Burgau Castle
Burgau Castle (spoken: Burg-Au) is a moated castle in Düren. It is located in the Burgau Forest on the edge of the Niederau district of Düren .
history
Lords and owners
The rule of Burgau was a fiefdom of Heinsberg , which passed to the Duchy of Jülich in 1484 , where it formed one of 43 sublords. The first proven owner is Amilius von Auwe in the 13th century. The castle standing on a hill was first mentioned on November 19, 1313, when Wilhelmus de Barchowe appeared as a witness on the occasion of a Heinsberg feud.
In 1475 ownership changed from the von Auwe family to the von Elmpt family , who originally had their seat in a castle near Erkelenz . At the end of the century, the von Binsfeld family also came into possession in part, but members of the von Elmpt family remained the dominant lords of the castle. In the second half of the 17th century, the Metternich family joined them and in 1718 they quarreled with Count Schaesberg . After that, the Lords of Elmpt took over the property again.
The Countess von Keyserlingk inherited the castle around 1900 . In 1915 the von Keyserlingks moved to Bohlschau in West Prussia , ending a centuries-old tradition of family inheritance. Margarete Countess von Keyserlingk sold Burgau to Rittmeister Ernst Nienhausen, the manor owner of the Nienhausen house near Rotthausen . Since that time the castle has not been inhabited and was left to decay. A design by the Gelsenkirchen architect Josef Franke for the "restoration" of the palace, presumably commissioned by Nienhausen, is known from 1917 . In 1917 the city of Düren acquired Burgau Castle with all its possessions for 600,000 marks from Ernst Nienhausen. The purchase price was financed with funds from industrialist Benno Schoeller , among other things . This included a mill in Niederau, a forester's house and several hundred hectares of forest. In the 1920s, Burgau was redesigned as an excursion destination and opened up for tourism.
Possessions of the Burgau rulership
The possessions of the Burgau nobility extended far beyond the castle. These included farms in Niederau, Stockheim and Stepprath. In 1816, lands with a total area of 1200 acres were designated.
The Niederauer Hof can no longer be located today. The Brockhof in Stepprath (also called Germersheimer or Meisenberg-Hof) was a Burgauer Afterlehen . In 1813 the farm was sold to farmers from Stockheim. In 1792, the land of the Mirbachshof, which had burned down several times, also came into the possession of Stockheim. The third farm in Stepprath was owned by the von Elmpt and Heidgen families. The large courtyard at Stockheim Church was demolished in the mid-19th century. The Kleine / Neue Hof von Stockheim was enfeoffed together with the Mirbachshof. It burned down several times and now belongs to a farmer. Further possessions in Burgau were the free estates in Kallerbend and Vossenack , the House of Kombach near Kinzweiler , the Zehnthof in Eschweiler , farms in Kommern and Dürwiss and the Merlenbroicher farm in Vaals . With regard to the rights to use the forest, there were repeated disputes between Burgau and Kreuzau .
In 1590, around 930 Malter grain, 130 capons , dozen other animals, 300 eggs and about 200 guilders are listed as income from the property . In addition, there was income from hunting, fishing and various services. The real estate assets of the House of Burgau are estimated at 11,365 Reichstaler in 1792 . In addition, the two Stockheimer Höfe are estimated at around 13,500 Reichstalers each.
Reconstruction since 1974
Due to the destruction in World War II , the subsequent looting and the effects of the weather, the castle increasingly fell into disrepair. At first there was no major reconstruction effort. After Niederau was incorporated into the city of Düren, the St. Cyriakus Rifle Society launched the citizens' initiative “Save Burgau”. The commitment met with great interest in the population. From 1974 to 1991 the shooters collected donations amounting to 275,000 euros to save the castle and the initiator Albert Müller received the Federal Cross of Merit .
The restoration was based on old pictures and drawings in order to restore the buildings as faithfully as possible. In 1981 the city of Düren, under pressure from the population, decided to approve a total of eight million DM for reconstruction. Special effort was necessary with the bay window. In the 1980s, more and more clubs used the castle, which also opened a café, for concerts and other events. In 1991 the work reached a high point with the inauguration of the corner hall.
architecture
The earliest traces date from around the year 1100. The superstructures were on a moth (tower hill castle). The mansion still stands on an island fifty meters in diameter. The residential tower also dates from the Middle Ages . Then the south, east and north wings of the main castle were built . The bay window built in 1551 is located on the residential tower . The four by 6.6 meter and 1.75 meter deep porch is decorated with numerous reliefs that refer to a wedding and ancient literature. In 1675 Daniel von Elmpt decided to have the damaged castle renovated. Around 1730 it was converted into a baroque three-wing complex.
