Jesuitenhof, Architectural heritage monument in Düren, Germany
The Jesuitenhof at Nideggener Straße 68–70 in Düren is a three-story brick house with sandstone window surrounds, its core dating from 1719 and altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. Beside it stands the brick gateway arch of the former farm complex. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city.
The core of the present house dates from 1719, rebuilt after a fire on 22–23 May 1718 that a culprit set to the thatched roof. The estate had burned on 31 December 1639 during the Thirty Years' War and was heavily renovated by the Jesuits in 1678. It belonged to the Jesuit college from 26 April 1634; under French occupation it was leased in 1799 to Friedrich Platz, and in 1950 Walter Theodor Prym sold it to the city of Düren.
The name Jesuitenhof dates from 26 April 1634, when the farm passed into the possession of the Jesuit college. Earlier names were Meyradtshof, after a foundation by Junker Bernhardt Meyradt von Reifferscheidt, and St. Annahof, because the Jesuits ministered to the parish of St. Anna. The gateway arch beside the house is the visible remnant of the former farmyard.
The surviving house stands at Nideggener Straße 68–70, beside the archway of the former courtyard. The indoor pool that gave the site its name was closed in 2022 and demolished, so the building is seen from the street; the entrance is not open to visitors.
The building changed names multiple times, from Courtenbachshof through Meyradtshof and St. Annahof before becoming Jesuitenhof, reflecting the varied history of the site. Each name was tied to different owners and uses that shaped Düren's development.
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