The Chronicle of Kockelsberg

Situated high above the city of Trier, embedded within untouched nature with ancient oak woods, the Kockselberg has enchanted many residents of Trier, as well as visitors. Not least, the hospitality in the former Kockelsberg estate and the "Restaurant Kockelsberg", which was built one hundred years ago, contributed to this reputation.

The name Kockelsberg is not as rare as one may initially assume, and harks back to the Latin word, cuculus = mountain peak, ballon.

The manor farm

The history of the Kockelsberg and the estate there, high above Pallien on the lefthand-sided Moselle mountains, goes far back.
In various printed reports, it is stated that the Kockelsberg estate already existed in the 8th century and was would have been devastated during the Norman Raid in 883. However, these reports lack any sources, so people who are interested in this can only make assumptions.

In the year 1332, the Kockelsberg estate appears for the first time in the documentation, as a fiefdom of Archbishop Balduin (1307 until 1357).
The son of Bonifax Rex, Bonifax the Elder, is mentioned for the first time as the owner in 1268.
In 1386, the estate is still owned by family members of the Knights of Schönecken and Wiltz.
At around the beginning of the 16th century, the Kockelsberg manor farm has come under the ownership of the St. James Hospital. Prior to this, the owner families were also members of the St. James Brotherhood.
The St. James Hospital leased the Kockelsberg estate to farming families, with whom long-term contracts were concluded.
In 1742, a chapel dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier was built.
The chapel stood on the building plot of the current Kockelsberg Restaurant and became dilapidated over time.
The statue of Saint Francis Xavier, which was financed from donations, adorns the gable of the new building in memory of this chapel.

Between 1774 and 1867, the manor farm was leased several times until finally, in 1867, the economist, Peter Lehnert, opened a restaurant there, which became the central and starting point of the present Kockelberg.

The Lehnert restaurant

The restaurant was a meeting point for walkers from Trier and was not only popular with young people, who invented the term "Monte Coculli", but guests, such as Dr. Cristian Stöck also turned up there, as well as several lecturers and the leather manufacturer, Joseph Theodor Eses.
He wanted to have a spa hotel on the Kockelsberg. When he died on 12 June 1887, he left the owners of the Kockelsberg, the Trier Vereinigte Hospitien, a large part of his estate in his will, with the requirement that a spa hotel will be built on the Kockelsberg.

To the new Kockelsberg house is posed to 20.11.1890 and pleased from now on at one move host of visitors.

In 1927, the family gave up the manor and the spa hotel.
The Kockelsberg was opened up to traffic in 1930, with the extension of the road from Bitburger Chaussee to the spa hotel. Until 1939, it was managed by the spouses Heinrich Castell and on 1 September, 1939, it was seized by the army command.

After the war, the Vereinigte Hospitien leased Hotel Kockelsberg to the hotelier, Otto Mann.

In 1979, the Trier-based entrepreneur, Johann Erdmann, acquired the entire premises and in 1980, initiated the planning of the conversion and upgrading of the building into a hotel that fulfilled modern requirements, with catering facilities, while maintaining the heritage character of the buildings and the former manor farm.

with the kind permission of Rudolf M. Gall, extracts from "Chronik des Kockelsberges".