It has an elegant neo-baroque facade with high arches over the portals. The inscription „K. B. Postamt (Königlich Bayerisches Postamt)“ refers to the era when Palatine belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1815 to 1918.

Nowadays the building is used for cultural events and conventions.The front yard has been recently redesigned. It offers some benches and steps to sit upon, pleasant in warm weather (but it sadly lacks an ice-cream parlour to get a cool sweet treat). The statues represent two women carrying their goods to (or from?) the market and having a chat on the way. Some historical photos on the wall at the upper end of the yard show the building and the Imperial Post Services around 1900. The current post office is located round the corner in a rather ugly 20th century building…

Exerzierplatz

The largest square in the city centre 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 on turned into the new town hall as the baroque one in Schlossplatz became too small.

The square has been redesigned in the post-war era. A row of modern colonnades surrounds it. The circular inner part is decorated with an ornamental pavement in the shape of a star or flower. A large fountain occupies the middle. The high steel sculpture in the centre is the eye catcher. I am not sure whether the abstract, ornamental peak has any significance or is just an ornament. Outside the colonnades trees have been planted to add a bit of green.

The square would be the perfect spot for a nice beer garden, a cafe, or an ice cream parlour with outdoor seating – all three of them would be even better. Sadly, all they have is a fast food place in one corner which has some tables out. A wasted chance to make the pretty square livelier.

Johanneskirche

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. 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 has nothing to do with neither John Baptist nor the Evangelist, but refers to Johannes (Jean) Calvin the reformator. At first it was known as the Reformed Church, then as the Upper Church, until it received its present name in 1931.

Johanneskirche does not seem to have regular opening hours for visitors, at least I can’t find anything and have never found it open either. However, you don’t miss much if you don’t see the interior. In World War II the church suffered severe damage. The facades and steeple were rebuilt in their original shape but the interior is entirely redesigned in modern style.

Lutherkirche

The Lutheran parish church was built in the years 1757 – 1761 since the previous church was in bad shape and too small for the growing court and garrison. It substituted the old parish church which became too small and wasn’t „representative“ enough as court, garrison and town parish church. In World War II it was heavily damaged, but then rebuilt in its original shape.

It is located in Hauptstraße, the main street of the town which is now pedestrianized and Pirmasens’s main shopping area. Since the street does a slight bend at this point, the steeple is the eye-catcher in the street view. The back side has high substructions because of the steep slope.

The building attached to the steeple of Lutherkirche, with a baroque facade from red sandstone, is now the parsonage. It was built around 1760 together with the church and served as school building for the garrison, i.e. for the children from soldiers' families. Many soldiers got married, built their little houses and settled down in Pirmasens. This was encouraged as the Landgrave needed inhabitants for his new capital.

The gilded weathervane on top of the steeple was meant as a political statement, directed at the big neighbour France. It shows two heraldic animals: the lion of Hessen and the swan of Hanau-Lichtenberg, as shown in the photo further up.

In the old residence and capital of the county, Buchsweiler in Alsace, Landgrave Ludwig IX. was not allowed to have soldiers or use heraldic symbols to display his ownership of the land. In Pirmasens, which was located outside the realms of the French King, he could do as he liked. The symbols of his government are impossible to overlook. Anyone who approached the town from the French side would spot the gleaming lion and swan on top of the spire in an instant. The coat of arms, brightly coloured, appears over the main portal of the church in addition to that.

The church shared the fate of vast parts of the city: being destroyed by World War II bombs. After the war the church was rebuilt but the interior received an entirely new, modern design. The pulpit is the only surviving piece of the original furnishing which is still visible. The nave now has a common longitudinal design with the altar in the chancel and one gallery on the opposite side.

Originally, though, the interior had a transversal layout, with pulpit and altar attached to the longitudinal side opposite the main entrance (which is the reason why this church makes an appearance in my doctoral thesis, but let me spare you a long academic discourse on that phenomenon).

A plaque on the left side of the chancel refers to the burial place of Landgrave Ludwig IX, the founder of the garrison and the church. Ludwig and the Lutherans at his court used to attend service in this church, so it was more than a simple parish church, it was the court and residence church.

A display in a showcase gives testimony of World War II destruction. The church’s silver, chalices and plates, were rescued from the rubble. After careful restoration they are now on display inside the church. Flattened and banged and broken as they are, they tell us more about the horrors of the bombardments than words ever could.

The church is open on weekdays from 11.00 to 13.00.

Hauptstraße: Pedestrian Zone

Hauptstraße, the „main street“, is pedestrianized and the town’s main shopping area. I found shops to be mostly the usual chain shops of cheap to medium range, though, not much to write home about. The same applies to eateries. The architecture is mostly post-war.

Halfway it crosses Schlossplatz with the old town hall its impressive stairway and cascade leading up to St Pirmin’s Church. The steeples of the two protestant churches, Lutherkirche and Johanneskirche, and the little spire on top of the old town hall appear as points de vue along the slightly curved street. The northern and southern end of the pedestrian zone are each marked by two sandstone pillars. These are remnants of the baroque town gates.

A couple of interesting sculptures and fountains can be seen along the street, for example the Shoemaker Fountain in front of Lutherkirche, and the Bismarck monument off Schlossplatz with a statue of St George.

Old Town Hall

The Landgrave’s Schloss is gone but the main square is still named Schlossplatz. The baroque old town hall in Schlossplatz also dates from the era of Ludwig IX. and the rise of the garrison town. It was built a decade later than the two protestant churches, around 1770. The sandstone facadeis inserted into a row of post-war houses now.

The gable displays the coat or arms of Hessen, the striped lion in red and white on blue ground, held by two lions. It is surrounded by cannons, military trophies and banners as a reference to the status as garrison town. One of the banners shows the gilded „L“ monogram of Landgrave Ludwig IX.

The magistrate and administration have moved to the larger new town hall in Exerzierplatz. This building now hosts the town’s historical museum. As it is closed on Mondays, I could not visit it, though.

Stierbrunnen and Schlosstreppe

This is probably the most spectacular townscape that Pirmasens has to offer. Schlossplatz and Schlosstreppe still bear this name although the Schloss (palace) is long gone. The low-lying square used to have a stairway that lead up to the palace. The location on the hillside has afterwards been occupied by the catholic church of St Pirmin, whose double steeples and facades dominate the view.

The stairway has in recent times been redesigned as a modern fountain and cascade with stairs along both sides (unfortunately the water was turned off). I don’t know who the artist was – I can only suspect Gernot Rumpf; the style would match his works. The giant head of a bull at the top is the dominating feature, hence it is known as Stierbrunnen. The swans at the bottom refer to the coat of arms of the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg, their mechanical elements to the industrial history of the town.

The large Catholic Church of St Pirmin on the hill above Schlossplatz and Stierbrunnen is not as old as it pretends: The neo-gothic basilica was only completed in 1900. After severe damage in World War II it was rebuilt in modern style with some preserved neo-gothic parts, the steeples in particular. The porticus with its tall arches is new, but underneath you’ll see the sculpted portals of the pre-war church. Unfortunately the church was closed when I passed, so I cannot tell you about the interior.

St Pirmin watches over the city