Eselsberg Castle

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Eselsberg Castle
Reconstruction attempt by Konrad Albert Koch on the basis of wall, wall and moat relics (1925)

Reconstruction attempt by Konrad Albert Koch on the basis of wall, wall and moat relics (1925)

Alternative name (s): Donkey castle; Veste Eselsberg
Creation time : before 1188
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Castle stable with neck ditch; various wall relics
Standing position : Noble Free and Count
Place: Vaihingen an der Enz
Geographical location 48 ° 58 '29.3 "  N , 8 ° 57' 34.2"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 58 '29.3 "  N , 8 ° 57' 34.2"  E
Height: 392.4  m above sea level NN
Eselsberg from the southeast
Floor plan of the castle stable before it was leveled in 1925
Marked out castle area (blue) with wedge-shaped incisions at the access routes and white cut-out signature for the highest point

Eselsberg Castle , now also called Eselsburg , above Ensingen in the Ludwigsburg district in Baden-Württemberg was still a Staufergut in 1188 , was then in the hands of the Swabian noble free von Eselsberg , became the residence of the Counts of Vaihingen in the 14th century and then came to the house Württemberg . Only wall relics and a ditch can be found on the Burgstall , which was leveled in 1925 ; since then there has been an observation tower here.

geography

Environment of the castle stables

The Postal the dialed Spur castle lies on the Eselsberg mentioned spur a 392-meter-high Stromberg spur north of the municipality Ensingen that since the regional reorganization of the city of Vaihingen belongs. In the Mettertal to the north and east of the castle are the communities of Gündelbach and Horrheim , which also belong to Vaihingen . The Baiselsberg behind Horrheim is the highest mountain on the Stromberg. Kaltenstein Castle above the old town of Vaihingen is four kilometers south of the Burgstall.

The sun-exposed slopes of Eselsberg were land-cleared for intensive viticulture. The castle was separated from the ridge stretching to the west by a wide moat, which is now spanned by a wooden bridge. In the middle of the castle stables, the Ensingen group of the Swabian Alb Association built an 18-meter-high wooden observation tower in 1925 . Remains of an earlier fortification, called "Old Castle", can be found northwest of the castle stables. The Burghof landfill operated by the district's own waste disposal company Ludwigsburg (AVL) extends below this .

Two very different structures

Before the Swabian Alb Association redesigned the Burgstall as an excursion destination in 1925, the passionate castle researcher Konrad Albert Koch made a floor plan of the core castle as part of an inventory (see sketch). In addition to wall and moat relics, he found wall foundations and remains of the keep . Its floor plan had an edge length of around seven meters and a wall thickness of 2.5 meters on the ground floor. With its rare oval structure, the Burgstall is similar to Bromberg Castle in Kirbachtal and measures around 95 by 55 meters without external ramparts.

On the other hand, the area of ​​the "Burgrain", which was handed down in the Urflurkarte from 1832 and which was currently marked with 50 boundary stones from the area, is even larger. A rectangle around its irregular floor plan would be over 670 meters long and almost 530 meters wide. The area has wedge-shaped incisions on the access roads, with the lower-lying part northeast of the path along the 350-meter contour line appearing as if it had been added later. Since the southern borderline of the area coincides with wall relics that can still be found, it can be assumed that an extensive apron fortification was subsequently created around the core castle, which would have provided space for a small medieval town. In the absence of documents or plans, however, it remains unclear who initiated the fortification of the entire mountain spur, when and with what aim - and perhaps never completed it.

More recently, speculations that the fortification relics in the wider area around the main castle must be remnants of a Hallstatt hilltop castle, however, already invalidated the inspection of Karl Eduard Paulus , who described the relics in the Oberamt description of 1856 as medieval components of the Classified the castle complex and also described its connection with Ensingen. In 2001, the prehistoric scientist Rüdiger Krause assessed the prehistoric thesis as more than skeptical , which has not been supported by any archaeological evidence.

history

Lords of Eselsberg

The "castrum (dt .: Burg) Esilsperch", which is often called Eselsburg today , was first mentioned in a document on April 23, 1188 in a marriage contract between Emperor Frederick I and King Alfonso VIII of Castile in Seligenstadt as Staufer property. In this contract the marriage of Friedrich's son Konrad with Alfons daughter Berengaria was mentioned. The castle and 29 other Hohenstaufen goods were part of the bride's morning gift. However, this marriage was never put into practice.

After that the castle came to a family of noble freemen who were not loyal to the Hohenstaufen and named themselves for the first time after the castle "von Eselsberg". In 1194 the castle was apparently in the hands of the brothers Werner and Heinrich von "Eselesberc", who behind Bertold von Kräheneck as witnesses to a document from King Heinrich VI. were listed. According to Werner Palmbach, the Eselsbergers are said to have called themselves "von Owenbühl" after the Auenbühl near Rechentshofen. Even more than the conspicuous proximity of the Eselsbergers and Krähenecker, the consistent use of the guiding name Belrein by the von Kräheneck gentlemen suggests that the Eselsbergers are a Kräheneck sideline, which in the next generation also used the name Belrein again .

