THE WACHPORT, the Old Town Hall in Filsen
by Alfred Neckenich

from the estate of Josef Nengel,
master carpenter and honorary citizen of Filsen,
born on March 11, 1893,
died on November 19, 1992.

The old town hall in Filsen is one of the few remaining half-timbered houses that was built above an archway. Its timber frame bears the year 1611. However, the archway and the base are likely much older. A ditch ran from here outside the village to the Rhine.
From here also ran the only cart road to Osterspai as well as the freight path over the Rhine heights used by the Romans. The village was locked at night with the gate.

Attached to the old masonry of the archway is the community bakehouse. A broad stone staircase leads from the Upper Street to a platform, once equipped with a watchman's lodge, from where the village and exit roads could be observed. The night watchman took his post here and made his rounds through the village every hour at night, indicating the time with whistle signals.

The apartment above the archway was intended for the schoolteacher. On the second floor, the old town hall room served as the classroom until 1881. The building is still referred to in the village today as "the high school". Here the neighborhood also met annually on Fasnacht Tuesday. A small room behind the hall served as the community archive. Valuable old books and certificates were stored here.

The archway, known as "the Wachport," was always the gathering point for youth. Heavily damaged by American tanks, it was renewed in 1948.
In former times, the elders would sit in the evenings on a log at the town hall stairs, known as the "Schneidbank," and tell stories. In front of the archway at the fork in the road stands the small shrine "St. Margaretha." Already mentioned in 1712 and renewed, it had to be heavily damaged and demolished in 1933 and rebuilt further back.

Thus, the Old Town Hall with its surroundings is a monument of earlier times, the landmark of Filsen, much admired, painted, and photographed.

The old town hall should and teach,
in war and need and in difficult times
to bravely fend off the storms
as it has done at all times.
(Josef Nengel)