Gürzenich Castle
| Gürzenich Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Illustration of Gürzenich Castle from the Welser Codex around 1723 |
||
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Wall remains | |
| Place: | Gürzenich | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 47 '15 " N , 6 ° 26' 32" E | |
| Height: | 139 m above sea level NHN | |
|
||
The Gürzenich Castle stood in the Gürzenich district of Düren in North Rhine-Westphalia . At the time it was built, the Niederungsburg was on the eastern border of the Duchy of Jülich and the possessions of the Archbishopric of Cologne . Her few remains of walls still preserved today are built in a courtyard of the 19th century under since 8 October 1986 listed building stands.
history
In the Middle Ages , the von Gürzenich were a powerful ministerial family who owned extensive property in Cologne , including the place where the construction of the municipal festival and dance house began in 1441, the Gürzenich named after them . The family is mentioned for the first time in 1143, when an Adolf von Gürzenich sealed a certificate from Archbishop Arnold I of Cologne .
The castle and village of Gürzenich were a fiefdom of the Jülich Counts , first mentioned by Caesarius von Heisterbach . He described how the castle was attacked by the knights of Bachem in 1232 and how all residents were killed. The owner family died out as a result.
In the 14th century the von Echtz family owned the Gürzenich Castle. In 1404 half of the glory went to the court master of Duke Rainald of Jülich , Johann Schellart, who was also the owner of Obbendorf Castle in Hambach . The other half was owned by the von Linzenich family and came to Dietrich von Beusdael through marriage in 1523. Around 1530 he sold his share to the von Schellart family, so that castle and rule were again united in one hand. At the same time, the property was rebuilt. The appearance of this castle complex shows a drawing by the painter Renier Roidkin from the first half of the 18th century.
In 1830 the buildings were in such a ruin that they had to be demolished.
description
Gürzenich Castle was a two-part complex, consisting of a polygonal outer bailey with four towers and a higher, free-standing castle house. This was a two-storey building with a rectangular floor plan and a stepped gable . At its rear was a round tower with a high conical roof . The place of the building can only be recognized today by the remains of the rectangular, former ditch system .
In the courtyard of the former Kreuder agricultural estate, there is old masonry made of quarry stone and sandstone blocks on the south and west sides , which are probably remnants of the former bailey. The yard's coach house was built in these places using the building materials from the former castle.
In addition, you can find spolia made of sandstone, including a lintel stone with the year 1555, built today in the Mona Lisa tower in Gürzenich Schillingspark .
literature
- Paul Clemen (Ed.): The art monuments of the district of Düren. (= The art monuments of the Rhine Province . Volume 9, Section 1). L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1910, p. 167.
- Ulrich Coenen: Architectural treasures in the Düren district . 2nd Edition. G. Mainz, Aachen 1989, ISBN 3-925714-27-8 , pp. 78-79.
- Wilhelm Schröder: A wisdom of the Vogtgeding zu Gürzenich from the 16th century . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , Volume 53. 1931, ISSN 0065-0137 , pp. 141–149.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Text on Kreuders Hof in the Düren list of monuments , accessed on June 4, 2012.
- ^ U. Coenen: Architectural Treasures in the Düren District , p. 79.
- ↑ P. Clemen: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreis Düren , p. 167.
- ^ Text on the Mona Lisa Tower in the Düren monument list , accessed on June 4, 2012.