Lookout tower from 1925 in the middle of the castle stables
Bridge over the wide neck ditch
Neck ditch seen from the bridge

It is not known from which of the brothers Werner and Heinrich, mentioned in 1194 as a witness of the Counts of Vaihingen and von Calw, first mentioned lord of the castle Belrein von Eselsberg, descends in 1232 . He was married to Agnes von Bilversheim, presumably a sister of Bamberg's Bishop Heinrich I von Bilversheim , and founded the Rechentshofen Monastery with her in 1241 . They had two daughters known by name, Berchtrade and Agnes, but no male successor.

New lords of the castle

Belrein von Eselsberg is said to have died around 1253. Since he had no successor and daughter Berchtrade as nun or abbess in Rechentshofen no inheritance claims, the inheritance of Belrein with Eselsberg Castle and the protective bailiwick of Rechentshofen monastery fell to Count Konrad II of Vaihingen, who was married to daughter Agnes . This document was first documented on November 11, 1271 at Eselsberg Castle and left his heirs with “a heavy burden of debt”. After the castle and town of Vaihingen were sold , his successors used Eselsberg Castle as their headquarters in the 14th century, apparently expanding it and replacing Vaihingen with the urban expansion of Horrheim and Hohenhaslachs .

Around 1353, Count Konrad V von Vaihingen had to sell Eselsberg Castle and the villages of Ensingen and Glattbach to his nephew, Count Otto II von Hohenberg-Nagold , upon revocation. In 1363, however, he was forced to sell his family to the Württemberg people.

While Konrad V was still alive, his childless son Heinrich , the last Count of Vaihingen, bequeathed his future inheritance to Count Eberhard of Württemberg in a will in 1356 . Heinrich's sister entitled to inherit, Countess " Mechthild von Zollern-Eselsberg ", had to be compensated after Heinrich's death († 1364). Despite the sealed sale, it still had Eselsberg Castle and the surrounding communities. Apparently she had secured their lifelong usufruct , or the Wuerttembergians did not raise the agreed settlement sum of 7,500 pounds of Heller in these warlike times ( town and slugger war ) until 1396. The House of Württemberg was only given full access after the death of Mechthild's daughter Anna, who until 1396 still had a governor on Eselsberg: Fürderer III. von Wunnenstein , brother of the notorious "Gleaming Wolf", sealed in this function in 1385, 1390 and 1393. That the Vaihinger counts held on to the castle, also known as the "Veste Eselsberg", for much longer than their ancestral seat and that the one with Mechthild († 1383 ) married Count Friedrich von Zollern-Schalksburg († 1377) called "Herr zu Eselsberg", suggests a high quality location and special appreciation of the castle.

For the Counts of Württemberg , the castle on the western edge of their territory was of strategic importance in the beginning. Especially in times when they secured their border against the Rheinpfalzgrafen with the Landgraben . In this respect, the extensive fortification of the mountain spur could go back to the Württemberg people. At the latest with the expulsion of Duke Ulrich in 1519, it lost its military relevance, as the Austrian interim government acted in concert with the Electoral Palatinate.

Double finish

It is not yet certain when the castle, which was described as a greatly reduced ruin in the 18th century, was destroyed or abandoned. Possibly it was destroyed like the monastery Rechentshofen and various castles in the Peasants' War by the insurgent "Zabergäuer Haufen" around Hans Menckler in 1525 and was not rebuilt afterwards. When Paul wrote the description of the Oberamt Vaihingen in 1856 , much more of the castle and its ramparts could be seen than today. Apparently also walls that - like the Vaihinger Castle - would have extended to Ensingen. However, there is nothing left of it because of the vineyard consolidation. Apart from wall relicts and neck ditch, what was also lost in the inventory of the core castle made by Koch in 1925 : a part of the keep and the remains of the wall, which he used for his attempt at drawing reconstruction (see sketch). Then the observation tower was built. Today the leveled Burgstall is not only dominated by the tower on the base of the keep, but also by outbuildings such as a refuge, a barbecue area and a beer garden. It is open on Sundays and public holidays.

