Schmidener Straße and Zwerchgasse

The path leads along the reconstructed city fortifications through the former bailey and back to the old town via Schmidener Straße. The Schmidener Tor used to stand directly at the entrance to the old town, right next to the Feldmesserhaus. Other interesting buildings are located along Schmidener Straße and its extension, Zwerchgasse: the Interims-Rathaus, opposite Haus Pfleiderer and the Casparischer Bau.


Feldmesserhaus (Schmidener Straße 11)

The first house within the city wall belonged to the ropemakers, family Bechtle. The ropemaker and surveyor Hans Jakob Bechtle (H.J.B.) installed the corner bracket in 1701. The shield holder supports his forearms on two coats of arms, the left one shows the ropeman's tools, the right one bears the inscription "Feldmes". This refers to Bechle's professions as a ropemaker and surveyor. The gable side of the house bordered directly on the Schmidener gate tower, which bridged the Schmidener Straße here.

The Schmidener Tor was once a prominent part of the city fortification with a half-timbered structure. It was demolished in 1832 as the first of the three city gates. This access to the town only became important after 1730/32, when a bridge was built in Neckarrems with a steep track to Hegnach and a direct road connection to Ludwigsburg was established. The associated gatekeeper's house stood between the main and front wall, in the latter there was a reinforced outer doorway.

Interim City Hall (Schmidener Straße 1)

All traffic from the three city gates (Beinsteiner, Fellbacher and Schmidener Tor) crossed at the corner of Lange and Scmidener Straße. Here in1660 a new half-timbered house was built above the cellar of the granary which was destroyed in 1634. The wooden double coat of arms on the left corner pillar with the 3 Württemberg stag antlers and the two Mömpelgard barbels (2 fish), both marked with Waiblingen (W) and the year 1660, is a reminder of this. The building served as an interim town hall until 1730 and was used as the "Old Town Hall" along with the reconstructed town hall on the market square until 1840.

House Pfleiderer (Schmidener Straße 2)

This stately building could have been the "Kaufhaus beim Kornhaus" (Shop at the Corn Exchange) mentioned in 1443, which is indicated by the semicircular shop window with the surrounding rebate for a possible folding shutter on the western gable side. The building was newly built in 1574, as can be seen from the year on the upper corner of the house. Saddle maker Martin Pfleiderer rebuilt the building in 1648 after the town fire of 1634 as "Gastherberge zum rothen Löwen" (Red Lion Inn) and extended it considerably in 1680, to which the inscription held by a lion refers: 1680 MARTIN PFLE(i)DERER BVRGERMAISTER - GEORG ALEZEH STÄINHAVER. Martin Pfleiderer (1621-1685) was the mayor from 1673 until 1683. The corner console with its lion's head decorated with fruits and foliage gave the hostel its name. The magnificent, richly decorated half-timbered building was restored in 1980.

Casparian Building (Zwerchgasse 6)

The building is named after the second medical officer Dr. Ernst Caspar (1730 - 1736 in Waiblingen). The left entrance portal in Renaissance style with rich ornamentation and the year 1600 is one of the few surviving memories of the old Waiblingen before the catastrophic fire of 1634. The right portal with a keystone as a Rocaille cartouche, entwined with foliage, according to the inscription from 1792, the cartouche above the entrance commemorates the owners between 1791 and 1828: master shoemaker Johann Andreas Kühdaisch and his wife Catharina Magdalena Kühdaisch, née Rohrauer. On a corner console is the image of a bearded man with head, torso and fin tail, which is popularly referred to as "Nöck" (water ghost). Since the envious head has the same ornamentation as the arched door, one can assume that it also dates from around 1600.