The Old Arsenal (Altes Zeughaus), also referred to as ''Zum Sautanz'', was the central

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the

fortress of Mainz The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, under the term of the 1815 Peace of Paris, the control of Mainz passed to the German Confederation and became part of a chain of str ...

during the 17th and 18th century. In his function it was succeeded by the new arsenal. Currently the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

building is used by the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

state chancellery and the

Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate The Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate is the state diet of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Article 79, Section 1 of the Rhineland-Palatinate constitution provides: "The Landtag is the supreme organ of political decision-making ...

History

The arsenal was erected during the years 1604 and 1605 under the reign of

Prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

and

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

Johann Adam von Bicken Johann Adam von Bicken (27 May 1564 – 11 January 1604) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1601 to 1604. Biography Johann Adam von Bicken was born in Hainchen Castle on 27 May 1564, the son of Philipp von Bicken and his wife Anna Bren ...

(1601–1604) and

Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg (15 July, 1553 – 17 September, 1626) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1604 to 1626. Biography Early life, 1553–1604 Born on July 15, 1553, Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg was the third son of Hartmu ...

(1604–1626) at the site of a former electoral

piggery Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming, is the primary method of pig production, in which grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds in establishments also known as piggeries, whilst pregnant sows a ...

, thus the deduced housename ''Zum Sautanz'' (to the dancing pigs). The arsenal was constructed as a three winged building opened to the east, where the city wall alongside the

rhine river The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Cons ...

was located. The main wing refrains compared to the side wings. The prominent external spiral staircase dominates the internal court. It is domed by a ''Welsche Haube'' (Welsch canopy). Archbishop Bickens coat of arms are to be found at the entrance arch of the tower. Both side wings finish with their city side with rich decorated

dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...

s. Larger pieces of

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

s were stored in the ground floor, which could be accessed by ramps. Small arms and ammunition were stored in the upper floor. The building was constructed in

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

work, window and door

jamb In architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and cons ...

s are executed in

cut stone Ashlar () is a cut and dressed stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, and is generally ...

Buntsandstein The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...

. At the open court side the new arsenal was erected in

baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

since 1738 by

Johann Maximilian von Welsch Johann Maximilian von Welsch (1671 – 15 October 1745) was a German architect, construction director and fortress master builder. Life Maximilian von Welsch is regarded as a prominent representative of baroque fortress building in the Holy Roman ...

. The old arsenal was used since 1770 as electoral

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

Current use

The building had been heavily damaged during the

bombing of Mainz in World War II The German city of Mainz was bombed in multiple air raids by the Allies during World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as the United States Army Air Forces. These led to numerous victims and heavy damage throughout the cityscape. ...

and totally worn out. After the reconstruction in 1951–52 initiated by the administration of the French allied forces the building was used by the Südwestfunk Mainz, a predecessor of the

Südwestrundfunk (; ), shortened to SWR (), is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany, specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices in three cities: Stuttg ...

, which provided regional

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

. page 542 Today the building is used by the state chancellery of

and parts of the administration of the

References

External links

*http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/rheinhessen/mainz/kulturdenkmaeler/zum-sautanz.html *http://www.mainz.de/tourismus/sehenswertes/altes-zeughaus.php {{coord, 50, 0, 16, N, 8, 16, 19, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark, display=title

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Buildings and structures in Mainz Renaissance architecture in Germany Tourist attractions in Mainz Office buildings in Germany