Ehrenstein Castle

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Ehrenstein Palace, around the inner courtyard (2011)

Ehrenstein Castle is a renaissance castle in Ohrdruf in Thuringia . It is a two-storey four-wing building.

history

The first settlement in Ohrdruf is from the 1st century BC. Can be proven up to the 3rd century AD. Around 725 Boniface founded the first Thuringian monastery on the opposite bank of the Ohra. In 777, a St. Peter's Church is said to have been founded on the (later) castle grounds by the later Bishop Lullus . Remains of a stone church from this time (with dendrodata) have been found. This would be the oldest known stone church in Thuringia.

A visit by King Otto I to the castle on his journey to Italy is mentioned for 961 . He signed documents here. From this time the foundations of a large hall next to the church have been uncovered. In 980 a collegiate monastery of St. Peter is said to have been founded on the castle grounds . During this time the church was also enlarged. This was followed by a cemetery to the south, where 38 grave sites from the 10th to 12th centuries could be uncovered. Among them were 18 stone box graves .

In 1184 the church fell victim to a fire. In 1344, Landgravine Elisabeth von Lobdeburg moved the Canons' Monastery to Gotha . In 1463 Carmelite monks moved into the empty monastery buildings . In 1463 the Counts of Gleichen became owners of the monastery buildings. In 1523 the monastery was closed.

The builder of the castle on and off the walls of the church and the cloister building was Count Georg II von Gleichen (1509–1570). Its builders Georg and Valentin Kirchhof built a new wing from 1550. Ernst von Gleichen expanded the complex from 1610 to 1616. In 1750 the Counts of Hohenlohe-Langenburg inherited the castle. In the middle of the 18th century, some parts of the castle were expanded in the baroque style .

Prince Hermann zu Hohenlohe sold the castle to the Gotha State in 1869 . In 1870 the use of the Realgymnasium with boarding school and the corresponding redesign of the interior began. Later the castle was also the seat of the district administrator and the employment office. It was taken over by the city of Ohrdruf in 1924 for charitable purposes. In 1933/1935 the museum of local history, which had been put together by teacher Böttcher, moved in.

The city of Ohrdruf was able to use the castle until 1956. Then it was taken over by the Soviet Army and used as a school and for apartments. In 1966 the Soviet school left the building and the apartments were initially occupied. The neglected castle was now left to its own devices, further destruction and robberies ensued. In 1971 the castle was in a ruinous condition. The roofs and the tower hood were defective, the east, south and north wings were badly affected by sponge. There were no more usable water pipes, the sewers were clogged, the electrical system burned, banisters dismantled, parquet floors torn out, doors and windows in the entire castle defective.

The first reconstruction work on the building complex began in 1971 . An interest group Schloss Ehrenstein e. V. in the Kulturbund der GDR, which saved the palace from the intended demolition. First the roof of the castle building was renewed, in 1975 the castle tower was reconstructed. This was followed by the expansion of apartments in the east wing, club rooms in the west wing, the establishment of a special school in the east wing and multiple renovations of the rococo hall as a music hall (the only remaining hall) by members of the IG. In 1997 the city became the owner of the castle and pushed ahead with its renovation both inside and outside. The addition of an external staircase was done in a style break. Today the castle houses, among other things, the local history museum, the city archive and the city library of the city of Ohrdruf. Two monastery cells and a chapel have been preserved. The ground floor of the east wing has not yet been completed. The redesigned inner courtyard was opened to the public in 2010. There was a landscape architecture competition for the redesign of the palace gardens and grounds. The work is well advanced.

The local history museum in the castle shows the history of the city of Ohrdruf with special attention to the Ehrenstein castle, as a loan a collection of models designed by Dipl.-Ing. Wilfried Freiherrn von Wechmar (important buildings in the city of Ohrdruf - including the former Michaeliskirche - and other churches up to the Frauenkirche in Dresden), a department on the relationships between the Bach family and Ohrdruf, a doll and toy department and other exhibits.

Fire ruins of the south wing (2014)

On November 26, 2013, a roof fire occurred in the building, in the course of which large parts of the building were severely damaged by the fire and the extinguishing water. The cause of the fire was that roofers wanted to de-ice a frozen board on the roof structure with a gas burner. As a result of the extinguishing work, the city library under the roof was under water. In another wing, two apartments have also been ruined by fire-fighting water and are no longer habitable. The property damage is estimated at at least 10 million euros, as paintings and other works of art were in the destroyed part of the castle. The important doll collection and replicas of historic buildings by Wilfried von Wechmar were also lost. The citizens' hall and archive have been preserved.
The fire occurred immediately before the building was accepted after an extensive renovation of the complex that had cost several million euros. The restoration of the building will be covered by the savings bank insurance, but the works of art are irretrievably lost.

Pictures (2006 to 2012)

  • North wing

  • South and west wings

  • Castle tower before renovation (2013)

  • patio

  • West wing with Ohra

  • Reconstructed archway

  • Gate to the east wing in the castle courtyard

literature

  • Udo Hopf: Ohrdruf 1000 years ago. In: Fulfilling municipality of the city of Ohrdruf. Info brochure. 6th edition. Published by the city of Ohrdruf, 2010.
  • Manfred Ständer: Ehrenstein Castle in Ohrdruf. 1964 to 2014 . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2014, ISBN 978-3-95400-369-3 .

Web links

Commons : Ehrenstein Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Udo Hopf, Christine Müller: The former church of St. Peter in Ohrdruf - the oldest stone church in Thuringia, historical tradition and archaeological findings. In: Yearbook of the Hennebergisch-Franconian History Association . Volume 29. 2014. pp. 43-56
  2. ↑ Archaeological finds at Ehrenstein Castle
  3. ^ Friedrich Krügelstein: News from the city of Ohrdruf and its immediate vicinity 724–1631 . Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza 1844. Reprint 2003. ISBN 978-3-934748-09-5 . Pp. 195-196 et al.
  4. ↑ Display boards in the city museum
  5. ↑ Ehrenstein Castle badly damaged by fire. on: mdr.de
  6. ↑ Fire in Ehrenstein Castle in Ohrdruf. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. November 26, 2013.
  7. ↑ Roofers lit the roof of Ehrenstein Castle with Brenner. In: Thuringian General. November 27, 2013.

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 46 ″  N , 10 ° 44 ′ 10.9 ″  E