Burgberg Castle (Allgäu)

Burgberg Castle
The north side of the main castle
Alternative name (s):	Heimenhofen Castle
Creation time :	around 1140
Castle type :	Höhenburg, hillside location
Conservation status:	Wall remains
Standing position :	Noble
Place:	Burgberg in the Allgäu
Geographical location	47 ° 31 '58.3 "  N , 10 ° 17' 21.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '58.3 "  N , 10 ° 17' 21.7"  E
Height:	760  m above sea level NN

The Castle Castle Hill , and Castle Heimenhofen called, is the ruins of a hilltop castle on a 760  m above sea level. NN high rock above Burgberg im Allgäu in the Oberallgäu district in Swabia . The partially preserved north wall of the small fortress was carefully secured from 1992 to 1997 and slightly supplemented.

history

The inside of the renovated north wall to the east

The east side of the castle hill with the information board

Floor plan of the main castle on the information board

In 1140 a Burkart von Burgberg (Burcperg) appears in the written sources as a servant of the Augsburg bishopric . The Ministeriale is named as a founder in favor of the monasteries Ottobeuren and St. Ulrich and Afra zu Augsburg . Around 1140 a Wernher von Burgberg can still be traced as a benefactor of the Augsburg monastery and the re-establishment of Ursberg .

The castle is believed to have been built in the early 12th century. From this first complex, the north wall of a residential tower has been preserved, which is one of the oldest examples of such a main tower in the Allgäu and is of particular interest for regional castle history.

After the death of the last Burgberger Wernher and Johannes, the rule came to the Lords of Rettenberg around 1327. When the last Rettenberger died in 1350, his daughters divided up their father's property. Burgberg Castle was awarded to Adelheid von Rettenberg, married von Waldburg, who sold the Veste to the brothers Marquard and Oswald von Heimenhofen as early as 1351 . The purchase price is 2040 pounds Constance currency.

In 1361 the brothers divided the property. Burgberg stayed with Marquard von Heimenhofen. His brother Oswald acquired the neighboring Berghofen estate and began building his new Fluhenstein Castle , the ruins of which are at risk of collapse and have been preserved on the outskirts of Sonthofen .

In 1440 part of the rule fell to the bishopric of Augsburg . In 1468 Burkart and Konrad von Heimenhofen had to sell further shares to the Counts of Montfort zu Rothenfels near Immenstadt due to financial difficulties . The brothers appear in the sources as "bad stewards".

Jörg von Heimenhofen was able to buy back the lost shares in 1469 and 1477 and has been the sole owner ever since.

During the German Peasant War in 1525 , the rebels looted the poorly defended fortress. In 1546 troops of the Swabian Federation occupied the residence.

Hans Burkart, the last male offspring of the von Heimenhofen family (d. 1572) finally sold the rule for 9,000 guilders in 1563 to Count Hugo von Montfort-Rothenfels after his only son Hans Kaspar had died in Bosnia during the Turkish wars . As early as 1559, Hans Burkart von Heimenhofen had given up his possessions in the parishes of Hindelang Blaichach , Seifriedsberg and Fischen to the count.

In 1564, the Augsburg bishop Otto Truchsess von Waldburg acquired the castle as a new foster seat. In 1562 the old Augsburg official castle in Rettenberg burned down. Count Hugo von Montfort finally handed over the rule of Burgberg completely to the bishopric of Augsburg in 1566 by way of exchange.

In 1606 around 600 rebellious Allgäu farmers forced the release of a prisoner whom the Augsburgers had held in the castle. In the following year the farmers occupied the official residence and arrested the bishop Karl von Hornstein zu Grüningen. However, the troops of the bishopric were able to regain the castle shortly afterwards.

During the Thirty Years' War the plant burned out. The nursing office was relocated to nearby Sonthofen and Burgberg Castle was abandoned. The ruins served the residents of the village as a welcome quarry for the next centuries .

Today only larger remains of the wall are preserved on the north side, which were secured and supplemented from 1992 to 1997. The community was advised and supported during the renovation by the castle office of the medieval archaeologist Joachim Zeune . However, only the most striking part of the castle could be renovated. The remaining remains of the wall continue to decline almost unhindered. Nevertheless, the measures are considered to be one of the first such “sample renovations” in the Allgäu. In the east in front of the castle hill, an information board with a site plan reports on the history of the complex.

description

The small castle ruins are located on a limestone reef at the western foot of the Grünten near the historic Burgberg cemetery. There were two fortified outer castles under the castle, but most of them were built over in a modern way.

The main castle on the rock is separated from the slope in the east by a ditch-like depression. In the west, small remains of a round tower and the circular wall can still be seen on the steep slope . In the 15./16. In the 17th century, the curtain wall of the early 14th century was added to a kennel , of which only a little masonry remained.

The old castle path leads north from the village up to the east side of the castle, where a bridge probably led to the main gate. According to older descriptions, a gate tower should have stood here.

After a short ascent you reach the small castle plateau with the partially preserved northern front of the complex. The remainder of the residential tower (formerly approx. 10 × 10 meters) from the early 12th century rises above the east . The small-format, regularly lined-up stone of this part of the castle differs significantly from the eastward extension (around 1330) made of rubble stones with humpback blocks . The masonry was conserved from 1992 to 1997 and slightly supplemented for structural reasons (window openings).

The castle plateau with the secured north wall is freely accessible. The remaining castle ruins are largely on private property and some are in danger of collapsing.

A few fragments of a wooden water pipe have been preserved on the slope above the castle. Below you can see the former small castle quarry and the remains of a lime kiln.

literature

• Toni Nessler: Castles in the Allgäu, Volume 1: Castle ruins in the Altlandkreis Kempten and Altlandkreis Sonthofen . 1st edition. Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag, Kempten 1985, ISBN 3-88006-102-5 , pp. 206-216.
• Michael Petzet : The Art Monuments of Swabia, Volume 8: District Sonthofen . Oldenbourg, Munich 1964, pp. 211-212.

Web links

Commons : Burg Burgberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files