Rockenhausen - city walk - experience history strolling

The tour begins directly in front of the station building. We turn left and after a few metres, parallel to the tracks, we meet the former water tower of the Alsenztalbahn, built in 1871. Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows in the renovated sandstone façade swings a so-called Foucault pendulum, which could be inaugurated thanks to the voluntary commitment of the citizens. Although its famous model in Paris is larger, the Rockenhausen pendulum is an original and unique in a small German town. Display boards in front of the tower explain the significance of the pendulum.

We follow the paved footpath and cross a car park to a sandstone wall. A plaque there reminds us of the town's former synagogue. Inaugurated in August 1886, the synagogue's interior was destroyed in the Reichspogrom of 1938. Afterwards, the building was misused as an air-raid shelter. After the war, the building was used for various purposes until it was demolished in 1976. The Hanukkah chandelier from the synagogue is in the town's museum of local history. On the back of the wall, a memorial plaque commemorates the Jewish population from the villages of the former municipality of Rockenhausen who were victims of National Socialist tyranny.     

We continue past the memorial plaque in the direction of Bezirksamtsstraße 7. The large building on our left houses both the municipal and the association municipality town hall of the VG Nordpfälzer Land. It was built in 1900 as the Royal Bavarian District Office. It was opened on 1 December 1900 with "music, decoration, firecracker shooting and distribution of pretzels for the school youth" and was used as an administrative building throughout.  The red sandstone coat of arms is characteristic of the rich architectural decoration. If you want more information, you can find it at the tourist information office of the municipal administration there.

We cross Bezirksamtsstraße and stand in front of the Nordpfälzer Heimatmuseum. The collections of the North Palatinate History Society, founded in 1904, are displayed on two floors. The museum is currently closed for redesign (reopening expected in 2022).

We leave the entrance of the building on the left and enter the freely accessible outdoor area of the museum. The magnificent Roman fountain complex there, the Delphinbrunnen, was found not far from a Roman estate in the municipality of Katzenbach.  The excavation site of a Roman estate is also located there. Old boundary stones have been erected next to the fountain.

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 over the so-called "Beamtensteg", which connects the castle park with the administrative buildings already seen.

We turn left and follow the Mühlweg. Shortly after the small playground, the round foundation of an ancient Roman family tomb can be seen on the left. It was discovered during construction work and indicates a mound-shaped burial complex based on the example of Siesbach in the Hunsrück.

In front of us are the castle and the castle park.  There is much to suggest that the complex was originally a moated castle and dates from the Renaissance period. During the French Revolution it came into private ownership and from 1956 was used by the town as a town hall, senior citizens' day centre, council hall and library. Since 2001, it has housed a hotel and restaurant.

If you cross Rognacplatz, you will see the carillon (tower carillon) with its numerous bells on the right-hand side of the rear gable wall of the "Museum für Zeit". Several times a day, the graceful sound of well-known melodies illuminates the city. In summer, carillon virtuosos play the unusual instrument several times a day.

We turn left in front of the instrument and cross the car park. On our left, not far away, we see the former Untermühle, first mentioned in 1574. The mill ceased to operate in 1963.  The former millrace is now built over. We turn right into Rognacallée and follow it to turn left at its end into Kreuznacher Straße.

Following the street to the right, we cross the street at the zebra crossing and stand in front of the Amtsgericht, which was built in 1900 in the style of the Bavarian Amtshäuser. In front of the building is a statue of the Franconian nobleman Rocco, to whom the town name Rockenhausen goes back.

If we cross the street again, after a few steps we are in front of the Catholic Church of St. Sebastian. After a fire destroyed the original Catholic church in the town centre (today an ice cream parlour at Schloßstraße 15, corner of Kreuznacher Straße).