Lichtenstein ruins (Neufra)
| Lichtenstein ruins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alternative name (s): | Vorderlichtenstein (Bubenhofen), Hinterlichtenstein | |
| Creation time : | around 1150 to 1180 (Vorderlichtenstein) ; around 1200 (Hinterlichtenstein) |
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| Castle type : | Höhenburg, ridge position | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Standing position : | Ministeriale | |
| Place: | Neufra | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 15 '36.5 " N , 9 ° 9' 48.4" E | |
| Height: | 847.25 m above sea level NN | |
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The ruin Lichtenstein is the ruin of a hilltop castle near Neufra in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg , Germany . The double castle is divided into the Vorderlichtenstein , also called Bubenhofen , and the Hinterlichtenstein .
Geographical location
The castle ruins of Vorder- and Hinterlichtenstein are between Neufra and Gauselfingen on the right-hand side above the Fehlatal . There rises a wooded mountain ridge facing west , on top of which lie the Vorderlichtenstein and about 500 m west of it the Hinterlichtenstein. The Vorderlichteinstein lies at around 845 meters, the Hinterlichtenstein slightly higher at 849.5 meters above sea level. To the south of the castle ruins is the steeply sloping hill called “Burghalde”.
description
The castle complex is divided into the Vorderlichtenstein, also called Bubenhofen, and the Hinterlichtenstein.
Hinterlichtenstein Castle
The freely accessible ruins of the castle complex had an east-west orientation.
From the former inner castle the rear Lichtenstein remains were of the keep , which still dominates the ruins perched on a rock today. To the west of the castle was a wall and an outer moat , behind which the main moat was connected. He also protects the Palas , the remains of the wall of which protrude behind it.
In the south, a little below the main castle, was the former outer castle .
From the east, from Vorderlichtenstein, a modern staircase leads through the possible location of a building in the main castle to the ruin. To the south of it was the former entrance via a ramp . The castle courtyard was accessed via a gate tower connected to the ramp . In the north of the complex an intermediate building can be made out, which has a kind of terrace.
Vorderlichtenstein Castle
The freely accessible ruins of the Vorderlichtenstein Castle, which dates from the second half of the 12th century, are characterized by their polygonal floor plan. The core castle itself lies on a rock, a little below the eastern and western outer bailey.
The eastern outer bailey of the complex was protected by an arched wall with an adjoining ditch (eastern ditch).
Coming from the west, from Hinterlichtenstein, the ascending access to the western forecourt takes place past a wall on the right. The ascent to the main castle leads over a narrow rock ledge through the former gate in the surrounding wall . In the small courtyard of the core castle, the possible location of the cistern can be found in the southeast corner and the possible location of the hall in the southwest. The square keep stands a few meters higher than the castle courtyard. It has a square base of 8.5 x 8.5 meters.
The kennel was secured against the western forecourt by the already mentioned wall and a wide ditch, the discharge of which is clearly visible in the southern part of the complex. The kennel could be entered via the eastern forecourt.
The curtain wall is 1.6 meters thick, the shield wall is 2.2 meters thick . In addition, a mantle wall that is no more than 6 meters high has been preserved from the castle.
history
The history of the Vorder- and Hinterlichtenstein is strongly linked to the history of Neufra. It was the seat of the Lords of Lichtenstein . Their residence on today's Lichtenstein castle ruins is attested at least in the years from 1332 to 1447.
The first documentary mention of Neufra as Nufiron , owned by the Counts of Gammertingen , is from the year 1138 in the chronicle of Berthold von Zwiefalten . The progenitors of the Lichtenstein family could be the brothers Heinrich and Milo , who were described by a Zwiefalter chronicler around 1140 as the noble servants of Count Ulrich von Gammertingen .
The development of Vorderlichtenstein Castle is dated to around 1150 to 1180.
The first mention of the Lords of Lichtenstein in Neufra took place in 1182 . A Gerhard von Lichtenstein is mentioned as a servant ( Ministeriale ) of the Margrave Heinrich von Ronsberg , the heir of the Counts of Gammertingen , who donated goods in Altingen near Herrenberg to the Ottobeuren monastery . Margrave Heinrich von Ronsperg came into possession of the rule through his heir Udilhild von Gammertingen. His wife is Adelheid von Achalm-Gammertingen.
