Grafendahn Castle
| Grafendahn Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Dahner Burgengruppe |
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| Alternative name (s): | Grafendahn | |
| Creation time : | 1287 | |
| Castle type : | Rock castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Construction: | Humpback cuboid | |
| Place: | Dahn | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 9 '0.6 " N , 7 ° 48' 8" E | |
| Height: | 314 m above sea level NHN | |
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The Grafendahn Castle is located in the southern Palatinate Forest , the German part of the Wasgau , about 1 km east of the residential development of the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Dahn in district Südwestpfalz .
Geographical location
The rock castle , located at an altitude of 314 m , belongs to the Dahner Burgengruppe , which also includes the Altdahn and Tanstein castles . The three castles were not built at the same time, but close to each other at intervals of 40 and 80 m respectively on the ridge of the 323.1 m high Schlossberg , which extends over 350 m from southwest to northeast. A similar form of castle arrangement can be found, for example, in the Vosges near the three castles of Husseren ( Upper Alsace ).
In the very north-east of the Schlossberg ridge, at an altitude of 316 m, lies the Löchelfelsen natural monument . Dahn's landmark, the approx. 70 m high sandstone rock Jungfernsprung, rises 2 km west-northwest of the group of castles .
history
Grafendahn Castle was built in 1287 by Konrad von Mursel , who was the feudal man of the Bishops of Speyer and a grandson of Friedrich von Dahn ( see history of Altdahn Castle ). Grafendahn was designed as a Ganerbeburg from the start . As early as 1288 there were five other heirs besides Konrad Mursel, including the Counts of Sponheim . In 1339, Count Johann II von Sponheim acquired all shares in the facility from the various parties (including Wilhelm von Winstein , Konrad Mursel's son-in-law) and thus became the sole owner.
After the castle even more so in 1425 attached was, she went in 1437 when the family of Sponheim with the death of John V. extinct by hereditary contract in the possession of the Margrave of Baden on. But the fortifications were not strong enough to withstand a siege by Elector Friedrich the Victorious ; In 1462 he took the castle and destroyed it. A systematic rebuilding apparently did not take place. In 1480 Hans von Trotha , who was already a tenant of Berwartstein Castle , also received Grafendahn as a fief from the Elector and made it his property through purchase in 1485. However, the castle was described as "uninhabitable" as early as 1500.
Until 1637 the ruinous castle was owned by the Lords of Fleckenstein . In 1642 it moved to the Waldenburg tavern, where it remained for around 150 years. In 1793, the complex fell back into the original fiefdom of the Speyer Monastery , which then no longer gave the castle as a fief.
investment
View from Tanstein over Grafendahn to Altdahn
View from Altdahn over Grafendahn to Tanstein
Castle rock of Grafendahn Castle from the east, the castle museum in front
Grafendahn Castle rises as the smallest of the three castles on the middle of the five castle rocks. The development of the upper castle seems a bit unclear today because modern parapet walls were built later. In the west of the upper castle are the striking remains of a shield wall that was built against Tanstein Castle. Parts are still preserved in their original height. It was built from humpback blocks. Inspired by the shield wall, a small was Palas and other residential buildings.
From the lower castle, which was located on two narrow rock terraces, several chambers, cattle troughs and a well shaft have been carved into the sandstone rock . The castle museum has been located in a rebuilt stable building since 1987.
literature
- Stefan Grathoff: The Dahner castles. Alt-Dahn - Grafendahn - Tanstein (= Edition Castles, Palaces, Antiquities Rhineland-Palatinate . Guide booklet 21). Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2003, ISBN 3-7954-1461-X .
- Peter Pohlit, Alexander Thon: Grafendahn . In: Jürgen Keddigkeit , Alexander Thon, Rolf Übel (eds.): Palatinate Burgenlexikon . Volume 2, F – H (= contributions to the history of the Palatinate ). tape 12.2 , 2002, ISBN 3-927754-48-X , ISSN 0936-7640 , p. 213-223 .
- Elena Rey: Castle Guide Palatinate . Superior, Kaiserslautern 2003, ISBN 3-936216-15-0 .
- Alexander Thon (Ed.): ... like a banned, inaccessible magic castle . Castles in the southern Palatinate. 2nd, improved edition. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1570-5 , p. 18-25 .
Web links
- Entry on Grafendahn Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Grafendahn Castle on Historische-orte.de
- Altdahn – Grafendahn – Tanstein on dahner-felsenland.net