Alsbach Castle

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Alsbach Castle
Alsbach Castle from the south

Alsbach Castle from the south

Alternative name (s): Bickenbach Castle
Creation time : Around 1230, first mentioned in 1241
Castle type : Höhenburg , Spornburg , Trutzburg
Conservation status: Keep, enclosing walls
Standing position : Nobles
Place: Alsbach chicken
Geographical location 49 ° 44 '0 "  N , 8 ° 37' 37"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 44 '0 "  N , 8 ° 37' 37"  E
Height: 257  m above sea level NHN
Alsbach Castle (Hesse)
Alsbach Castle
Keep of Alsbach Castle
Alsbach Castle; View from the Melibokus
View from the donjon to the Rhine plain

The Alsbacher Schloss near Alsbach-Hähnlein on Bergstrasse , in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district , is more of a fortress and was previously called Burg Bickenbach .

Geographical location

It is located south of Darmstadt near Alsbach on the edge of the Odenwald on the Hessian Bergstrasse , north of Bensheim . The castle was on the Rhine plain -looking western tip of about 260 meters high, in front of this architectural epoch wooded today, below the mountain ridge Melibokus built. This means that it stands about 150 meters above the lowlands that extend from north to south to the west.

Its north-eastern neighbor along the mountain ranges of the Bergstrasse is the ruins of Jossa Castle east of Alsbach, the southern one is the castle ruins of Auerbach Castle above Auerbach (OT von Bensheim) and its south-western neighbor was the abandoned Upper Castle on a mountain spur above Zwingenberg .

history

Bickenbach Castle was built around 1235 by the Lords of Bickenbach on the 257 m high hill above the village of Alsbach, which was first mentioned in 773 in the Lorsch Codex . The predecessor was probably a moth near Alsbach, on the so-called hamlet hill . Since the 14th century, the castle was a Ganerbeburg in the joint possession of six owners. After one of the heirs, Hartmann (also Hamman ) Ulner von Dieburg , robbed merchants of the city of Frankfurt am Main , the city overran the castle in 1463 and burned it down. However, the facility was soon rebuilt.

From 1483 to 1502, one of the heirs , Erasmus Schenk von Erbach († 1503), managed to buy out almost all of the other heirs (including the Archbishop of Mainz and the Counts of Mansfeld) and to bring the castle and rule into his own possession to 5/6 , and from 1488 he called himself "Herr zu Erbach und Bickenbach".

When in the year 1504, the Landshut War of Succession , the so-called "Bavarian feud" broke out, was Rupert of the Rhine because of its Erbstreits with Duke Albrecht IV. Of Bavaria on April 23 by King Maximilian I with the outlawed occupied. Landgrave Wilhelm II of Hesse , entrusted by Maximilian with the execution of the eight, first took the Palatinate Castle Otzberg and then besieged the Alsbach Castle , since the taverns from Erbach were Palatinate vassals. The castle commandant Hans Gans von Otzberg did not let a storm come off and handed the keys of the castle to the landgrave on June 9, 1504. After the end of the War of Succession, Landgrave Wilhelm no longer gave the castle and the Bickenbach office . Wilhelm's son Philip the Magnanimous had the defense works repaired and reinforced. In his will he transferred the castle and the office of Bickenbach to his sons from his morganatic marriage with Margarete von der Saale , the Count of Diez . You seem to have had it in your hands as early as 1562. After the last of the Counts von Diez died in 1575, the property fell to Landgrave Georg I of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1577 .

In the course of the 17th century, but especially in the 18th century, the castle fell into disrepair, so that today the complex is only preserved as a ruin .

The main castle was laid out in a classic triangular shape. Parts of the outer curtain wall and a narrow kennel are also preserved. Most impressive is certainly the mighty - restored - keep , which is accessible from the defensive wall .

Keep

The keep is a 19.3 m high round tower with a diameter of 11 m. It was built free-standing within the defensive wall and now serves as a lookout tower . Access is initially via a straight stone staircase up to the defensive wall and from there via a wooden bridge to the entrance of the tower, which is 7.9 m high. In the room below this is the dungeon. In the tower a wooden spiral staircase leads, in the upper area a stone staircase to the viewing platform at a height of 16.9 m. Behind the exit of the stairs there is a small platform 17.9 m high, next to which there is an orientation board. From the tower you have a very good view of the Rhine plain and along the mountain road , with clear air also to the Taunus in the north and the Palatinate Forest in the west.

Historical and cultural development association Schloss Alsbach e. V.

Today, the facility is run by the Citizens' Association of Historic and Cultural Förderverein Schloss Alsbach e. V. , who has been managing the facility since 2000 on behalf of the State of Hesse. Numerous events are held to finance the maintenance of the castle. The association was founded on September 18, 1997 by the Alsbach heraldist and historian Dieter Krieger on the recommendation of the property management of the State of Hesse (state property management), the historical and cultural development association Schloss Alsbach . He has set himself the goal of promoting the castle ruins, maintaining, maintaining, beautifying and restoring them. Furthermore, the association aims to present the Hessian cultural property, Schloss Alsbach, to the visitors through cultural events and make it a popular and worth seeing excursion destination for the whole family. The association has been managing the castle independently since 2000.

Events

Alsbach Castle is known for its diverse events. The unique ambience between knights , jugglers , craftsmen and grocer's stands is particularly effective at the arts and crafts market on Whitsun, the largest market in the region . The events for children such as the children's knight festival and wine press festival are a highlight of the region. In 2005 a new group of knights was formed, which in the sense of the so-called medieval markets, cultivates the pseudo-medieval life as a modern custom. In addition to the replica of a historical storage area, a forge was built. Old handicrafts such as blacksmithing and carpentry, bakery and kitchen as well as the tailoring of contemporary garments are demonstrated at events.

Castle garden

Several herb gardens were set up in the entrance area and in the outer bailey. They are divided into a historical part with herbs from the garden of Hildegard von Bingen and the Capitular Emperor Charlemagne and a modern garden with modern herbs. There is also a rosarium with historical scented roses and a medieval grass bank, as well as a vineyard. Every year around 200 half-liter bottles of the castle wine "Barbakan" are bottled from the Regent vine .

literature

  • Thomas Steinmetz: Castles in the Odenwald . Verlag Ellen Schmid, Brensbach 1998, ISBN 3-931529-02-9 , p. 74.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 11.
  • Thomas Biller: Castles and Palaces in the Odenwald - A guide to history and architecture . 1st edition. Schnell und Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1711-2 , pp. 64–67
  • Dieter Krieger: Historical and Cultural Association for the Promotion of Castle Alsbach eV: Welcome to Castle Alsbach, the history of the castle . 3. Edition. Alsbach 2006/2017, 34 pages.
  • Horst Anacker: The Alsbach Castle and the hamlet hill . Alsbach 2000, 24 pages.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Bickenbach Hunting Lodge, on the other hand, was only built from 1720 southwest of Bickenbach .
  2. ↑ History on the website of the "HKF Schloss Alsbach eV"
  3. ↑ Information based on measurements carried out privately