Altweilnau Castle

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Altweilnau Castle
The keep of the Altweilnau castle ruins

The keep of the Altweilnau castle ruins

Alternative name (s): Alt-Weilnau
Creation time : around 1200, first mentioned in 1208
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Keep
Place: Weilrod - Altweilnau
Geographical location 50 ° 18 '55.7 "  N , 8 ° 25' 12.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 18 '55.7 "  N , 8 ° 25' 12.6"  E
Height: 360  m above sea level NHN
Altweilnau Castle (Hesse)
Altweilnau Castle

The Altweilnau Castle , also Alt-Weilnau , is the ruin of a hilltop castle above the Weiltal 360  m above sea level. NN in the district Altweilnau of the community Weilrod in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hesse .

history

Weilnau Castle was built around 1200 by the Counts of Diez and was first mentioned in documents under the name Wilnawe in 1208. Here have already passed at this time is also reported from the castle, has what dendrochronological investigations of wood in the dungeon inside show.

In 1336 Altweilnau received city rights for nine days and was of central importance. In this course walls and a gate tower were built as fortifications. A chapel of St. Catherine was mentioned in 1352, and a new castle chapel was built in 1486 . The castle was inhabited until 1563 and was abandoned from 1608. Due to the Thirty Years War , the castle deteriorated. Stones from the system were later installed in the Altweilnau houses. A strong, round keep, parts of the curtain wall and a gate tower with a hipped roof are still well-preserved today .

description

On the small rocky outcrop, a regular triangular spur investment rises with a high round keep . The vaulted cellar with access to the outside is now filled in. In the northeast, an approximately 14-meter-wide neck ditch had been blasted out of the rock; this is probably where the main entrance was also located. The tower was open, while probably in the southeast one Palas to the curtain wall snuggling.

View of town and Altweilnau castle ruins

The keep has an outer diameter of 8.7 m and a height of 17.6 m. Its high entrance is 7.2 m high and can be reached via a metal spiral staircase attached to the outside of the tower. The inside diameter is 2.7 m here. There is a fear hole in the floor, including the former dungeon. A narrow stone staircase leads inside the outer wall to the next higher level and from there a cast iron spiral staircase leads to the 16.6 m high viewing platform . This offers a panoramic view of the Weiltal , the town of Altweilnau, Nassau Castle Neuweilnau and, to the south-southeast, of the Pferdskopf with its observation tower.

Remnants of the Altweilnau city ​​wall can probably be traced back to the medieval fortification resulting from the granting of city rights. According to old documents, the complex had seven towers.

One of these towers is probably the square gate tower with its steep hipped roof, built in 1340 and still well preserved today. It is divided into three floors and, among other things, had the meaning of a kind of time announcement in earlier times . The bell was rung for day, night and noon. Today it is in private use and under the roof a pair of kestrels watch over the residents of Altweilnau.

During restoration work from 1980 to 1986, the original wall thickness of 2.65 m was restored. In a protocol dated August 25, 1980, it says: “The construction of the new wall consists of exposed masonry, largely using existing stone material. It is pegged to the rock both vertically and laterally using reinforcing steel with a diameter of 16 mm. In the lower area, the space is filled with concrete up to the remaining solid remains of the old wall, whereby vertical reinforcement mats are inserted. "

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 .
  • Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments - Dehio - Hessen II: Darmstadt district, Cremer Folkhard (arrangement), Deutscher Kunstverlag, edition 1/2008

Web links

Commons : Burg Altweilnau  - collection of images

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d Height information according to measurements carried out privately
  2. ↑ see information board at the castle entrance