Old Castle (Heilbad Heiligenstadt)
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The old castle is a forest and field corridor near Heilbad Heiligenstadt in the Eichsfeld district in northwest Thuringia .
location
The landscape is located between Heiligenstadt and Uder south of state road 3080 in the Leinetal and north of the limestone layer of the Elisabethhöhe . The western boundary forms the city limits of Heiligenstadt with the remains of the old Landwehr. The Elisabethgraben, a small tributary to the left of the Leine, rises above the old castle and forms a small valley towards the eastern land border. The corridor district also includes the subdivisions “Above the Old Castle” and “Under the Old Castle”.
geology
The red sandstone plateau, which flattens out to the north, slopes down to the Leinetal with a steeper layer and forms numerous rock structures of the Solling formation made of middle red sandstone . The most striking is the rock formation at the so-called dwarf cave and the Teufelskanzel . The cave is accessed via a narrow entrance, which then narrows and ends in a small chamber. There are different interpretations about the origin of the small cave, either it is a gap created by landslides or by mining. An information board provides information about the geology and legends.
The plateau has a height between 270 and 300 meters, compared to the Leinetal with a height of about 240 meters and consists of Upper Buntsandstein . On the western boundary of the corridor there is a small plaster deposit in the red and below the layer of the lower corrugated limestone of the Elisabethhöhe, parts of the limestone limestone have slipped.
nature
Today the area is predominantly forested, in earlier times it was used for agriculture, especially on the flatter sections. There is a parking lot at the L 3080, from which you can explore the area via several hiking trails. A path leads from the wayside shrine up to the dwarf cave. An old summer linden tree by the chapel, planted in the 17th century, has been declared a natural monument.
history
The Old Castle was first mentioned in writing in 1241, when the Catherine's Monastery in Eisenach sold its properties in Geisleden and the Old Castle ( montem dictum Altenborg ) to the Vizedom Heidenreich von Hanstein on the Rusteberg . His ancestor Helwig had already sold these goods to the monastery in Eisenach around 1200. The von Hanstein family then owned the old castle for several centuries. In 1303 a castrum antiquum was written in a document and in 1417 a chapel called “St. Peter and Paul ”reported with their own vicarie, which was provided by the collegiate monastery St. Martin in Heiligenstadt from the end of the 15th century. This included a fiefdom with lands, meadows and trees. In 1789 the chapel was incorporated into the parish of Rengelrode. Until the 18th / 19th In the 19th century, the chapel and the feudal estate are mentioned in documents, with disputes between the Lords of Hanstein, the parish of Rengelrode and Heiligenstadt. When and how the old castle came into the possession of the city of Heiligenstadt is not exactly known. The medieval Landwehr of Heiligenstadt already includes the old castle in the city area.
In 1723 a new chapel was built, today's Friedens- or Alte Burg-Kapelle. In the 18th century, hermits lived there, who were subordinate to the Martinsstift in Heiligenstadt. In the 19th century, several quarries were built with the city's permission.
From the 20th century, various buildings were erected on the old castle, including an excursion restaurant of the same name on the old trunk road. In 1937 a ban school “ Herbert-Haselwander-Heim ” was opened for the young people, today's “Haus auf der Bleibe”. In 1943 a Reich training camp for the Hitler Youth was finally opened on the western parcel boundary . Young people from other countries were also prepared there for service in the SS . Today there is an allotment garden at this point. In the 1980s there was a vacation property owned by VEB Nortak Tabakfabriken Nordhausen at the Alte Burg . There is also a small farm and buildings for the youth fire brigade.
Legends of the old castle and the dwarf cave
Several legends deal with this place and its peculiarities:
- The origin of Heiligenstadt: In a legend, a castle at this location is mentioned in connection with the discovery of the corpses of Saints Aureus and Justinus and the foundation of Heiligenstadt by the Frankish King Dagobert . Proven historical backgrounds contradict this legend.
