The story of Weis's Room

Ribe is first mentioned by the Archbishop of Hamburg, Remberrus, in his description of Ansgar's life. He wrote in the year 865 that Ansgar persuaded King Erik the Younger to "establish a church and a priesthood in Ripa Bye". Ribe has been inhabited by Vikings prior to medieval settlement and habitation taking place here.

In the Middle Ages, it grew Ribe to become a large and extremely important city, as the city center grew up around the cathedral, which in its current form was built in the 1100s. Ribe received market town privileges very early on, and in 1288 Erik Menved granted the city's citizens freedom from customs duties throughout the kingdom. As a trading center on the west coast of Jutland, it had Ribe its nearest neighboring trading cities of Hamburg and Bremen to the south, and Bergen to the north. Ships from Ribe visited Friesland, the Netherlands, England, France and the Mediterranean countries. On the Ship Bridge in Ribe one could find the products of the cultural countries, including wine, silk and processed luxury goods. From Ribe horses and bulls were exported from a large catchment area. In 1519, 11.000 oxen and bulls were exported in one year. From the time of Canute the Great and throughout the Middle Ages, there was an important mint in the city.

Many orders of nuns and monks have had their monasteries in the city. There have been Benedictine nuns and Hospitaller nuns and there have been Grey Friars and Black Friars; and even today you can find the old magnificent Black Friars Monastery in connection with St. Catherine's Church. In short, Ribe has been a cultural and commercial center well into our time.

In 1580, a great fire ravaged the city, and many of the old medieval houses disappeared in flames.

Weis Stue is built on the foundation of a medieval house. The house is built on two floors with 8 bays of timber framing, although parts of the ground floor are brick. The roof is made of brick. The masonry and gable are made of red brick, although the three easternmost bays of the second floor are made of red-yellow bricks laid in a pattern. The house has a bay window that carries a lead roof. On the street side, the timber framing is black tarred, while it is painted red on the courtyard side. The boards here are yellow-limed. The house is built of two stories. The 5 westernmost bays were built around 1600, while the three easternmost were built about a dozen years later. The basement wall facing the street, which is 95 cm thick, is made of red brick. There is a well in the basement.

It is not known who owned the house in its first century. But in 1704 the house was owned by the Thun family, possibly by the parents of pastor Peder Thun and coppersmith Lorentz Thun. Pastor Peder Thun lived from 1708-83 and was a teacher at the Latin school, while Lorentz married a Cecilie Marie. The latter took over the house, and it is Cecilie Thun who, by proxy, sells the house according to a deed of 27 September 1762: "House, consisting of 8 bays facing the market square, together with a carriage shed, workshop, brewery and stables, as well as a driveway through Raamand Ussing's farm for a purchase price of 570 rigsdaler". The buyer is Anders Andersen Weis. The Weis family had lived and worked in Ribe for a number of years when they bought the Thun house. The family had immigrated from the south, but had settled in a property on Mellemdammen, from which they traded in canvas.

Anders Andersen Weiss was born on April 4, 1719 in Ribe and he died on 2 August 1795 in the same place. He married Karen Marie Johansdatter, born on 15 December 1729 and she died on 3 May 1797 in Ribe. A tombstone for Weiss and his wife is set up in the cathedral. Anders Weiss bought the farmers' home-woven canvas, which he later resold. In a room west of the pantry, which is now combined with this, he had his warehouse. The marriage had 7 children, including Søren Andersen Weiss, who was born on May 6, 1761 in Ribe and who died there on December 16, 1853. He married Kirstine Pedersdatter, born on March 22, 1777, and died on July 15, 1832.

Søren took over the house from his mother by deed dated November 1, 1796, paying 550 rigsdaler for it.

On 8 December 1796, Søren Weiss received a citizen's certificate as a linen merchant. How long the innkeeper's business had been carried on in the house is uncertain, but it was common in those days that people from the country who had been in to sell their linen goods brought their own food, but could buy beer and schnapps on the spot. In any case, on 18 December 1830, Søren Weiss was granted a citizen's certificate as "Brændvinsbrænder og Værtshusholdet i Henhold til Stiftsamtets Bevilling", even though he had not taken the "Brændvinsbrændere befalede Examen". There is little doubt that there had been some serving of liquor before this time. In 1810, it is said that Mrs. Weiss administered rather harsh justice in the old tavern. It is said that she refused to serve liquor to drunk people, and that she could be quite firm in such refusals.

In 1805, Søren Weiss had to take legal action against his neighbor, watchmaker Jens Schultz, over the entrance to his farm. By judgment of 11 February 1806, Weiss was granted the right to enter and exit through Schultz's gate in Tingslippe.

The marriage between Søren and Kirstine had four children, and of them it was Anders Pedersen Weiss, born on 11 October 1813 and died on 21 June 1872, who continued the Weiss tavern. In 1848 he married Ane Kathrine Clemmensen, born on 24 December 1818 and died on 5 March 1889.

Anders Weiss took over the tavern and the farm on 27 July 1833, but with his father's permission. It was not until 4 January 1859 that he received a citizen's certificate as a distiller and tavern keeper. In 1864, Anders Pedersen Weiss was taken hostage by the Germans to Rendsborg, together with other prominent men in the town. Over time, Anders Weiss gradually became the owner of a large amount of field and meadow land around Ribe, especially to save some receivables.

The last generation of the Weiss family in Weissgården was Anders and Ane Kathrine's son Søren Andersen Weiss, born on August 8, 1852. He married Karen Jensen on September 7, 1883. He took over the property by inheritance deed in 1889. He continued the tavern business until the autumn of 1913, when he sold the farm to Ribe Municipality for 30.000 DKK. His family had run a tavern and business on the site for four generations for a total of 152 years.

Before the sale to Ribe When the municipality took place, he had negotiated with the Danish consul in New Jersey, IP Holm, about selling the house with a view to moving it across the Atlantic to a museum in the United States. Fortunately, this plan was not put into practice.

After the municipality took over the farm, the architect Christen Borch, together with the National Museum under the direction of Master Christian Axel Jensen, carried out an extensive restoration of the old buildings. During this, several interesting finds were made, including a piece of wood with initials and the year 1704.

After the restoration was completed, the farm was rented on May 15, 1914, to head waiter Nissen from Klubbens Hotel, who became the first innkeeper under the municipality's ownership. He ran the inn until 1917, when restaurateur M. Bertelsen and his wife Johanne Marie moved in. Bertelsen was a master painter from Horsens, but he was transferred to Ribe where he became a popular restaurateur. He died on March 22, 1937, but his wife Johanne Marie Bertelsen continued to run the tavern, and she came to experience the 25th anniversary in Weiss Stue.

She was succeeded by Olga Henriksen who ran the business until May 23, 1967, when restaurateur Willy Jung took over Weiss Stue. Before the restaurant reopened in the autumn of 1967, a thorough renovation of the building was carried out, including replacing the old tiled stoves with district heating. The restaurateur couple, Jette and Knud Nielsen, succeeded Willy Jung in 1973 and they ran Weiss' Stue as a hotel and restaurant, as they do today. They bought the house back from Ribe Municipality, so that Weis Stue is once again in private ownership today.

Sources:

• Hans Henrik Engquist: Conservation plan for Ribe. 1969
• Newspaper reviews