Wanderfit - Rockenhausen city walk - experience history while strolling

We begin our city walk at the train station in Rockenhausen. However, you can also start at any of the other stops.

The walk starts directly in front of the station building. We turn left and after a few meters, parallel to the tracks, we come across the former water tower of the Alsenztal railway, built in 1871. Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows in the renovated sandstone facade, a so-called Foucault pendulum swings, which could be inaugurated thanks to the voluntary commitment from the local community. Its famous model in Paris is larger, but the Rockenhausen pendulum is an original and unique in a small German town. Display panels in front of the tower explain the significance of the pendulum.

We follow the paved footpath and cross a parking lot to a sandstone wall. A notice there recalls the former synagogue of the town. Inaugurated in August 1886, the interior of the synagogue was destroyed during the Reich Pogrom Night in 1938. Afterwards, the building was repurposed as an air-raid protection school. After the war, the building was used in various ways until it was demolished in 1976. The Hanukkah lamp from the synagogue is located in the local history museum of the city. On the back of the wall, a memorial plaque commemorates the Jewish population from the villages of the former Verbandsgemeinde Rockenhausen who became victims of the National Socialist tyranny.

We continue past the memorial plaque towards Bezirksamtsstraße 7. The large building on our left houses both the municipal and the Verbandsgemeinde town hall of the VG Nordpfälzer Land. It was built in 1900 as a royal Bavarian district office. The opening on December 1, 1900 featured "music, decorations, firing of salutes, and distribution of pretzels for the school children" and it has continuously been used as an administrative building. The colored sandstone coat of arms is characteristic of the rich sculptural decoration. More information can be found at the local tourist information of the Verbandsgemeinde administration there.

We cross Bezirksamtsstraße and stand in front of the Nordpfälzer local history museum. On two floors, the collections of the Nordpfälzer Historical Society, founded in 1904, are displayed here. Currently, the museum is closed due to redesign (reopening expected in 2022).

We leave the building's entrance to the left and enter the freely accessible outdoor area of the museum. The magnificent Roman fountain complex there, the Dolphin Fountain, was found near a Roman estate in the municipality of Katzenbach. There is also the excavation find of a Roman estate. Next to the fountain complex, old boundary stones are on display. We leave the park by following the narrow footpath behind the local history museum. After a few steps, we turn right and cross the Alsenz river via the so-called "Beamtensteg" (officials' footbridge), which connects the castle park with the administrative buildings we have already seen.

We turn left and follow the Mühlweg. Shortly after the small playground, on the left side is the round foundation of an ancient Roman family burial site. It was discovered during construction work and suggests a mound-shaped burial ground based on the example of Siesbach in the Hunsrück.

In front of us lie the castle and the castle park. Much suggests that the complex originally was a water castle dating from the Renaissance era. During the French Revolution, it became private property and since 1956 was used by the city as a town hall, seniors' day care center, council chamber, and library. Since 2001, it houses a hotel with a restaurant.

Crossing the Rognacplatz now, on the right at the rear gable wall of the "Museum for Time" stands the carillon (tower chimes) with its numerous bells. Several times a day, the graceful sounds with familiar melodies brighten up the city. In summer, several carillon virtuosos play this unusual instrument.

In front of the instrument, we turn left and cross the parking lot. To our left not far away, we see the former lower mill, first mentioned in 1574. The milling operation was stopped in 1963. The former mill ditch is now built over. We turn right into Rognacallee and follow it to the end, where we turn left into Kreuznacher Straße.

Following the road to the right, we cross the street at the pedestrian crossing and stand in front of the district court, built in 1900 in the style of Bavarian administrative buildings. In front of the building is the statue of the Franconian nobleman Rocco, from whom the city name Rockenhausen is derived.

Crossing the street again, after a few steps we stand in front of the Catholic Church of St. Sebastian. After a fire destroyed the original Catholic church in the town center (now an ice cream café at Schlossstraße 15, corner Kreuznacher Straße), it was built during World War I according to plans by the Bavarian military construction inspector Rudolf von Perignon. According to him, the goal was to create a contemporary counterpart to the tomb of Theoderic the Great in Ravenna, Italy. Thus, the building, made of brown Donnersberg sandstone, corresponds to the late Gründerzeit era mindset of using historical styles as a resource for one's own design. The colorful interior decoration is remarkable.

After visiting the church, we turn left to then turn left again after a few meters into Parkstraße. After approximately 120 meters, we stand at the junction with Waldbergstraße. The route of the streets Rognacallee, Ring-, Park-, Berg-, and Alleestraße still clearly trace the course of the former city wall of Rockenhausen. At the time the fortifications existed, the city had a diameter of 300 meters. With the arming of armies with cannons, the protective function became largely obsolete. This marked the beginning of city expansions. In Rockenhausen, there was a city gate, the Untertor, at the transition from Luitpoldstraße to Bahnhofstraße.

