Episcopal Castle (Dirmstein)

Episcopal Castle Dirmstein
View from the southeast: Hofgut with the remains of the Episcopal Castle (front in the middle the round theft tower , right the office building )
Data
place	Dirmstein
Client	Diocese of Worms
Architectural style	Renaissance, late baroque
Construction year	before 1414
demolition	gradually from the 18th century with the exception of a few remains
Coordinates	49 ° 33 '49.2 "  N , 8 ° 14' 48.9"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 33 '49.2 "  N , 8 ° 14' 48.9"  E

The Episcopal Palace in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Dirmstein was the summer residence of the prince-bishops of Worms and the seat of an official cellar of the Worms bishopric . Today, apart from the office building of the winery, there are only a few original remains of the castle that are integrated into a farm and are under monument protection .

Geographical location

The former castle property is located near the eastern outskirts of the Eckbach in Niederdorf . This was from 1419 to 1705 together with the upper village under both electoral and episcopal rule ( condominium ). Since the area is fenced off private property, a tour of the facility is only possible from the outside.

investment

overview

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  Office building (right), farm building, theft tower, from the east

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  Office building from the inner courtyard, on the left the stump of the stair tower

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  Stump of the stair tower that belonged to the abandoned main house

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  Late Gothic entrance to the stump of the stair tower

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  Quarry stone wall in the north

As moated castle designed palace complex had a rectangular blank; the surrounding moat , fed by the Eckbach, was laid out according to the cardinal points. In the east, where Gerolsheimer Strasse now runs, a bridge access led over the ditch. There, an additional wall made of quarry stone secured the property, also in the north, where it is partially preserved to this day. The castle pond, which the castle garden surrounded, expanded to the south.

Inner courtyard and corner towers

The castle and the farm buildings were arranged in the middle of the area at right angles around an inner courtyard. The corners of the development were marked by four towers, the names of which have been passed down: Stumber Tower, Powder Tower and Blue Hat have disappeared, the round theft tower (so called after the later built prison) remained. It shows mouth and keyhole notches from the late Middle Ages ; a grooved rectangular window on the upper floor that was added later shows the year 1598. In the 18th century the tower had a domed dome; this was later replaced by today's conical tent roof.

North side

Two rectangular palace buildings stood at right angles on the north and east sides of the inner courtyard. The older one in the north was demolished soon after privatization in the early 19th century. Only the barrel vault of the cellar and the stump of the stair tower remained. A relief with the coat of arms of Bishop Heinrich was once embedded in its late Gothic pointed arch gate; it is in the castle museum of Berchtesgaden , where it got through the art trade.

East Side

Relief of the coat of arms of Bishop Philip I of Rodenstein on the eastern outside of the office building

The two-storey younger castle building on the east side, which is still the only one today , was converted into the office building of the winery in the first half of the 18th century and shows late baroque elements from this period . However, there are also much older details, especially on the eastern outer wall of the upper floor a sandstone relief with the coat of arms of Bishop Philip I (term of office 1595–1604) under the Latin inscription :

"PHILIPPUS DEI
GRATIA ELECTUS ET
CONFIRMATUS EPISCOPUS
WORMATIENSIS"

Translated into German this means:

"Philip, by God's
grace chosen and
confirmed Bishop
of Worms"

Fragments of rich wall paintings from the Renaissance period have been found on the east facade and inside . A reference to Bishop Heinrich IV (term of office 1523–1552) is carved into a sandstone fall from the time of the Peasants' War (1525) :

"HENRICH VGG COADIUTOR ERWELTER AND CONFIRMED ON WORMBS AND UTRECHT PROBST AND HER TO ELWANGEN PALATINATE NEAR RIEN AND HERZOG IN BEIERN"

Translated into today's German, this means:

"Heinrich, by the grace of God chosen and confirmed coadjutor of Worms and Utrecht, provost and lord of Ellwangen, count palatine of the Rhine and duke in Bavaria"

South and west side

The south side of the inner courtyard is formed by farm buildings, most of which belong to the end of the 18th century. However, a renaissance portal inside indicates that an older castle wing once stood here as well. The simple residential building, which today closes the inner courtyard to the west , was built in the early 1920s.

Building history

The complex is the oldest, at least partially still preserved, Dirmstein Castle. Dirmstein's first church was located north of the castle grounds. It was built in the Romanesque period well before 1044 and was consecrated to the patron saint of the Worms diocese, St. Peter . Therefore it is assumed that it goes back to the initiative of a Worms bishop; possibly the episcopal founder was Burchard I († 1025). In 1809, after around 800 years, the Peterskirche was demolished due to its dilapidation. One of its two bells, saved from the French revolutionary troops in 1795 and later cast three times, still hangs in the tower of the local Laurentius Church today .

A predecessor building, referred to only as a “house”, is documented from 1240, the actual “castle” for the first time on August 11, 1414. In the Peasants' War in 1525 it was razed by local farmers. Bishop Heinrich IV had it repaired immediately. Around 1600, Bishop Philip I carried out further expansion measures.

In the next 200 years the castle was used by the diocese as an agricultural estate ; it deteriorated more and more. Between 1732 and 1743 three of the four corner towers were completely or partially demolished due to disrepair. During this phase a prison was built into the fourth tower. The tower in the south-west corner finally fell victim to a fire in 1885 that had struck the farm buildings; only the southeast tower has been preserved to this day.

When, towards the end of the 18th century, the French Revolution spread to the parts of the Electoral Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine , the estate was expropriated and sold. It was bought by Johann Römer from Dirmstein on October 7, 1803 for 19,300 francs . Since then, the facility has been privately owned. Extensive renovation work was carried out at the beginning of the 21st century.

literature

• Georg Peter Karn, Ute-Konstanze Rasp: Castles and palaces in Dirmstein - Prince-Bishop-Worms Castle . In: Michael Martin (Ed.): Dirmstein. Nobility, peasants and citizens . Chronicle of the Dirmstein community (=  Foundation for the Promotion of Palatinate Historical Research ). tape 6 . Self-published by the foundation, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 2005, ISBN 3-9808304-6-2 , p. 443 ff .
• Georg Peter Karn, Ulrike Weber (arrangement): Bad Dürkheim district. City of Grünstadt, Union communities Freinsheim, Grünstadt-Land and Hettenleidelheim (=  cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 13.2 ). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2006, ISBN 3-88462-215-3 .

Web links

• Website for the Episcopal Castle Dirmstein

References and comments

1. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Bad Dürkheim district. Mainz 2020, p. 27 (PDF; 5.1 MB).
2. ↑ The names Oberdorf and Niederdorf for the two settlement centers of the municipality are derived from the location above and below at the Eckbach , which flows through Dirmstein from west to east.