Hinterlichtenstein Castle was built around 1200.
A relatively large property belonged to the two castles in Neufra: the hamlet of Unterlichtenstein, the village of Bitz , Güter and the court in Mägerkingen and Hausen a. L. Below the castles there was also a fish pond, the "little lake under Lichtenstein", which was abandoned in the 16th century.
After the Ronsperger died out, the Lichtenstein servants became the Counts of Württemberg. Between the Ronspergern and Württemberger, Count Ulrich I von Berg (near Ehingen, around 1160–1210) was in possession of the rule. He was married to a daughter of Count von Ronsperg named Udilhild.
The already mentioned Gebhard von Lichtenstein was probably the father or grandfather of the brothers Gero, Gebhard, Swenger and Ludwig von Lichtenstein, who were named in 1243. One of these brothers (or a descendant) probably built Lichtenstein Castle (not today's castle) near Honau. This was destroyed by the Reutlingers around 1310 and 1377 respectively.
A Heinrich von Lichtenstein is mentioned in 1251, a Ludwig von Lichtenstein in 1262. In the same document a Gero von Lichtenstein, son of Swenger von Lichtenstein, is mentioned. The news about the Lichtensteiners is too scanty to create a coherent family tree.
In 1332 a Swenger von Lichtenstein donated the Nikolauskapelle in the then cemetery of Neufra. It is located in today's town center and has been preserved in the southern part of the Zehntscheuer from 1534. During the battle of Sempach on July 9, 1386, a Hans von Lichtenstein was killed. In 1386 Schweikhart the boy, Herr von Lichtenstein, sold the village of Bitz to the town of Ebingen . This is probably identical to the aforementioned Swenger. Depending on the dating 1392 or 1396, a Swenger from Lichtenstein Siegler is in a sales deed for the saints carers Auberlin Frech and Kun Eberhard's son in Melchingen.
In the 14th to 15th centuries, the hamlet of Unterlichtenstein was abandoned.
From the year 1407 a Hans von Lichtenstein is named as the owner of the Vorderlichtenstein and half of Neufra. Heinrich von Rechberg owns half of the Hinterlichtenstein, which he inherited from his uncle Count Wölflin von Veringen . The pledge known from 1411 contradicts this. Count Eberhard von Württemberg pledged the castle Vorderlichtenstein to Heinrich von Rechberg zu Hohenrechberg for 1000 guilders, half of the castle Hinterlichtenstein, Neufra and Mägerkingen.
It is known, however, that in 1420 a wolf from Lichtenstein owned the second half of Hinterlichtenstein Castle. Since the first half of the 15th century there have been no Lichtensteiners in the area. They probably moved away after their estates were sold, or one line or another may have died out. There were also Lichtensteiners in Reutlingen itself. The line of the Neckarhauser Lichtensteiner survived the longest . An ensign Anton von Lichtenstein was the last of his family to die in Upper Hungary in 1688.
When the state was divided in 1442, the Vorderlichtenstein and half of Hinterlichtenstein passed to Count Ludwig I of Württemberg . In 1447 Hans von Rechberg zu Hohenrechberg sold his half of the Hinterlichtenstein, already known as the "Burgstall", for 18,500 guilders to Count Ulrich von Württemberg , brother of Ludwig von Württemberg . So it could not have been inhabited any more at that time.
In 1454 Württemberg is again owned by Vorderlichtenstein and half of Hinterlichtenstein. At that time, the court of Mägerkingen and Hausen belonged to Vorderlichtenstein. In 1457 Benz von Hausen , Württemberg Burgvogt, lived in Vorderlichtenstein Castle.
In 1468 Count Ulrich von Württemberg sold the Gammertingen estate with Neufra to Hans and Konrad von Bubenhofen . With the acquisition of the Gammertingen rule, the Gammertingen- Hettingen rule and one half of Hinterlichtenstein were included.
