Heppenheft Castle

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Heppenheft Castle
Creation time : around 1122
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Wall remains, neck ditch, bridge
Standing position : Nobles
Place: Niederwallmenach
Geographical location 50 ° 8 '28.3 "  N , 7 ° 48' 8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 8 '28.3 "  N , 7 ° 48' 8"  E
Heppenheft Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Heppenheft Castle

The castle Heppe booklet is the Castle rest of a medieval hilltop castle in flat promontory of today's county road 91 to the 12th century, 500 meters east of the Taunus between Bornich and Niederwallmenach ( Rhein-Lahn-Kreis , Rheinland-Pfalz located) in the forest. The Heppenhofmühle on the street, where a mill has always stood for over 500 years, and the name “Old Castle” in the area of ​​the ruins still indicate the existence of the former facility. To the west of it, 5 kilometers away, is the Loreley rock , 3.5 kilometers northwest of Reichenberg Castle . The ruin is freely accessible (approach south of the Heppenhofmühle around 800 meters).

History of the castle and the Heppenheft family

The lords of Heppenheft have been documented since the 12th century (1158 or earlier), the construction of the castle probably took place around 1122. It is unclear whether the knights themselves or the Archbishop of Mainz were the builders. Presumably, the facility was intended to control the nearby trade route.

Konrad von Heppenheft was one of the guardians of Rheingraf Embricho I son. Heinrich von Heppenheft owned a wine fiefdom from Bolander in Kaub (and Weisenau ) around 1250 , which his sons also kept. Around 1300 the family split into the lines of Rheinberg, Heppe von Heppenheft and Grans von Heppenheft, later von Rheinberg. In 1335 Gerlach Grans von Heppenheft opened the castle to the Counts of Katzenelnbogen. In 1445 Emmerich von Heppenheft, who was also the mayor of Oppenheim, was the last knight of his line to take care of Heppenheft Castle. He owned several properties, some of which he donated to the Mainz Charterhouse . According to a document dated September 1445, he waived all feudal claims towards Philipp von Katzenelnbogen . Soon afterwards there was no evidence of any kind of extinction of the family (before 1490). In 1492 the castle was destroyed and should not be rebuilt.

The new water mill at Heppenheft is first mentioned in 1481 . In 1492, the Count Palatine and Elector Philipp awarded the Heppenheft Castle, which had already been described as derelict, to a Johannes Mannheymer. The castle fell into disrepair and was used to build a homestead when it was demolished in 1740 - a common practice in the Middle Ages until the late 19th century.

investment

It is difficult to estimate the dimensions of the facility based on its remains. Today only a few relics remain, such as the 5-meter-deep neck ditch that once enclosed the castle on three sides, some foundations and a medieval bridge over the nearby Krummbach. There were several farmyards at the foot of the castle hill.

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