Graefgenstein Castle
| Graefgenstein Castle | ||
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| Alternative name (s): | Griffgenstein | |
| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | partially preserved | |
| Standing position : | Local nobility | |
| Place: | Eggerscheidt , district of Ratingen | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 18 '39.5 " N , 6 ° 53' 40.6" E | |
| Height: | 100 m above sea level NN | |
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The castle Gräfgenstein even Griffgenstein or Grevenstein called, is a partly preserved medieval hilltop castle site at 100 m above sea level. NN and a monument at the Angerbach in Ratingen . The castle is privately inhabited, used as a farm and can only be viewed from the outside.
location
The castle is located on private property, about one kilometer southeast of Eggerscheidt , which is now a district of Ratingen. It is located about 30 m above the valley floor and a former ford of the river Anger located there. This river also temporarily formed the border between the sphere of influence of the Counts of Berg and the territory of Cologne .
history
An exact year of foundation is not documented. It is assumed that it was founded in the 13th century, with the castle serving as the ministerial seat and military base of the Counts of Berg. There are only documents from the 15th century in which the castle complex was referred to as Griffgenstein . At the beginning of the 16th century, Graefgenstein belonged to Count von der Recke , who sold it back to the Angermund bailiff Johann Gogreve . As a result, it went through various inheritances and weddings to his daughter Agnes, then Johann von Binsfeld, his daughter and her husband Johann Arnold von Wachtendonk zu Hülsdonk. The property was later sold to Wirich Gaddum in Ratingen, whose heirs sold it in 1750 to Ferdinand von Hochstaden, who called himself "Herr von Gräfgenstein".
In 1860 the castle became the property of the Counts of Spee . It was leased to farmers who ran it as a farm . In 1949 it was found privately owned by a citizen of Mönchengladbach .
From 2016 the castle was for sale for a long time.
Structural matters
The builders of the castle chose a steep slope above the ford to build the weir system. Of the buildings, only those built along the slope remained. In the center of these buildings is the four-and-a-half-storey residential tower made of exposed quarry stones with an eaves height of 13.30 m. Adjacent structures are only solidly built in the basement and serve as an annex to an agricultural operation. Defensive walls , gate and trenches on the access side in the north no longer exist. On the west side, a small, flat hill catches the eye, which has not yet been archaeologically investigated and which may be the remains of a second tower.
literature
- Heinrich Ferber: manors in the office of Angermund . In: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine. Yearbook of the Düsseldorf History Association . tape 7 . Ed. Lnitz, Düsseldorf 1893, p. 104-105 ( uni-duesseldorf.de ).
- Jens Friedhoff: Gräfgenstein Castle . In: Kai Niederhöfer (Ed.): Burgen AufRuhr. On the way to 100 castles, palaces and mansions in the Ruhr region . Klartext, Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8375-0234-3 , p. 276-278 .
- Theo Volmert: Knight seats and castles on the Anger . In: The couch grass. Angerländer Heimatblätter . No. 45 , September 1975, p. 1-34 .
Web links
- Report on the castle at www.rheinruhronline.de
- House Gräfgenstein in Angertal - a fortified residence in the 13th century, by Nicole Perschau (PDF; 197 kB) on: apud-angeron.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gräfgenstein Castle near Eggerscheidt . In: Rheinische Post . October 17, 1949 ( facebook.com [accessed on July 13, 2020] Retrieved from a reproduction of the text on the Facebook page of the Lintorfer Heimatfreunde - VLH).
- ↑ Gräfgenstein Castle near Eggerscheidt. In: Facebook page of the Lintorfer Heimatfreunde. May 20, 2016, accessed July 13, 2020 .
- ↑ RP Online: Ratingen: Gräfgenstein Castle for sale. July 22, 2017, accessed July 13, 2020 .
