Neuweilnau Castle

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Neuweilnau Castle
The main building of Neuweilnau Castle, built around 1520

The main building of Neuweilnau Castle, built around 1520

Alternative name (s): Neuweilnau Castle
Creation time : 1302
Conservation status: receive
Standing position : Count
Place: Weilrod - Neuweilnau
Geographical location 50 ° 19 '7.6 "  N , 8 ° 24' 29"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 19 '7.6 "  N , 8 ° 24' 29"  E
Height: 380  m above sea level NN
Neuweilnau Castle (Hesse)
Neuweilnau Castle

The Neuweilnau Castle is a castle in the Taunus , located today on the territory of the municipality Weilrod , above Neuweilnau located.

history

A tower stump is one of the few remnants of the older castle complex still preserved today.

The castle goes back to a castle built in 1302. At that time, the Weilnau line of the Counts of Diez , which had existed since around 1200, split off territorially from the rest of the family. Until then, both branches of the family had shared ownership of the strategically important Altweilnau Castle above the Weiltal . In a contract dated June 22, 1302, both lines decided that Altweilnau should stay with the Diezer side and that they should build a new castle for the Weilnau line. The Rödelnberg on the opposite side of the valley was chosen as the location. The actual castle complex , which had, among other things, a moat and a donjon , was soon joined by several houses, including some from Burgmannen , from which the town of Neuweilnau developed.

Heinrich von Weilnau only used the castle for a few years, which were marked by the general economic decline of the Diezer Count House. In 1326 the Weilnauer moved their headquarters to Birstein im Vogelsberg . In the same year, Siegfried von Runkel , Vogt of St. Severus Monastery in Gemünden in the Westerwald and brother-in-law of Heinrich von Weilnau, bought the castle as a pledge, which he transferred to the Nassau House, expanding in the region, in the form of Gerlach I. Sold by Nassau .

In the following years, a competition developed between the Nassau town of Neuweilnau and Altweilnau on the other side of the valley. A small cloth industry with fulling mills and dye works developed in Neuweilnau . In 1336, after just a few days, the town charter granted to Altweilnau was revoked again at the instigation of Gerlach of Nassau. In a treaty from 1405, the Nassau residents finally acquired the castle and the place as property and no longer just as a pledge.

The gatehouse was completed in 1566 as the last major extension of the castle.

In the period from 1498 to around 1520, the medieval castle was largely rebuilt and adapted to the requirements of an early modern residence and those of an administrative center for the associated office. From 1520 the complex served as the main residence of the Counts of Nassau-Weilburg , as the castle there was in a poor state of construction. Under Philipp von Nassau-Weilburg , further construction work took place until 1566, including the construction of the gatehouse. During this time the castle got its present appearance.

When Count Philipp moved his residence to Saarbrücken in 1574 , the castle and town began to decline. In the Thirty Years' War Neuweilnau was largely depopulated. After the end of the war, Magdalena von Nassau-Weilburg (1580–1658) was the last noble occupant of the palace. With the establishment of the Principality of Nassau-Usingen in 1688, the Neuweilnau office was also dissolved. In 1709 the keep was demolished. Subsequently, the complex largely fell into disrepair, although the foundation walls remained in good condition.

Forestry Office

For this reason, from 1816 the forestry department of the new Duchy of Nassau used the castle as an official residence. Duke Wilhelm declared the castle to be the seat of a ducal Nassau chief forester. The main house was used by the chief forester as a residential building, while the gatehouse housed the forestry office. The Oberforstamt was responsible for the forest in Neuweilnau, Altweilnau, Riedelbach and Finsternthal .

In 1823 the area of ​​responsibility of the chief forester was expanded to include the districts of Oberlauken , Niederlauken and Rod an der Weil . In 1852 Gemünden , Laubach , Hunoldstal , Brombach , Treisberg , Dorfweil , Merzhausen , Hausen and Wilhelmsdorf were added. This division is retained even after it was incorporated into Prussia in 1866. The next administrative reform did not take place until 1972.

In 1972 the Neuweilnau Forestry Office was responsible for the forests in all parts of Weilrod . The Rod an der Weil forestry office was dissolved. Responsibility for the forests in the community of Schmitten fell to the Königstein Forestry Office. In 1974 the forestry office was renamed "Forstamt Weilrod" and was also given responsibility for the forests of the community of Grävenwiesbach . The managed area now comprises 6700 hectares of forest.

In 1997 the forest district is enlarged again. Now the Schmitten forests are added. With the 2005 forest reform, the forest area increased to 19,000 hectares. The forests of Usingen , Neu-Anspach , Rosbach vor der Höhe , Friedberg , Butzbach , Wehrheim and Ober-Mörlen are new .

Todays use

The Weilrod forestry office is still located in the castle's premises today. From the original castle from the 14th century only a few remains of walls and foundations as well as a section of the moat have been preserved. In 2003 the castle was extensively renovated. The building now also serves as a branch of the registry office. The vaulted cellar can be used as an event room.

literature

  • Thomas Götz: Neuweilnau Castle; in the 2010 yearbook of the Hochtaunuskreis, pages 44–48, ISBN 978-3-7973-1165-8 .
  • Rudi H. and Martha Kaethner: The history of Neuweilnau Castle; in special issue 175 Years of Weilrod Forestry Office, 1991, pages 17-23.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 363.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Neuweilnau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Forstamt Weilrod district maps ( Memento from February 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 674 kB), Hessen-Forst