From the year 1474, depending on the source, there is another contradiction: Count Ulrich von Württemberg is said to have sold the Vorderlichtenstein and half of the Hinterlichtenstein to his landlord Hans Caspar von Bubenhofen . However, Count Eberhard the Elder of Württemberg is said to have given the "Burgstall" Vorderlichtenstein and the other half of Hinterlichtenstein to his Landhofmeister Hans Caspar von Bubenhofen as a fief. The Vorderlichtenstein could no longer have been inhabited at this time. In 1507 Hans Caspar von Bubenhofen sells the fiefdom, the Gammertingen-Hettingen estate with Neufra, to his creditors. In 1524 they left the Vorder- and Hinterlichtenstein to the Württemberg Obervogt von Urach Dietrich von Speth von Zwiefalten.
In 1534 Ulrich von Württemberg occupied the rival rule of Gammertingen and introduced the Reformation. In 1547 the people of Württemberg are expelled and re-Catholicization begins.
Between 1632 and 1639 Neufra experienced the worst years of the Thirty Years' War with looting, hunger, plague and billeting of a Swedish occupation. These were attacked by strangers in 1632, for which the residents of the village had to pay. In 1635 the plague raged in Neufra, and the two local priests fell victim to it.
In 1690 Hans Dietrich von Speth had the "Schlössle" built as a residence.
In 1827 the ownership of Vorder- and Hinterlichtenstein passed to the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen .
In 1996, the site monument of the Vorderlichtenstein castle ruins was topographically recorded by the State Monuments Office.
Association for the preservation of the ruin Lichtenstein eV
In 1996, 44 citizens from Neufra founded the Association for the Preservation of the Ruin Lichtenstein eV The renovation work began with the repair of the southwest corner of the wall in order to then re-fortify the south wall, which was in danger of collapsing. The volunteer restorers had to use historical building materials, masonry made of field stones and unslaked lime as a binding agent. From Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Wuerttemberg the work is accompanied.
The association has about 50 members who work on the ruins almost every week when the weather is good. The association was dependent on subsidies from state funds and the monument office for the complex work. The renovation / restoration of Vorderlichtenstein was completed in mid-October 2010. A total of 14,000 hours of voluntary work were done and around 100 tons of mortar were processed to make the castle an attractive hiking destination again.
Trivia
Based on the history of the Lords of Lichtenstein, the "Burgnarren" were founded on August 31, 1984. The fool figures take up the superstition that prevailed in the population in earlier times regarding the castle ghosts, which meant that for a long time no one dared to enter the “castle stables”.
The coat of arms of the Lords of Lichtenstein shows a silver wing on a blue background. Today it forms part of the Neufra municipal coat of arms.
literature
- Christoph Bizer: Surface finds of castles in the Swabian Alb - A contribution to ceramic and castle research . Published by the regional council Stuttgart - State Office for Monument Preservation, Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8062-2038-7 , pp. 385–392.
- Dieter Buck: Castles and ruins of the Swabian Alb - 40 tours in the footsteps of knights . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1447-6 , p. 61.
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages - floor plan lexicon . Special edition, Flechsig Verlag, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-88189-360-1 , pp. 126 and 372.
- Herbert Burkarth: History of the rule Gammertingen-Hettingen . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1997, ISBN 3-7995-4062-8 .
- Günter Schmitt : Castle Guide Swabian Alb, Volume 5 - West Alb: Hiking and discovering between Reutlingen and Spaichingen . Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach an der Riß 1993, ISBN 3-924489-65-3 , pp. 137-148.
- Christoph Bizer, Rolf Götz: Forgotten castles of the Swabian Alb . DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-87181-244-7 , pp. 47-50.
- Stefan Uhl: The castle ruins Vorder- and Hinterlichtenstein, Leckstein and Hasenfratz . In: Ders: Journal of Hohenzollern History, Volume 23 . 1987.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dating by evaluating ceramic finds according to Christoph Bizer
- ↑ Dieter Müller: Topographical recordings and archaeological processing of site monuments in 1996 . In: Jörg Biel (Hrsg.): Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 1996 . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1997. pp. 302-306. ISBN 3-8062-1292-9