Brandenstein Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brandenstein Castle
Brandenstein-002.JPG
Creation time : around 1240, mentioned 1278
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Place: Schluechtern-Elm
Geographical location 50 ° 21 '24 "  N , 9 ° 34' 16"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '24 "  N , 9 ° 34' 16"  E
Height: 325  m above sea level NHN
Brandenstein Castle (Hesse)
Brandenstein Castle
Gate to the main castle
East side of the Palas
South side of the Palas

Brandenstein Castle is a high medieval castle in the Hessian ridge near Schlüchtern-Elm in the Main-Kinzig district , Hesse .

location

The hilltop castle is at 325 meters above sea ​​level , four kilometers east of the city center of Schlüchtern and about 1200 meters east-southeast of Elm on a wooded mountain cone in the Bergwinkel region . The location offers a good view over the Kinzig valley . Today the mountain is mostly forested, the southern slope is occupied by an orchard meadow .

history

Ownership history

The castle was mentioned in 1278 in the oldest surviving document as the possession of Hermann von Brandenstein . In 1307 it went to the Counts of Rieneck-Rothenfels as a fiefdom of the Würzburg monastery, together with the property that would later become the Brandenstein Office , and in 1316 it came into the possession of Ulrich IV. Von Hanau . From 1424 to 1540 the castle was first in the possession of the Lords of Eberstein as a pledge, later also as a fief . After their extinction, the castle fell back to Hanau. In 1717 the castle together with the associated office of Hanau was pledged for a loan of 100,000  guilders to the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel and has since been administered as part of the Landgraviate. The pledge was used by Count Johann Reinhard III. , the last male member of the Hanau count family, in addition , the Hanau-Lichtenberger passive fiefs of the diocese of Strasbourg and the archbishopric of Mainz for his only daughter, Landgravine Charlotte Christine , married to Hereditary Prince Ludwig (VIII.) of Hesse-Darmstadt, even after his death , and to secure their heirs.

After the death of Count Johann Reinhard III. In 1736, Landgrave Friedrich von Hessen-Kassel inherited the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and with it Brandenstein Castle. The Brandenstein office was initially administered like a part of the Landgraviate, although due to the special circumstances in the family of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel, the County of Hanau-Münzenberg was treated as a secondary school for younger princes for over half a century . It was not until Landgrave Wilhelm IX. - initially regent in Hanau - also inherited the Landgraviate, the office and Brandenstein Castle were again assigned to the County of Hanau-Münzenberg, now practically a part of the state of Hessen-Kassel. In 1803 the Hesse-Kassel became the Electorate of Hesse raised but came in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 on the losing side standing, by annexing the Kingdom of Prussia as an independent state under. The castle now belonged to the Prussian state.

In 1895 it came back into the hands of a Brandensteiner: the Württemberg officer Gustav von Brandenstein bought the castle. In 1905 Alexander von Brandenstein took over the property. In 1909 he married the daughter of the legendary Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and was raised to the rank of Count (in primogeniture) by King Wilhelm II of Württemberg on the occasion of the wedding . Now he had the family name Brandenstein-Zeppelin. The castle is still owned by the family today. Today the castle is owned by Constantin von Brandenstein-Zeppelin , the younger brother of Albrecht Graf von Brandenstein-Zeppelin .

Building history

The castle was probably built after 1243 by a branch of the Lords of Steckelberg to secure their bailiwick area. After 1316 the castle was expanded as an official seat by Ulrich IV. Von Hanau . The castle was expanded in the 15th century. Because of the raids and robberies of Mangold II. Von Eberstein and his feud against the imperial city of Nuremberg , the castle was shot at and conquered by troops under the command of the Frankish district chief Count Georg II. Von Wertheim in 1522 on the orders of Emperor Charles V. After 1540, after it fell back to the Counts of Hanau , the castle was converted into a renaissance palace. During the Thirty Years War it was a refuge for the inhabitants of the surrounding villages.

Since 1872, the 144 m long crosses Brandenstein Tunnel of the railway line Flieden-Gemünden Castle Hill about 100 m in the area of the access road in front of the castle. In 1895/96 Gustav von Brandenstein renovated the castle he had just bought.

Museums

Bodhisattva in the Siebold Museum

A wooden equipment museum has been located in the former horse stable since 1970. Over 800 historical wooden objects - from hand-carved clothes pegs to flour sack knocking machines - have been brought together here. For some years now, the exhibition area has been increasingly expanded to include the generally accessible courtyard area.

On the upper floor, a collection on the life and work of the medical doctor and Japan researcher Philipp Franz von Siebold , great-great-grandfather of the current lord of the castle, can be viewed .

In the vicinity of the castle there is a forest exhibition with works of art made from natural materials and a wood and botanical nature trail.

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Brandenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joseph Ritter von Aschbach: History of the Counts of Wertheim from the earliest times to their extinction in the male line in 1556. Andreaeische Buchhandlung, Frankfurt / Main, 1843, pp. 294–295 & pp. 320–322