History

The Landesmusikakademie Rheinland-Pfalz (State Music Academy of Rhineland-Palatinate) was founded in 1982 by the Lanesmusikrat and initially operated as a decentralized institution. In the summer of 2003, a newly founded non-profit association took over the sponsorship. Almost at the same time, Prime Minister Kurt Beck opened the Landesmusikakademie in Neuwied-Engers on August 28, 2003 as the central training center in Rhineland-Palatinate. It is located directly on the Rhine and in the immediate vicinity of Schloss Engers. The so-called "Meisterhaus", as well as the castle owned by Villa Musica, is the central place of activity of the academy. Due to a constant expansion of the course and further education program, the academy soon reached the limits of its spatial possibilities. Due to the high demand from larger orchestras and music ensembles, the space available was significantly expanded in 2010. With the new auditorium of the Christiane-Herzog-Schule of the Heinrich-Haus, a large orchestra rehearsal room is now available outside school hours. With a size of 250 square meters and a lifting platform, it also offers space for larger projects. The overnight accommodation capacity was significantly increased from about 50 to 81 beds at the end of 2010 with the completion of the new building Musikerhof.

The Meisterhaus (The Masters' House)

In contrast to the electoral Castle of Engers, whose building history comes alive thanks to a rich number of testimonies, relevant files and documents are still missing for the comparatively young building of the so-called "Meisterhaus" (Masters' House). Only a few sources provide information about the construction period and the first purpose of the house, although they are largely consistent. In a "History of the war school to celebrate its 50th anniversary", Berlin 1913, edited by Schellenberg, first lieutenant in the infantry regiment Hessen-Homburg and inspection officer at the war school, Berlin 1913, one can read: "The military hospital, built in 1902/1903, with its beautiful, bright sickrooms, is located just above the castle. In addition, the adjutant, the doctor, the doorman and the housekeeper live here. In former times, the so-called 'old remise' used to stand on the same spot, which was used as a service apartment by the castle castellan before the war school opened. From then on, its furnishings corresponded roughly to those of the new military hospital building of today. ... "In the years 1901/1903, the Prussian domain administration (former court marshal's office), the owner of the property, had the old stable buildings torn down. The narrow, originally three-storey building in the neo-baroque style replaced them. Even today, the building has retained its 1903 appearance".

In 1928, the house was taken over by the St. Josefs Society, divided into six apartments and used by the master craftsmen who worked in the neighboring workshops for the disabled. Since then the building has borne the name "Meisterhaus". "When in 1928 the Josefs-Society acquired from the Prussian state not only the castle but also 21 plots of land from corridor 8 of the Engers district (Engers land register, volume 39, sheet 1078, Neuwied district court), the Neuwied cadastral office described the entire property (in 1930). In doing so, it focused on the building insurance value and the condition of the building and its possible use. It stated that, according to its estimate, the castle with its 40 rooms and 6 cellar rooms was about 170 years old. The Meisterhaus, which had 20 rooms, 2 chambers, and 5 cellars, was about 30 years old"...[3] The Meisterhaus once again temporarily performed its original function during the Second World War, as can be seen from a report by the master painter Mondorf on the time of the bombardment of Engers in 1945: "March 18th: The night from Saturday to Sunday brings new sorrow. German pioneers, according to an order, wanted to blow up the bridge that had been built for a ponte by our soldiers. At that time, all of Engers was outraged at the Red Cross violation, because the bridge was very close to the military hospital, and our chief physician had achieved nothing at that time, despite protests from the Wehrkommando. The blasting damaged the adjacent Meisterhaus more than the bridge itself, because it is still standing"[4]. To this day, the Meisterhaus has been spared any serious structural interventions. For this reason, but also because of its architectural peculiarities, the building was placed under a preservation order on September 13, 1995.