Mengerskirchen Castle

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Mengerskirchen Castle
Mengerskirchen Castle, today the town hall

Mengerskirchen Castle, today the town hall

Alternative name (s): Mengerskirchen Castle
Creation time : around 1312
Castle type : Niederungsburg, location
Conservation status: Receive
Standing position : Count
Place: Mengerskirchen
Geographical location 50 ° 33 '53.3 "  N , 8 ° 9' 20.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 33 '53.3 "  N , 8 ° 9' 20.9"  E
Mengerskirchen Castle (Hesse)
Mengerskirchen Castle

The castle Mengerskirchen , today's Castle Mengerskirchen , located on the former city wall in Mengerskirchen in Limburg-Weilburg .

history

Presumably under the Dillenburg line of the House of Nassau , the castle was built from 1312 in Mengerskirchen, which was first mentioned in 1217. The residential tower can be dated to 1320. The upstream place received city rights in 1321. In 1341 the castle came into the possession of Count Heinrich II of Nassau-Beilstein . In this context it was first mentioned in a document. Under the Beilsteiners, the building was mainly used as a widow's residence and at times also pledged, including to Kurtrier . When the Beilsteiner line merged with the Dillenburg line again in 1561, Mengerskirchen Castle also came back into Nassau-Dillenburg ownership and from there to the newly founded county of Nassau-Hadamar .

From 1628 to 1635, Count Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar had the castle converted to the north into a hunting lodge with rooms for administrative officials. Around 1662, under Moritz Heinrich von Nassau-Hadamar , another flat north wing was added. From 1711 to 1806 it was the seat of the Nassau-Dillenburg and later the Nassau-Orange office of Mengerskirchen . From 1716 to 1814 the prayer room of the Reformed community was located in the castle, from 1811 to 1813 it was a barracks for the Napoleonic gendarmerie . In 1818 the municipality of Mengerskirchen bought the castle for 1220 guilders . From 1819 to 1973 it served as a school building. Parts of the residential tower collapsed in the 19th century and were repaired again. From 1981 to 1983, the palace buildings were renovated in addition to the residential tower and from 1984 to 1990 the residential tower as well. During this work remains of late Gothic frescoes came to light in the residential tower .

Todays use

The castle has been the seat of the municipal administration and community center since 1983. Furthermore, a local history museum has been set up in the tower since 1990.

investment

The castle is a long, three-story building. At the southwest corner is a four-storey residential tower with a basement with a gable roof and battlement , which is probably the oldest part of the complex. A semicircular tower is attached to the outside of the main building. There is a stair tower on the courtyard side. This tower marks the transition from the older part of the main house, built before 1600, to the part that was added later under the Nassau-Hadamar princes.

To the inner courtyard, the castle has an obtuse-angled side wing with an open portico and arcade wall with four round arches on columns of the Tuscan order .

Remains of the old city fortifications have been preserved in the area of ​​the castle. However, the city wall was partially demolished in 1970 for the extension of the citizens' hall. The former lap ditch has been replaced by a park.

In addition to being a listed building, the castle has been given the status of war protection under the Hague Convention .

literature

  • Georg Dehio , Ernst Gall : Handbook of German art monuments - Southern Hesse . Berlin 1950
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 431.
  • Ferdinand Luthmer : The architectural and art monuments of the Wiesbaden region. Volume 3. Lahn area . Walluf 1973
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 249.

Web links