Arnsberg Castle (Altmühltal)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arnsberg Castle
The castle ruins above the village and the Altmühl

The castle ruins above the village and the Altmühl

Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Ruin (main castle) ,
preserved or essential parts preserved (outer castle)
Standing position : Noble Free
Place: Arnsberg
Geographical location 48 ° 55 '39 "  N , 11 ° 22' 45.4"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 55 '39 "  N , 11 ° 22' 45.4"  E
Height: 506.8  m above sea level NHN
Arnsberg Castle (Bavaria)
Arnsberg Castle

The Arnsberg Castle is a ruined castle east above the village Arnsberg in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria .

Geographical location

The ruin of the hilltop castle is at a mighty 506.8  m above sea level. NHN high rock on the edge of the valley, an impressive dolomite massif in the Altmühltal , and about 120 meters above the village. It is located in the middle of the Altmühltal Nature Park . Not far from the castle in the valley, the Schambach valley flows into the Altmühl .

history

Since the 12th century Arnsberg was owned by the noble free von Erlingshofen, who named themselves after the place from then on. 1087 Gozwin von Arnsberg is named as a witness. The family moved to Heideck in the 13th century and changed their family name again. In 1278 Arnsberg Castle was already in the possession of a Gottfried von Heideck , but the castle was called the Eichstätter Fief . The family evidently submitted to the Eichstätt monastery early on .

Before 1305, Gottfried IV sold the rule to Duke Otto III. from Lower Bavaria. In 1328 the dukes of Bavaria pledged the castle for the first time. One of the pawns was the minstrel Hadamar III around 1350. from Laaber. From 1365 the Frauenhofer kept the pledge. This pledge ended around 1416 with a dispute, the Frauenhofer were subsequently ostracized after being accused of, among other things, highway robbery. Duke Ludwig the Bearded had to forcibly take the castle away from the " robber barons ".

In 1473 and 1475, the Eichstätt bishopric bought back its old castle from Duke Albrecht, which was then pledged to Sibylla von Heideck. The complex then remained in the possession of Eichstätter until the secularization and occasionally also served as a hunting and summer residence for the bishops. In 1663 the Bergveste was restored, in 1763 parts had to be demolished.

As a result, the buildings began to fall into disrepair, as only the utility buildings were used. This decay accelerated after the secularization, so that in the middle of the 19th century further extensive demolitions were arranged for security reasons. The abandoned castle was a welcome quarry for the residents of the place and the surrounding area, so that far more material was removed from the masonry than was actually necessary. 1868 complained Kugler, author of the book "The Altmühlalp" ( Ingolstadt ) the loss of "the area ornament" whose chapel of St. George was already collapsed 1798th Further losses of substance occurred through a few rock falls, around 1926 and 1931.

description

The well-preserved outer bailey is used as a hotel; remnants of the wall and the stump of the keep have been preserved from the main castle . The ruin of the main castle is freely accessible.

The outer bailey extends onto the high plateau and is secured by an angled neck ditch . In the outer walls of the building, the remains of the high medieval curtain wall of the outer bailey seem to be stuck. In front of it is a narrow kennel , the masonry of which is still partially preserved as the lining wall of the outer bailey terrace.

The western part of the outer bailey (former castle chapel ) lies on a ledge of the castle rock, which slopes steeply into the valley. The old gate is located on the south-western edge and was placed in a recess of the wall for fortification (defense) reasons. The two-bay bridge dates from the baroque period . The eastern entrance to the castle is relatively modern; it provided access to the two farms that were operated in the outer bailey until the 20th century.

The remains of the inner castle (13th century) are even more spectacularly situated on an isolated rocky reef that jumps out to the northwest. The oval curtain wall made of carefully executed limestone masonry is still up to four meters high, but the north-eastern part was lost in a rock fall.

The preserved stump of the keep rises on the south-east corner directly above the curtain wall near the former gate (south-east). The floor plan of the tower is an irregular pentagon that merges into a round shape after about seven meters. The only partially preserved rotunda protrudes slightly on corbels , the northwest side is completely missing. Overall, the tower is still around ten meters high and consists of dolomite blocks (max. 0.60 × 1.40 meters), the stones on the upper floor are a bit more manageable. The inner shell is also made of ashlar, the basement is buried.

  • Overall system

  • Ditch and kennel of the outer bailey

  • The outer bailey used as a hotel with the main gate

  • The high medieval keep

  • The original entrance to the castle (photo from 1982)

literature

  • Karl Zecherle (editor): Castles and palaces . Eichstätt district in the Altmühltal nature park. Ed .: District of Eichstätt. 2nd unchanged edition. Hercynia-Verlag, Kipfenberg 1987, DNB  944206697 , p. 32-33 .
  • The art monuments of Bavaria, Middle Franconia administrative region, II, Eichstätt district office . Munich 1928, (Reprint Munich, Vienna, 1982, ISBN 3-486-50505-X )

Web links

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