swell

  • Baden-Württemberg State Archive, Stuttgart Main State Archive LABW online
  • Württembergisches Urkundenbuch WUB online
  • Portal "Discover regional studies online" Leo-BW

literature

  • Lothar Behr, Otto-Heinrich Elias, Manfred Scheck, Ernst Eberhard Schmidt (eds.): History of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz.Ipa, Vaihingen 2001.
  • Thomas Faltin: The Cistercian convent Rechentshofen and its position towards spiritual and secular violence. In: Journal of Württemberg State History. (ZWLG) 55 (1996), pp. 27-64.
  • Konrad Albert Koch : Eselsberg Castle near Ensingen, Vaihingen district. In: Leaves of the Swabian Alb Association. Vol. 37 (1925), col. 69-71.
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages - floor plan lexicon . Bechtermünz, Würzburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-219-4 .
  • Karl Eduard Paulus : Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen . Issued by the Royal Bureau of Statistics and Topography. Hallberger, Stuttgart 1856. Wikisource B4 , and Wikisource B9

Remarks

  1. ^ Konrad Albert Koch : Eselsberg Castle near Ensingen, Vaihingen district. In: Leaves of the Swabian Alb Association. Vol. 37 (1925), col. 69-71.
  2. ↑ See Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages - floor plan lexicon. Bechtermünz, Würzburg 1996, p. 178.
  3. ^ Karl Eduard Paulus: Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen . [...] Hallberger, Stuttgart 1856, pp. 125ff. Wikisource B4
  4. ^ Rüdiger Krause: Early settlers around Enz and Stromberg. On the prehistory and early history of the Vaihinger area. In: Lothar Behr u. a .: History of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz.Ipa, Vaihingen 2001, p. 56.
  5. ^ Peter Koblank: Treaty of Seligenstadt 1188 on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved on April 12, 2017. In the WUB wrongly castrum Elisporch , in the MGH D F1 correct castrum Esilsperch .
  6. ↑ Source: WUB Volume II., No. 487, p. 301 WUB online
  7. ↑ Werner Palmbach: The Rechentshofen Monastery. In: Weinort Hohenhaslach - history and stories from 1200 years of village life. City of Sachsenheim (ed.), Sachsenheim 2000.
  8. ↑ Descent possibly from Hugo, comes de Creginecka (Kräheneck), 1037, see WUB Volume I., No. 222, pp. 263-265 WUB online , safer from Belremus de Creinhegge (Belrein von Kräheneck ), 1148, since his gender is currently Consistent with the rare lead name Belrein for several generations; see WUB Volume II, No. 327, pp. 43-45 WUB online . In addition, according to Adelbert von Keller: Elblin von Eselsberg , Tübingen 1856, p. 8, a relationship with the lords of Lomersheim can be proven by documents in Mones Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 4, pp. 341, 434.
  9. ↑ WUB Volume III, No. 809, p. 304 WUB online
  10. ^ Karl Eduard Paulus : Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen . Issued by the Royal Bureau of Statistics and Topography. Hallberger, Stuttgart 1856. Wikisource .
  11. ↑ WUB Volume VII, No. 2236, pp. 158-159 WUB online
  12. ^ Gerhard Fritz: Noble gentlemen. The Counts of Vaihingen, their village and their city from the 11th to the 14th century. In: Lothar Behr u. a. (Ed.): History of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz.Ipa, Vaihingen 2001, p. 86.
  13. ↑ According to the inspection of Karl Eduard Paulus: Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen . [...] Hallberger, Stuttgart 1856, pp. 125ff. Wikisource B4
  14. ↑ Otto was the son of Burkhard VIII von Hohenberg , Count zu Nagold in Magenheim († before 1342), who had married Konrad's sister Agnes, daughter of Konrad IV von Vaihingen and Elisabeth von Schlüsselberg ; Source: LABW, Wertheim State Archives, G-Rep. 100 LABW online
  15. ↑ See Stammliste Schwäbische Hohenzollern .
  16. ↑ "Mechthild von Vaihingen, Count Friedrichs von Zollern married landlady, sells to Count Eberhard II., Ulrich IV. And Ulrich their father's claims to the legacy of their brother Count Heinrich for 7,500 pounds Heller." Eselsberg Castle is explicitly included. Source: LABW, HStA Stuttgart, A 602 No. 14113 LABW online .
  17. ↑ Lothar Behr et al. a .: History of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz. Ipa, Vaihingen 2001, p. 102ff.
  18. ↑ Johann Ulrich Steinhofer: Honor of the Duchy Wirtenberg in its Serene Regents - or New Wirtenberg Chronicle Second Part. Frank, Tübingen 1746, p. 310f. Google digitized version
  19. ^ Karl Eduard Paulus: Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen . [...] Hallberger, Stuttgart 1856, pp. 125ff. Wikisource B4
  20. ^ Konrad Albert Koch: Eselsberg Castle near Ensingen, district of Vaihingen. In: Leaves of the Swabian Alb Association. Vol. 37 (1925), col. 69-71.

Web links

Commons : Burg Eselsberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Eselsberg Castle  - in the s: Description of the Oberamt Vaihingen from 1856