Hardenberg Castle (Velbert)

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Ground plan of Hardenberg Castle based on the foundations excavated in 1888
3D terrain model of the castle ruins

The castle Hardenberg , locally as Old Castle called, is the ruins of a hilltop castle on a 247 meter high mountain ridge between the districts Neviges and Tönisheide in Velbert . About 600 meters northeast of the castle site is the Hardenberg Castle . However, this is not - as a local legend claims - connected to the old castle by a secret passage . Neither were their stones used as building material for the castle .

history

The complex from the 11th or 12th century was the ancestral seat of the Lords of Hardenberg , whose member Hermann von Hardenberg, count in the Duisburg-Kaiserswerther county , with King Konrad III. participated in the Second Crusade . Although the castle was destroyed by fire in the 13th century, it was still in use until the 15th century. This is proven by ceramic shards found on the castle area, which can be assigned to the 12th to 15th centuries.

In December 1354 Heinrich von Hardenberg sold "huis indwohnunghe zue Hardenberg" including his independent rule for 6000 marks in Brabant currency to Gerhard I. Berg , so that Hardenberg was henceforth a Bergisch office. After the sale, the former lords of the castle moved their mansion to Herbede to the Hardenstein Castle there .

An excavation under the direction of the architect Gerhard August Fischer brought some structural remains of the castle to light. Further research did not take place until 90 years later: during an inspection on behalf of the Rhenish Office for Monument Preservation , crossbow and arrowheads, bronze buckles and a gold-plated spur were found, which is also indicative of noble residents, as is the Brohltaltrass , which is occasionally used as a building material natural pozzolan .

description

Above ground, the castle site is only recognizable as a hill and ditches in the area.

The excavation in 1888 exposed a roughly square castle area with rounded corners, which was surrounded on three sides by a moat and protected by a curtain wall . Access was via a bridge to the east.

On the north-eastern side of the mountain, a shield wall protected the two main buildings with a slate roof; a third was in the west corner. In the middle of the area was a 25 meter high, square keep ten meters edge length of 2.5 meters thick walls, of regular hump blocks were manufactured with fitting edge. The masonry of the other buildings consisted primarily of horizontally stored rubble stones from greywacke and slate . All the buildings were plastered .

In addition to the main castle , the complex also included two outer castles .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jens Friedhoff : Hardenberg Castle and the "Old Castle" . In: Kai Niederhöfer (Red.): Burgen AufRuhr. On the way to 100 castles, palaces and mansions in the Ruhr region . Klartext Verlag , Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8375-0234-3 , p. 291.
  2. ↑ a b c d Klaus Kahle: Myths about Hardenberg Castle. Several myths disenchanted. In: Neue Rheinische Zeitung . 2001 ( online ).
  3. ^ Andreas Keil: Höhenburg Hardenberg: Mystical stronghold in Neviges. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung . Edition of October 6, 2011 ( online ( memento of the original from December 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wz.de
  4. ↑ a b c d Andreas Keil: The myth of the old castle. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. Edition of October 14, 2011 ( online ( memento of the original from December 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wz.de
  5. ↑ schloss-hardenberg.de , accessed on December 20, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c P. Clemen: The art monuments of the cities of Barmen, Elberfeld, Remscheid and the districts of Lennep, Mettmann, Solingen . 1894, p. 69.

Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 49 "  N , 7 ° 4 ′ 43"  E