Preservation of Historical Monuments Safes Local Heritage

The Schorndorf town church is an important building in terms of architecture and art history, dating back to its foundation in the 13th century and in its current form to the 17th century. Its slender tower is one of the town's landmarks, visible from afar. During their lifetime, Dr Maria and Philipp Palm made its preservation as an urban centre and meeting place one of the main focuses of the Palm Foundation. Since then, we have repeatedly dedicated ourselves to this task with substantial contributions, including participating in the extensive interior renovation in 2017, supporting school teams in sponsored runs in favour of the town church and taking on the complete restoration of the Palm tombstone in the choir of the town church.

The promotion of the spiritual life of the Protestant church as well as social and diaconal tasks of subordinate institutions are also laid down in our statutes. You can find out more about this under the ‘Participation and social projects’ funding area.

The building at Marktplatz 2 in Schorndorf is one of the most outstanding listed buildings in southern Germany. It has been owned by the Palm family for over 350 years. On 23 August 1644, the pharmacist Johann Philipp Palm paid around 110 guilders for the corner plot between Marktplatz and today's Johann-Philipp-Palm-Straße. For a further 500 guilders, he also acquired the ruins of the fire from the Thirty Years' War. Two years later, he added the neighbouring plot to his property. The house was not built until a few years later, when Palm was solvent again and times had calmed down somewhat. Then, however, he did not skimp on funds for masterly craftsmanship and great richness of form.

Over the centuries, the house underwent numerous remodelling projects, both inside and out, which did not always benefit the historical substance. The remodelling in the 1970s was a radical change. It had become apparent that the foundations were drifting apart. Deep cracks gaped across several storeys. The house was uninhabitable and had become a danger to neighbouring buildings. The house was completely dismantled and rebuilt in a courageous, complex and costly endeavour, accompanied by years of a gruelling, public monument dispute. The half-timbering was restored and reinstalled in the new building. Behind the original, listed façade is a modern, functional healthcare centre.

The Palm Foundation, which has owned the building since its foundation, is responsible for its care and long-term preservation. Management of the pharmacy was handed over to Thorsten and Gerhard Leiter on 1 July 2024 (photo).

The two large-format oil paintings in the choir of Schorndorf's city church had not been in good condition for several years. Their appearance was dark and heavily browned in places. For this reason, both were in the workshop of Aalen restorer Karin Krüger for several weeks. Now the paintings are much brighter again, the motifs are clearly recognisable and the writing is legible. Cracks and damaged areas have been repaired. The application of a protective backing and the improved framing are intended to prevent further damage caused by climate fluctuations, soiling and mechanical impact.

One of the paintings, a so-called confessional picture from around 1570, was used to publicise the new teachings of the Reformation in the country in as catchy a way as possible. It shows typical, now reformed, acts of worship such as baptism, communion, sermon (detail in the picture), church singing, catechism lessons, confession and marriage. The individual depictions are designed as a kind of word and image mark and are accompanied by the corresponding biblical words or catechetical interpretations.

At the same time, the oil painting of the bombardment of Schorndorf during the Thirty Years' War, which is also of some local historical significance, was also restored.

On 13 March 1737, Leopold Carl Freiherr von Palm acquired the Lauterbach manor near Meissen, including the castle, and developed it into his family seat. This noble branch of the Palm family from Esslingen am Neckar held important offices at the court of Empress Maria Theresa. The prestigious rooms of Lauterbach Palace in particular were furnished with sumptuous interiors in keeping with their status and aspirations, an extensive landscaped garden with a pond was designed and the façade was spruced up in rococo style.

In 1929, Herbert von Palm sold the estate and Lauterbach Castle to a private owner. This owner was expropriated in 1945 and the castle was used as ‘national property’ of the GDR in the following years as a holiday and apprentice home, later as a polytechnic secondary school including a sports hall and canteen. After reunification, the castle became the property of the municipality. In 2006, the Förderverein Schloss und Park Lauterbach e.V. was founded. Since then, its members have dedicated themselves with outstanding commitment and enormous success to the reconstruction, maintenance and preservation of the castle and park grounds.

As a family organisation, the Palm Foundation has repeatedly participated in renovation measures, including the newly added castle tower in 2019.