- How the “Old Castle” came about: A king wanted to build a castle at this location, but couldn't find any people who could help him with the construction. For this he met a dwarf king who promised to help him. When the king came back the next day, there was a chapel there. When he met the dwarf again, he said that neither the king nor his servants should visit this place for a week. The only condition would be that the dwarfs are allowed to make themselves useful in the kitchen and in the basement at night. However, nobody is allowed to watch the dwarves at work, otherwise everything that has been created would vanish again. The king agreed to the conditions of the dwarves and after a week there was a castle next to the chapel with everything a royal court needed.
- The Inquisitive Maid: After many years, a maid was hired, but she was very curious. Since she did not know the reasons for the strange things going on in the castle, one day she did something that was forbidden. She strolled through the area and found the entrance to a small cave and another maid, to whom she told this, cried in shock: "The dwarf cave". Then she wanted to surprise the dwarves with their work and set up small bowls of schnapps there, because dwarves are not allowed to drink schnapps. After they came into contact with the schnapps, they stumbled around, fell over and lay there. The curious maid watched everything. After that the kitchen was empty and the dwarfs never came back. When the king noticed that the dwarves were no longer doing their work, he moved away from the castle and it fell into disrepair. This place is still called the Old Castle today.
- The boy in the dwarf cave
Assumed castle location
There is strong doubt whether a castle existed at this point; there is no direct written mention of a castle. Nothing can be proven archaeologically today either, although the quarries have greatly affected the surface structure of the landscape. At the time of the earliest first mention of a former castle (1303 antiquum castrum). Place names with the ending in –burg do not always have to indicate a castle , but can also be derived from mountain, the first mention also refers to a mountain (montem dictum Altenburg). The name Alte Burg may also refer to the early medieval hill fort on the Elisabethhöhe, which is only a short distance away .
literature
- Anton Exactly: The old castle near Heiligenstadt. In: Our Eichsfeld. 6 (1911), pp. 106-116
- Levin von Wintzingeroda-Knorr : The desert areas of the Eichsfeld: Directory of the desert areas, prehistoric ramparts, mines, courts of justice and waiting areas within the districts of Duderstadt, Heiligenstadt, Mühlhausen and Worbis. Göttingen (O. Hendel) 1903, pp. 9-12
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tobias Rohner: The microtoponyms of the district of Heiligenstadt. FSU Jena 2006, pp. 11-12
- ↑ Helmut Heiland, Gwen Other: The Eichsfeld in the desert. The Solling sequence - an example from the Red Sandstone Age. In: Eichsfelder Heimatzeitschrift 62nd volume 2018, pages 212–214
- ^ Hermann Pröscholdt, O. Zeise: Geological map of Prussia and neighboring states. Sheet Heiligenstadt. Royal Geological State Institute and Bergakademie Berlin 1894/1900
- ↑ Levin von Wintzingeroda-Knorr : Die Wüstungen des Eichsfeldes: Directory of the desert areas, prehistoric ramparts, mines, courts of law and waiting areas within the districts of Duderstadt, Heiligenstadt, Mühlhausen and Worbis. Göttingen (O. Hendel) 1903, page 10
- ↑ Jürgen Backhaus: Heimatforscher: There was a Nazi training camp near Heiligenstadt. in: Thüringische Landeszeitung (Eichsfeld) from August 14, 2012 [1]
- ↑ Rudolf Linge: The cock on the church tower - The most beautiful sagas, legends and stories from the Eichsfeld. Publishing house St. Benno Leipzig 1984
- ↑ Jürgen Udolph: Burg in Flurnamen, accessed on June 27, 2019
- ↑ Johannes Müller: The ramparts of the Eichsfeldes. Verlag JABarth Leipzig 1940, special print from Mannus , magazine for German prehistory, vol. 32, issue 1/2
Coordinates: 51 ° 21 '57.9 " N , 10 ° 6' 6.8" E