On the east corner, where Theaterstrasse meets the Hauptstrasse,
is the striking building of the former Wormser Hof. This town
residence of the bishops of Worms was first mentioned in a
document in 1409. It was here that Bishop Johann von Dalberg
of Worms, who was also the university’s chancellor and
curator, received prominent humanists in the second half of
the 15th century, including Rudolf Agricola. Students of Johann
Reuchlin performed the Latin comedy Henno here in 1497. In
1610 Prince Elector Friedrich IV acquired the building, adding
an impressive Renaissance portal.
After the Thirty Years’ War it passed to Lord Craven,
and ever since has also been known as the English House. In
the 19th century the premises belonged to the citizens’
association “Harmonie”, which had a reading room
and library there. This bit of history is recalled today by
the name of the cinema center that now occupies most of the
building. The present Theater Square (Theaterplatz) was created
when the neighboring Baroque house at Haupt-strasse 108 was
torn down in 1959.
Wormser
Hof, Hauptstrasse 110