Hirschhorn Castle

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Hirschhorn Castle
Hirschhorn Castle

Hirschhorn Castle

Creation time : 1260
Castle type : Höhenburg, hillside location
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Quarry stone, cuboid, truss
Place: Staghorn
Geographical location 49 ° 26 '58 "  N , 8 ° 53' 54"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '58 "  N , 8 ° 53' 54"  E
Hirschhorn Castle (Hesse)
Hirschhorn Castle

The castle Hirschhorn , also Schloss Hirschhorn , is a very well-preserved Spur castle - and castle above the am Neckar , on the border between Baden-Württemberg and Hessen nearby Hessian town of Hirschhorn .

location

Hirschhorn Castle is located on a south-facing spur of the Stöckberg directly above the old town of Hirschhorn. It is strategically positioned so that the Neckar valley and the exits of the Finkenbach valley and the Ulfenbach valley could be controlled from it.

investment

Hirschhorn Castle is located directly above the village

Due to the fact that the castle has been preserved for more than 800 years with several construction phases, as well as the winding fortifications that extend as far as the Hirschhorn old town, the structure of the overall quite extensive castle complex is only revealed at second glance. The entire complex essentially consists of the main castle and the upper and lower outer bailey .

The origin of the castle and the oldest parts of the complex that are still visible today are located in the area of ​​the core or main castle , the highest part of Hirschhorn Castle. Particularly striking from this early construction phase is the mighty shield wall pointing northwards behind the up to 15 m deep neck ditch in the area of ​​today's parking lot. The main castle also includes the old palace (early 14th century, remodeling in the middle of the 14th century, renewed renovation after the collapse in the early 19th century) with the attached 26 meter high keep and a Renaissance extension of the palace, the so-called Hatzfeld building ( Late 16th century).

Immediately below the main castle, in the south-west, the upper outer castle connects , which visitors to the facility who come from the parking lot enter first. The upper bailey replaced an older 14th century kennel in the 15th century. Its most important components are a bastion , whose task it was probably to monitor the access to the northern gate, and a western corner tower, the so-called prison tower . It is separated from the lower outer bailey in the south by a wall and a two-storey gatehouse integrated into it . Immediately to the west of the gatehouse is a large fountain, otherwise the inner area of ​​the upper outer bailey is free of buildings.

The lower bailey was built at the same time as the upper bailey. It houses the stables , a small castle church and a few other buildings. The outermost southern defense tower of the lower outer bailey is also part of the Hirschhorn city walls. The architectural connection between castle and city fortifications is clearer than anywhere else. The fortifications of the outer castles and the city were probably planned from a single source and started under Hans V. von Hirschhorn around 1391 and completed in the first quarter of the 15th century. Around 1400, Hans V also donated the monastery with the Carmelite monastery church of the Annunciation , which is directly below the castle and is also touched by castle walls .

history

Hirschhorn Castle was founded around 1260 by Johann von Hirschhorn , who named himself after the castle for the first time in 1270. He was probably the grandson (possibly the son) of a marriage connection between the noblemen of Steinach and the ministerials of Hirschberg (castle above Leutershausen ). The talking coat of arms with the stag's pole was also adopted from the grandmother's von Hirschberg family and the new castle was named after it. It is also possible that the castle was founded by Johann von Hirschhorn's father, Konrad Rind von Steinach, around 1250. There is no evidence of an even older castle complex. With the economic and political rise of the Lords of Hirschhorn in the 14th century, the castle complex was also expanded and expanded. It received its final shape through a castle-like reconstruction in the Renaissance style at the end of the 16th century. The castle, which was mostly built of sandstone , has been spared major systematic destruction in modern times and is therefore in a very good state of preservation today.

The castle had the following owners throughout history:

around 1260-1632 Lords of Hirschhorn , first as Lorscher, then as a fiefdom of the Electoral Palatinate
1632-1699 Kurmainz; as a fief to the Barons Raitz von Frentz and the Lords von der Recke
1699-1803 Kurmainzer official seat
1803-1918 Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (official seat)
1918-1945 People's State of Hesse
since 1949 State of Hesse

A hotel with a restaurant has been housed in the Palas Renaissance building and in the Marstall annex since 1959 . In the old castle chapel , which is located in the hall on the first floor, there is also the branch office of the registry office of the city of Hirschhorn, where weddings are possible. Another building is used privately. The most striking building in the castle complex is the small gatekeeper's house in the middle of the castle complex. The rest of the castle (especially the inner courtyard and keep) is freely accessible. From May to September, combined city / castle tours are offered weekly on Saturdays.

The castle can be reached via a footpath (approx. 10 minutes) from the old town of Hirschhorn; But there are also parking spaces in front of the castle grounds.

References and comments

  1. According to the information board at the castle
  2. Entry on Hirschorn Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute, accessed on November 5, 2019.
  3. Possibly by Heinrich Isenmenger, who at the same time also rebuilt Zwingenberg Castle for Hans von Hirschhorn .
  4. ^ Hans V. von Hirschhorn (1368-1427), since 1391 Hofmeister to the Electorate of the Palatinate and chief judge.
  5. This new dating according to Steinmetz, 1997. The previous historiography was based on a foundation around 1200.
  6. The castle itself was first mentioned in a document from 1317.

literature

  • Alexander Antonow: The shield wall at the castles in southwest Germany in the 13th and 14th centuries . Dissertation. University of Stuttgart. Stuttgart 1974. DNB 751096814
  • Christoph Bühler: Castles of the Electoral Palatinate. Bergstrasse and Neckar Valley . Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt, Heidelberg 1990, ISBN 3-89426-012-2 , p. 107 ff.
  • Jochen Goetze, Werner Richner: Castles in the Neckar Valley . Braus, Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-925835-52-0 , p. 58 ff.
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 128.
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages. Floor plan lexicon . Sinewy. Würzburg 1994. ISBN 3-8035-1372-3
  • Jochen Pressler: Castles and palaces in the Rhine-Neckar triangle. Everything you need to know about the 126 castle complexes in North Baden, South Hesse and the Upper Palatinate . Schimper, Schwetzingen 1996, ISBN 3-87742-097-4 , p. 53 f.
  • Thomas Steinmetz: The descent of the Lords of Hirschhorn and the origins of their castle and rule . In: Geschichtsblätter Kreis Bergstrasse, 30/1997. Laurissa, Heppenheim 1998, p. 40 ff.
  • Wolfgang W. Kress: Castles and palaces on the Neckar. From Esslingen to Mannheim . DRW publishing house. Stuttgart 1991. ISBN 3-87181-259-5
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , pp. 183-184.

Web links

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