Sonnenberg Castle
| Sonnenberg Castle | ||
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 Sonnenberg Castle |
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| Creation time : | 1200 | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, spur location, local location | |
| Conservation status: | largely preserved | |
| Standing position : | Count | |
| Place: | Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 6 '10.5 " N , 8 ° 15' 56.6" E | |
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The Burg Sonnenberg is the ruin of a Spur castle in Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg on the slopes of the Taunus in Hessen . It was built on a rock from 1200 by the count brothers Heinrich II and Ruprecht von Nassau to protect Wiesbaden as a fortress against the neighboring lords of Eppstein , with whom there were permanent border disputes. The Nassau were probably enfeoffed with the royal court of Wiesbaden by Friedrich I as thanks for their support in the Roman trains in 1154. The Königshof Wiesbaden first appeared in 829 as the administrative seat of the Königssondergau , which was established by Charlemagne . The place of jurisdiction for the Gau, however, was on the territory of the Eppsteiner. This complicated spatial distribution of property in both houses gave rise to constant discord.
Residents and owners
Although the land did not belong to the Nassauers, but to the Mainz Cathedral Chapter , construction began and in 1221 the Count Brothers solemnly confessed that they had illegally and violently seized the "Castrum Sunneberc". They bought the land from the cathedral chapter and took the castle from the archbishopric as a fief. This connection to Mainz was unfavorable for Sonnenberg for a long time, since in the 13th century four Archbishops of Mainz were appointed by the Eppsteiners, the enemies of the Nassau.
After Ruprecht entered the Teutonic Order , Count Heinrich II ruled alone from 1230 onwards . Sonnenberg Castle was one of nine castles on which the Nassau banner was waving.
In 1255 there was the first division of Nassau ownership between Walram II and Otto I. The family split into the Ottonian and Walram lines. The Sonnenberg castle with Wiesbaden now belonged to the Walram line. Walram's son Adolf von Nassau , who later became the German king, continued to expand the castle after it was severely damaged by the Nassau-Eppstein feud before 1283.
Together with Archbishop Gerhard II of Mainz , the Eppsteiners were able to take the castle again after Adolf's death in 1298 and destroy it heavily. Adolf's son Gerlach I , still a child at the time, was saved. After an exciting time, Count Gerlach was able to reconcile with the former enemies in later years and greatly expand the castle. The most important time of Sonnenberg Castle began under him. In 1338 Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian visited the castle, a testimony to the size and security that Sonnenberg Castle offered in those years.
1351 Sonnenberg were of King Charles IV. , The town charter granted own jurisdiction. The count's second wife Irmengard von Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, who received the castle as a widow's seat as early as 1337, campaigned for this. The houses at the foot of the castle could now be integrated into the overall complex with a wall, which gave the residents some security. The valley was fortified.
When Count Gerlach died in Castle Sonnenberg in 1361, his son Ruprecht from his marriage to Irmengard became Count of the new lordship of Nassau-Sonnenberg, founded in 1355 . As the last knight to wander, he became “famous” through his numerous feuds for the inheritance of his wife Anna von Nassau-Hadamar , until he ceremoniously laid down his sword in 1384 on the occasion of the foundation of the Catherine Altar in the chapel tower. Despite his feuds, he knew how to avert damage to his residence.
In 1365 Ruprecht VII assigned Sonnenberg Castle to his wife Anna as a widow's residence. He died childless in 1390. In 1391, Count Diether VIII von Katzenelnbogen, who married Ruprecht's widow Anna, came into joint ownership of the castle. After Anna's death in 1405, the rulership of Nassau-Sonnenberg with Sonnenberg Castle went back to the Counts of Idstein and Weilburg , who from then on shared the property. Over the next 200 years the castle fell into disrepair until it was once again able to experience glamorous days under Count Philipp von Nassau-Idstein between 1558 and 1566, who took the castle as his residence. He also died childless and the castle was uninhabited by the end of the 16th century. During the Thirty Years War , war bands lived in the castle. After the war, the castle served as a quarry for the reconstruction of the houses in the valley. Sonnenberg Castle became a ruin.
In the 19th century, the castle ruins were a popular destination for spa guests in the neighboring spa town of Wiesbaden . The spa complex, as an extension of the spa park , was laid out as far as Sonnenberg. The city of Wiesbaden acquired the ruins in the Sonnenberg, which was not yet incorporated at the time, as early as 1875 .
Today, the hosts keep a museum and offers of its covered viewing platform a good view of the castle and Sonnenberg. Every year in July, the Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg Culture Days take place in the lower castle in front of the chapel tower. A noble restaurant has also found a place in the upper castle. The ruins were renovated from 2005 to 2015 and are now accessible again. Accompanying archaeological investigations are carried out .
description
Construction began in 1200 and the keep was completed in 1208. The upper part of the castle was expanded between 1221 and 1242. In 1283 the castle was heavily destroyed for the first time and was then repaired and expanded by Count Adolf. After it was destroyed again in 1298, again by the Eppsteiners, Count Gerlach was able to enlarge it again by building the lower castle. When the town was granted town charter in 1351, the valley was fortified and the village was provided with a protective wall. In 1384 a chapel was built in the wall tower of the lower castle. The keep was restored after the Second World War . Today there are three entrances to the castle, in the east through the main gate and in the valley via the former city gates .
literature
- Festschrift of the Konrad-Duden-Schule in Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg 1904–1984
- Festschrift 875 years Sonnenberg
- Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 7th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 .
- Karl Ferdinand Dräxler: Sonnenberg: Customers and Legends, a memorial book of the ruin. 2nd edition. Wiesbaden: Friedrich, 1854. books.google.com
- Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 375f.
Web links
- History of Sonnenberg
- Reconstruction drawing in the medieval state by Wolfgang Braun
- View of the Sonnenberg castle ruins, around 1833. Historical views of the town, plans and floor plans (as of October 9, 2007). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on November 17, 2016 .
- With the spade to the secrets of Sonnenberg Castle in Wiesbaden
Individual evidence
- ^ Castle Museum on the website of the Heimatverein Sonnenberg eV
- ^ "The renovation of Sonnenberg Castle is progressing" ( Memento from December 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
