karmeliterhof

Karmeliterhof and the Wackelburg are the only surviving late medieval "Hofgüter" in the city, 1420 first entry. "Hofgüter" and similar land were managed on behalf of various noble and spiritual masters: in 1621 then shire reeve Herwart in Rhens owned 18 such goods (including a tithe homestead tithes included, a vicarage and a hospital). Karmeliterhof, to which all buildings belong East of the Baier Garden, is preserved almost completely intact but structurally changed very much. It consisted of 3 buildings (built 1544, 1551 and 1574), and the building “über der Pforten” from 1541 (located on the corner of Josephstraße) which still used as the port of Karmeliterhof. On the street side the building bears on the corner the oldest original preserved inscription of Rhens, when Knight Rolmann von dem Turme sold the estate to the Cologne Severin monastery, in whose ownership it remained until 1676. Then sold to the Carmelite monastery in Koblenz who owned the property until 1798, when the left Rhine Bank became French so it was transferred to property of the French State. 1804 Karmeliterhof and associated farmlands for was auctioned off for 9.650 francs. With more than 8 hectare of land (80000 square meters, 95679.204 square yards) it was one of the largest wineries in Rhens. Until well in the 20th century there were still monl cells and a chapel inside the building complex. During renovation 1937 three altarpieces were found behind a wall in the main building: the canvases were directly placed on a wall without stretcher bars. The paintings most likely depicted St. Joseph of Nazareth: (recognizable by the White Lily, one can interpret he carries this a symbol of innocence in his hand on behalf of his wife Mary), on the second painting St. Jozef with folded hands in a Crescent Moon standing on a globe which is surrounded by a serpent (a typical representation of the immaculate conception. Iconographic the snake around the globe typifies “guilt and sin of humanity” which is overcome by the purity of Virgin Mary, an apocalyptic character is the Crescent. Both paintings show the characters surrounded by a reddish dark cloudy background, surrounded by angels heads). The third semi-circular painting depicting "Mary Ascension" is unfortunately lost, maybe it was originally placed over the other two paintings.