Oath House/WineYard(Schwörhaus/Weinhof)
House of Local History
(Haus der Stadtgeschichte)
In the 14th to the 19th century, the wine yard was an important commercial centre, due to the wine-trade. Prior to this from 854, it was the site of the Kings Palace, Ulm.
Its chapel survived until 1612. After this, the earlier “Small Oath House” ('Schwörhäusle'), which was built on a palace tower, was replaced by an “Oath House”. After being damaged by fire, the house was re-built in 1785 and again following war damage in 1944.
Every year, on “Oath Monday” ('Schwörmontag'), which is a big official Ulm holiday on the penultimate Monday in July, the Lord Mayor of Ulm delivers a speech on the past year from the balcony and renews the historical oath on the town’s constitution (Großer Schwörbrief from 1397).
On the forecourt there is a Christopher Fountain with a late gothic statue of St. Christopher by Jörg Syrlin the elder (1584).
Nowadays, the “House of Local History” is located in the “Schwörhaus”, which also houses the city archives of Ulm.
