Falkenstein Castle (Harz)

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Falkenstein Castle
Falkenstein Castle viewed from the east

Falkenstein Castle viewed from the east

Creation time : 1120-1180
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Place: Falkenstein / Harz
Geographical location 51 ° 40 '54 "  N , 11 ° 15' 54"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 40 '54 "  N , 11 ° 15' 54"  E
Height: 320  m above sea level NHN
Falkenstein Castle (Saxony-Anhalt)
Falkenstein Castle
View from the north-west from the Selke valley to Falkenstein Castle

The Falkenstein Castle earlier temporarily, even castle New Falkenstein called, is a high medieval hilltop castle in the resin . It belongs to the municipality of Falkenstein / Harz in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt ( Germany ). It was built between 1120 and 1180. The castle is managed by the Kulturstiftung Sachsen-Anhalt as owner.

Geographical location

Falkenstein Castle is in Unterharz in the Harz nature park . It is located between Mägdesprung (northern district of Harzgerode) and Meisdorf (south-western district of Falkenstein / Harz) on a rocky ridge (about  320  m above sea level.  NHN ) south and above the the valley of the Selke standing Thalmühle . In a wooded landscape, it is surrounded by the Selketal nature reserve about 1.3 km west-north-west of the Falkensteiner hamlet garden house located between the villages of Meisdorf and Pansfelde on state road 230 .

About 1.8 km to the west-southwest is the castle stables of Alter Falkenstein Castle .

history

The complex was built between 1120 and 1180 and has been changed many times since then, but has retained the character of a medieval castle complex . Due to its favorable location, it could never be conquered.

Falkenstein Castle owes its existence to the legend after a murder case: In a dispute around 1080 Egeno II von Konradsburg killed Count Adalbert II von Ballenstedt , whereupon the ancestral seat of the murderer was to be converted into a monastery . The son Egenos, Burchard von Konradsburg, then had the new Falkenstein Castle built. A Benedictine monastery was founded on the Konradsburg after 1120 .

During the reign of Prince Heinrich von Anhalt , the Anhalt Ministeriale Eike von Repgow from Reppichau wrote the Sachsenspiegel , the first German legal book, here after 1220 . The book is dedicated to the client Hoyer von Falkenstein . In 1437 the castle came as a fiefdom from the Halberstadt diocese to the Busso and Bernd IV brothers from the Asseburg family , who owned the castle until it was expropriated after the Second World War.

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The Lords of Asseburg developed a brisk building activity in the 15th and 16th centuries. Count Bernd VI von der Asseburg Falkenstein (approx. 1451 - 1518/1524?), Who at that time had the south wing of the castle completely rebuilt, is considered one of the most important Falkensteiner builders. A coat of arms stone still preserved today refers to him: 'Bernt van der Asseborch 1491'. Bernd VI is considered a gloomy personality, among other things he is said to have broken the peace and assassinated. The Harz legend of the Tidian is linked to it, in which Bernd, out of greed for gold, blinds a poor shepherd.

Further construction matters took place under Augustus von der Asseburg in 1592, about a hundred years after Bernd's time. During the Thirty Years War from October 1642 to February 1643 there was a Swedish garrison in the castle.

Todays use

Today the castle with the museum is one of the most popular destinations in the Harz Mountains. It is part of the Romanesque Road . Here you will find a falconry and a restaurant that also offers traditional knight meals . Since 2006 there has been an annual “Minneturnier” at the castle in the summer in the tradition of a medieval singing competition, in which well-known singers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy can be heard. The “Castle Festival” takes place every year at the beginning of October.

A signposted hiking trail, on which there is also a tourist train , leads from a parking lot two kilometers away to the castle.

Falkenstein Castle is included as No. 200 in the system of stamping points of the Harz hiking nobility.

investment

  • The keep of Falkenstein Castle

  • The old kitchen of Falkenstein Castle

  • Interior (dining room)

  • Detailed view, aerial photo (2015)

The castle complex is about 310 x 90 m. Its core castle , the gate and kennel complex as well as three outer castles are in front, is about 40 x 40 m. The cistern is 20 m deep. In the center of the main castle is the 31 m high keep , which has a diameter of 8.5 m and a wall thickness of 2 m and is accessible as a lookout tower with a panoramic view of the Selke Valley. The keep is characterized by a teardrop-shaped floor plan. The pointed side is a massive, wedge-shaped extension and turned to the west, the direction from which enemy attacks were to be expected. It was intended to deflect projectiles and mitigate the damage caused by impacting charges.

Others

The castle was a film set in around 30 film and television productions, including the seven-part children's series on GDR television Spuk unterm Riesenrad from 1979, for the DEFA fairy tale film Snow White and Rose Red from 1979, for the fairy tale film Die Gänsehirtin am Brunnen from 1979 and the GDR television film Polizeiruf 110: The Discovery from 1980, which in turn alludes to the Sachsenspiegel. In 2011 the fairy tale Jorinde and Joringel was filmed. In 2016, the castle again served as the backdrop for the filming of the fairy tale film adaptation of Prince Himmelblau and Fee Lupine by Christoph Martin Wieland . The novel by the writer CU Wiesner "Lebwohl Rapunzel" uses Falkenstein Castle for the chapter "How I got my castle tit", here in the pseudonym "Eulenstein".

  • Postage stamp from the German Post Office of the GDR from the series Castles (1984)

  • 1890-1900

  • Falkenstein Castle from the north, aerial photo (2015)

  • Falkenstein Castle from the southwest, aerial photo (2015)

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Falkenstein  - album with pictures

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Falkenstein Castle (Neuer Falkenstein) in the private database "Alle Burgen".
  2. ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
  3. ↑ Harzer Wanderadel: Stamp 200 / Falkenstein Castle , on harzer-wandernadel.de
  4. ↑ Falkenstein Castle with map of the Falkenstein core castle , on ausflugsziel-harz.de
  5. ^ Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times: A manual. Verlag Lax 1983, p. 211, ISBN 378481002X