The Livingston Stables
Commissioned by Marks John Livingston and designed by Christian Ludwig Schmidt, the Livingston Stables at Ulmenstr. 20 were built between 1880 and 1882 to serve as manorial horse stables with depot and coachman’s apartment. Livingston, originally Markus Löwenstein, came from Walsdorf near Idstein. During the California Gold Rush he amassed a fortune as an entrepreneur in San Francisco and returned to Germany in 1867. 1Constructed from red sandstone blocks, the triple-winged building with twin-gated arcade and highly ornamented central projection evokes baroque feudal architecture.2 Because of the relatively small plot of land, a special mechanism had to be installed for coaches to be transported to and from the first floor via an elevator system. This time-consuming, cumbersome procedure prompted the widow Frances Livingston to sell the building in 1889 to banker Maximilian Benedikt Hayum von Goldschmidt-Rothschild. This led to the erroneous name “Rothschildscher Pferdestall (Rothschild Horse Stables).” The building changed hands many times, briefly housing a cabaret after World War II before becoming the warehouse of Adox Fotowerke Dr. C. Schleussner GmbH. In recent times it was home to Bürgertreff Westend (Citizens’ Meeting Place Westend) and a restaurant.3 After extensive refurbishing, the building complex will reopen in early 2012 with a new restaurant.4
- Leichtfuß, Helmuth (1996): Rund um den Hutturm. Bürgerbrief. Hg. v. Bürgerverein Walsdorf e.V. Walsdorf/Idstein (66). Online verfügbar unter http://www.walsdorf-taunus.de/vereine/bvw/der_buergerbrief_66.htm#Die%20Familie%20Livingston%A0, zuletzt geprüft am 27.06.2011.
- Kalusche, Bernd; Setzepfandt, Wolf-Christian (2002): Frankfurt am Main Architekturführer. Berlin: D. Reimer, S. 32.
- Voigt, Lothar (2010): Geschichte der Stadt Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt am Main. Accessible online at http://delvau.de/Frankfurt-Chronologie/Frankfurt-Chronik.pdf, zuletzt geprüft am 27.06.2011, S. 225–226.
- Michels, Claudia (2011): Nach Einzug denkmalgeschützen [sic] Pferdestall beleben. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 03.01.2011. Accessible online at http://www.fr-online.de/frankfurt/nach-einzug-denkmalgeschuetzen-pferdestall-beleben-/-/1472798/5060062/-/index.html, zuletzt geprüft am 29.06.2011.