Hirschberg Castle (Balingen)

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Hirschberg Castle
For a long time, Hirschberg Castle was thought to be a legendary object, wood engraving for the deer guild legend by Wilhelm Hauff

For a long time, Hirschberg Castle was thought to be a legendary object,
wood engraving for the deer guild legend by Wilhelm Hauff

Creation time : 12./13. century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Burgstall
Standing position : Ministeriale of the Counts of Zollern
Construction: only minor traces of terrain
Place: Balingen - Heselwangen
Geographical location 48 ° 15 '48 "  N , 8 ° 53' 23"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 15 '48 "  N , 8 ° 53' 23"  E
Height: 722  m above sea level NN
Hirschberg Castle (Baden-Württemberg)
Hirschberg Castle

The castle Hirschberg is an Outbound High Middle Spur castle probably zollern-schalk burgi shear Ministerialer east of Balingen , at the hamlet Heselwangen in Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Wuerttemberg .

Geographical location

The freely accessible castle site is around 3100 meters east of the Balingen town church and 1350 meters south of the church of Heselwangen on a north-west facing 722  m above sea level. NN high mountain spur .

history

Finds of pot and tile edge pieces from the 12th and 13th centuries in the area of ​​the traces of ramparts and ditches that can still be traced in the area prove the long-doubted existence of this castle, mentioned in 1378. It plays an important role , if not in history, at least in the narrative tradition of the city ​​of Balingen . Jacob Frischlin, brother of Nicodemus Frischlin , who comes from the area of ​​Balingen and a preceptor at the Latin school in Balingen, described the founding legend in his short "Description of the state of Württemberg leading towns, castles, monasteries and market towns of their origin and ancient history, memorable histories" of the city of Balingen:

The nobleman on the Hirschberg squeezes more from his miller on the Eyach than he is entitled to. That is why the miller rebels with his servants and maidservants and the peasants from the neighborhood, chases the nobleman away, storms his castle and burns it down so that not one stone is left on the other. Then he went under the protection and umbrella of the lords of Zollern and Schalksburg.
The village around the mill was turned into a town with a curtain wall. So that the nobleman could not come back, all the stones from the Hirschberg were created and the church in front of the city at the churchyard [today's cemetery church] was built from them.

The castle also plays a prominent role in the saga of the Hirschgulden .

Archaeological excavations took place between 1952 and 1955.

description

The castle complex with outer and core castle at the end of the spur was bordered by a moat. Another wall divided the 140 meter long and 12 meter wide system. From the northern end of this wall there was a slope terrace that was probably designed as a kennel . At the western end with the very steep slope, the terrace was artificially piled up. A possible outer bailey is conceivable both in the area of ​​this terrace and between the two walls.

literature

  • Günter Schmitt : Hirschberg (Balingen) . In: Ders .: Castles, palaces and ruins in the Zollernalb district . Published by the Zollernalbkreis district office, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7995-0186-6 , pp. 97-100.
  • Christoph Bizer: Surface finds of castles in the Swabian Alb - A contribution to ceramic and castle research . Published by the regional council Stuttgart - State Office for Monument Preservation, Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8062-2038-7 , pp. 208-209.
  • Günter Schmitt: Castle Guide Swabian Alb, Volume 5 - West Alb: Hiking and discovering between Reutlingen and Spaichingen . Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach an der Riß 1993, ISBN 3-924489-65-3 , pp. 333–338.