At the end of Waldbergstraße, we turn briefly left into Schulstraße and suddenly stand in front of an imposing building called the "Jägersche Haus". The house, with its interesting, brightly painted frieze on the front showing biblical motifs, was originally supposed to have served the Lutherans as a prayer house. A few steps further left at Pulvergässchen 16, there is a relief from the 18th century on the facade of the house. The biblical motif shows two men carrying a huge vine. They are Kaleph and Joshua with the grape cluster from the 4th book of Moses, chapter 13. Originally, the powder tower of the city stood in this narrow alley. This historically hazardous residential environment was once inhabited by the poorest, often legally only as lodgers called. They lived in small, unheated shepherds' houses, often built leaning on the inner city wall.

We return to Schulstraße and turn right. Then we follow Kreuznacher Straße about 50 meters to the right and then turn left into Schlossstraße. After a few steps, a courtyard paved with cobblestones opens on the right. At the end of the three-sided building complex stands an impressive half-timbered tower with a matching astronomical clock. The "Museum for Time" invites us to visit. Thanks to the collector Knut Deutschle, this technical-historical gem is housed in Rockenhausen. His collecting passion is large clockworks and historical timekeeping devices from several centuries. The range includes water clocks from antiquity, tower clockworks, tower clocks, up to modern large clocks. It is fascinating to listen to the explanations of the knowledgeable staff. Plan for a good hour here.

Leaving the museum courtyard a few meters to the right, we stand in front of the entrance to the Kahnweiler house. Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, discoverer of the Cubists and Picasso - briefly a pioneer of classical modernism - spent much of his childhood in Rockenhausen as the grandson of a Jewish merchant family. As the home of his childhood, he bequeathed the city his German-language library, two lithographs by Picasso, and numerous original posters from his Paris gallery. In addition to this exhibition, the Kahnweiler house annually presents various temporary exhibitions featuring works of contemporary artists. In memory of Kahnweiler, the city awards the Kahnweiler Prize for Fine Arts, endowed with 10,000 euros, every two years.

We go left through a small short alley leading to the market square. It is the historical center of the town. The end facade is dominated by the Protestant parish church from the 16th century. Inside, the pulpit and choir stalls, decorated with acanthus carvings from the 18th century, are noteworthy. The organ is dated 1788. The market square is characterized by lively activity. In good weather, the outdoor gastronomy invites you to linger.

The splashing of an artificial stream, which "originates" at the market square, recalls the free watercourses typical in towns in historical times. They were rarely as clean as nowadays in the "good old days". Another eye-catcher at the market is the fountain made of blue-glazed ceramic by the artist Stefan Engel.

Directly in front of the church stands the Napoleon bench by the well-known Palatinate artist Gernot Rumpf. As the name suggests, it originally stems from the time after the French Revolution when Napoleon's revolutionary armies shifted the German-French border up to the Rhine. The bench was meant to offer travelers on paths, often after arduous climbs, a chance to rest. The upper beam served as a place to put goods or luggage. The bench is flanked by bronze statues of a couple in Biedermeier costume. They are often used as a backdrop by wedding couples. A bronze hare serves as a symbol of luck. Also, Gernot Rumpf’s typical bronze mice must not be missing. Have you found them?

We reach Luitpoldstraße again and turn left. At the corner of Speyerstraße stands the former residence of the Kahnweiler family. Daniel Henry Kahnweiler spent carefree childhood days here. On the side facing the market of Luitpoldstraße, there are some beautiful half-timbered houses. They testify to a wealthy citizenry in times past.

We follow the course of Speyerstraße to the right. There, in a former town farmstead, the "Museum Pachen - German Art of the 20th Century" is housed. The museum is currently closed due to redesign. In the future, regular special exhibitions as well as a new permanent exhibition will be shown again.

We follow the course of Speyerstraße through a right curve to the intersection Bahnhof-/Luitpoldstraße. At this intersection, on the left stands the old post office building. It is a typical functional building from the twenties of the last century with a sandstone relief above the portal.

On the small square to the right in front of the old post office stands a so-called freedom lime tree, named after a freedom fighter of the 1848 revolution, Robert Blum. The Vormärz activist was executed in Vienna in 1848 and is considered an early leading figure of the labor movement. After his execution, there were also riots in Rockenhausen. The fountain next to the lime tree recalls the former cattle watering place here.

If you follow the Mühlweg for just a few meters, you will discover the sandstone building of the former tannery, oriented towards the eaves. It was built in 1828 and operated until 1892.

Then we turn back and follow Bahnhofstraße to the right over a bridge crossing the Alsenz river, cross the street and thus reach the end of Bahnhofstraße, where we started our city walk.

We hope Rockenhausen has enchanted you with its historic charm of a rural small town. Come back soon!