During my visit in Nov-Dec, I noticed that someone had finished restoring Johannesstraße 163 and turned it into a mixed-use building: businesses on the ground floor, residences on the upper floors. The sheer massiveness and stateliness of this Renaissance palace caught my eye when I saw it for the first time in 1998. Living in Charleston, SC, has given me an interest in old buildings.
Even in its dilapidated condition, I knew that the building at Johannesstraße 163 had started life as a significant structure. Perhaps it housed royal departments of the Elector of Mainz, or offices of the church-diocese, or else was the architectural fruit of a successful business. The arched entrance suggests horse-drawn carriages entered into an interior courtyard.
Someone in modern times saw inherent significance and spent about a million dollars to bring the glory of it back. Like Charleston, the state (Thüringen) and city (Erfurt) government helped finance the renovation.
Just before renovation, ca. 2010 Interior from right entrance
The glorious finished-product The interior. Note the medieval masonry on the left wall.