In 1685 Anna Maria Catharina von Elmpt ordered the construction of a new outer bailey . The three-wing structure, which, like the main castle , is surrounded by a moat , served as a farm building. Today the corner hall is located in the northwestern part of the outer bailey.
Todays use
Since its reconstruction, Burgau Castle has served as a tourist attraction and event location. Many clubs use the premises.
It is known as a destination for excursions with its pond and the surrounding forest. A café has been providing culinary delights for visitors since 1981. Concerts and festivals by various associations take place regularly in the corner hall and in the inner courtyard of the outer bailey. Kaca Celan set up the TAS theater including a theater school in the main castle. The building also offers 450 m² of space for exhibitions. The Düren registry office offers weddings in the bay room on certain dates.
The building is entered under No. 2/001 in the list of monuments of the city of Düren.
The painter Hans Holbein at Burgau Castle
In 1539 the painter Hans Holbein the Younger arrived in Düren. He had come from England to paint the bride picture of Princess Anna of Cleves for King Henry VIII . Before making a final decision as to whether the king could and would marry Anna, he first wanted to see a portrait of her. When the king saw the picture, he said that the nose was a little too big and that the growth was satisfactory. He sent an embassy to Düren to woo the bride and bring her to England .
Unfortunately, he liked the bride in person so little that the marriage was never consummated. Behind his hand he called poor Anna the "Flemish mare" and mocked her pockmarks. In order not to offend anyone, Anna lived as "the king's dear sister" untouched and virgin at the English court.
Tell the witch Hackefey
The saga of the witch Hackefey gained national fame. According to legend, the witch Sophia made a pact with the devil against the couple who lived in the castle. The devil couldn't stand it that the count couple who lived in the castle loved each other so much. So he asked the villager Sofia Hack, known as Hackefey, to sow discord among the couple. She told the Countess that her husband had hair on his neck that disfigured him. She should shave them off at night. But she told the count that his wife wanted to murder him. When the countess wanted to shave off her husband's hair on his neck, he found confirmation that she wanted to murder him. The resulting quarrel divided the couple forever and Hackefey received gold slippers from the devil as a reward.
Hackefey is depicted on several reliefs in the castle. The dialect poet from Düren, Joseph van der Giese, wrote a play about this legend in 1840 and Johann Walter Neumann turned the story into a ballad in 1909 . Martin Luther mentioned them in his table speeches . The story Die Hexe Hackefey by Günter Krieger is from 2014 .
literature
- Helmut Krebs: Niederau Krauthausen and the rule of Burgau. The story of a separate entity . Hahne & Schloemer, Düren 1997.
- Paul Larue : Burgau Castle and its history . St. Cyriakus Rifle Brotherhood, Niederau-Krauthausen 1981.
Web links
- Entry by Gabriele Rustemeyer zu Burgau in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Information from the city of Düren
- Information from Juliacum Entertainment Service
- Burgau Castle in the Duncker Collection of the Central and State Library Berlin (PDF, 289 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 112
- ↑ a b Burgau. (PDF; 296 kB) (No longer available online.) Duncker Collection, archived from the original on June 11, 2007 ; Retrieved July 27, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 113
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 114
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 115
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 116
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 119
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 120
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 121
- ^ Architecture Colloquium Bochum (Ed.): Josef Franke (1876–1944). 163 designs for the 20th century. Klartext, Essen 1999, ISBN 3-88474-776-2 , p. 149.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 122
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 174
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 135
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 144
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 136f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 137f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, pp. 139f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, pp. 141f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 142f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, page 144ff.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 150f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 154
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 155
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 183f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 201
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 195
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 189
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 200f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 162
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 163f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, page 176ff.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 169
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 169f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, page 171f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 192
- ^ Kaca Celan: Friends of the Burgau Theater School. Retrieved July 24, 2009 .
- ↑ Burgau Castle. (No longer available online.) City of Düren, archived from the original on February 27, 2009 ; Retrieved July 27, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Herbert Pawliczek: Directory of monuments of the city of Düren 1984. In: Dürener Geschichtsblätter. No. 76, Düren 1987, ISSN 0416-4180
- ↑ Hans Holbein paints Princess Anna von Kleve at Burgau Castle , Lucia Breuer in the 1962 Heimatjahrbuch Kreis Düren
- ↑ Hubert Gierlichs: Hackefey . In: Rheinische Geschichtsblätter . Third year (1896/97), No. 4 . P. Hansteins Verlag, Bonn March 1897, p. 29 f . ( dilibri.de [accessed on July 24, 2009]).
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 409
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 407f.
- ↑ Krebs 1997, p. 409
- ↑ http://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/eschweiler/lesung-im-librodrom-hexe-hackefey-verauberert-fans-1.932637
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 0.9 ″ N , 6 ° 29 ′ 51 ″ E