Helfenstein Castle (Lorraine)
| Helfenstein Castle | ||
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_-_13.jpg) The rock of Helfenstein Castle |
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| Creation time : | 13./14. century | |
| Castle type : | Rock castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 0 '22.7 " N , 7 ° 34' 9.7" E | |
| Height: | 350 m above sea level NN | |
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Helfenstein Castle (French château du Helfenstein ), also known as Wachtfels before 1928 , is the freely accessible ruin of a medieval rock castle in the French department of Moselle ( Grand Est ) near the border with the department of Bas-Rhin and Rhineland-Palatinate .
location
The Helfenstein Castle is located about 350 meters above sea level at the eastern end of a ridge, on the summit of which lies Falkenstein Castle in the west . This can be reached from a parking lot on the Landersberg forest road from Philippsburg to Stürzelbronn (D 87a). Shortly before reaching Falkenstein Castle, follow the 180 degree right-hand bend to the left of the signs for Helfenstein Castle. It takes about 20 minutes from the parking lot, sometimes steeply uphill.
history
1225 a Ruodegerus de Helphenstein lacius is called. However, it is not clear whether this relates to the castle. It is certain that the Helfenstein belonged to the Dukes of Lorraine at the beginning of the 14th century . They gave these to the governors of Wasselnheim as a fief. Helfenstein was probably destroyed in a feud around 1435 . In 1938 the ruins of Helfenstein and Falkenstein were used by French artillerymen .
Today the castle is owned by the French state.
Castle complex
The complex consists of an upper and a lower castle, which are clearly distinguishable.
The gate of the northwestern entrance of the lower castle is no longer preserved, you can only find various stones here. The circular wall of the following wide courtyard, which is bordered to the south by a three to five meter high rock wall, is also only sparsely preserved.
To the east of the courtyard is a 15 meter high cubic boulder belonging to the upper castle . On its platform there is a 3.50 × 4 meter filter cistern that was carved into the rock like a pit and in the middle of which there is a 5.37 meter deep extraction shaft .
The plant is protected on the west side by a six meter wide and about five meter deep neck ditch with vertical walls. This was carved out of the rock.
Access to the upper part of the castle rock is relatively dangerous.
literature
- Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Helfenstein. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit , Alexander Thon, Rolf Übel (eds.): Palatinate Burgenlexikon. Vol. 2: F – H (= contributions to the history of the Palatinate . Vol. 12.2). Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore, Kaiserslautern 2002, ISBN 3-927754-48-X , pp. 330–336.
- Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Le château fort de Helfenstein (Moselle) - I. Un château fort “redécouvert” au début du XXe siècle - Etude monumentale et historique . In: Châteaux forts d'Alsace . Vol. 8, 2006, ISSN 1281-8526 , pp. 41-72.
- René Kill: Le château fort de Helfenstein (Moselle) - II. La citerne à filtration . In: Châteaux forts d'Alsace . Vol. 8, 2006, pp. 73-82.
- Bernard Haegel: Le château fort de Helfenstein (Moselle) - III. Le mobilier archéologique recueilli . In: Châteaux forts d'Alsace . Vol. 8, 2006, pp. 83-92.
- Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales d′Alsace. Dictionnaire d′histoire et d′architecture . La Nuée Bleue, Strasbourg 2013, ISBN 978-2-7165-0828-5 , p. 144.
Web links
- Information on Helfenstein Castle at www.bitscherland.fr
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry No. IA00037996 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)