Hohenstein Castle (Taunus)

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Hohenstein Castle
Hohenstein Castle with inner shield wall (left) and outer shield wall.

Hohenstein Castle with inner shield wall (left) and outer shield wall.

Creation time : 1190
Castle type : Höhenburg, rocky location
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Count
Place: Hohenstein (Untertaunus)
Geographical location 50 ° 11 '38.4 "  N , 8 ° 3' 25.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 11 '38.4 "  N , 8 ° 3' 25.6"  E
Height: 330  m above sea level NHN
Hohenstein Castle (Hesse)
Hohenstein Castle

The Burg Hohenstein is the ruin of a rock castle on 330  m above sea level. NN near Bad Schwalbach in the Hessian Rheingau-Taunus district and belongs to the community of Hohenstein . It is one of the largest castle ruins in the Taunus .

history

The castle is believed to have been built by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen between 1190 and 1230 .

From 1260 the castle served as a residence for the younger line of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen. Count Johann III. von Katzenelnbogen (1402–1444) had the castle extended around 1422. It is believed that the complex was destroyed or badly damaged in clashes with the Counts of Nassau at the beginning of the 15th century .

The castle ruins around 1900
(Photography: Albrecht Meydenbauer )

With the death of Philip von Katzenelnbogen in 1479, the counts of Katzenelnbogen died out in the male line. About the heir Anna, who lived with Landgrave Heinrich III. von Hessen-Marburg was married, the entire county of Katzenelnbogen came with the castle to Hessen.

Around 1604, Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel had the neglected complex restored. Around 1616 he stayed frequently at the castle. During the Thirty Years War , the castle was set on fire and destroyed by troops from Lower Hesse in 1647. A planned reconstruction did not take place.

investment

Outer shield wall with gate tower (left) seen from the outside.

Above all, the outer late Gothic shield wall and the inner shield wall from the 13th century, each flanked by two towers, have been preserved. The former residential buildings, however, no longer exist. The remains of the palace collapsed in 1864.

In the immediate vicinity are the ruins of Greifenstein Castle , whose defenses were probably integrated into those of Hohenstein Castle.

Todays use

The majority of the facility is freely accessible to the public from April to September (as of 2020). Both the keep and the battlements of the outer and inner shield wall can be accessed via narrow spiral stairs .

In 1968, the state of Hesse set up a hotel and restaurant in the castle. In 2015, with the termination of the lease, the gastronomic offer at the castle ended. As a result, the castle complex was not open to the public until 2018. In 2017 there were considerations to revive the depressed tourist infrastructure. These have not yet been implemented (as of 2020).

During the summer, the Taunusbühne Bad Schwalbach, an amateur theater association, organizes the “Hohenstein Castle Festival” on the open-air stage in the inner courtyard. A registry office has also been set up in the castle.

  • Outer shield wall

  • Gate tower in the outer shield wall

  • Inside of the outer shield wall

  • Inner shield wall with keep

  • Battlement on inner shield wall

literature

  • Magnus Backes : Castles and palaces on the Lahn and in the Taunus . 1962
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , pp. 460-461.
  • Monika Vogt: Opening the door to modern times. Encounters with Philip the Magnanimous in Hesse. Ed .: Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen / State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse , Wiesbaden 2003, pp. 19–21.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 189.

Web links

Commons : Hohenstein Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hohenstein Castle. In: Website of the community of Hohenstein . Archived from the original on June 21, 2020 ; accessed on June 21, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Fish fingers are particularly popular. In: Wiesbaden Courier . April 27, 2017, archived from the original on June 21, 2020 ; accessed on June 21, 2020 .
  3. ^ Hohenstein Castle open again. In: Wiesbaden Courier . April 5, 2018, archived from the original on June 21, 2020 ; accessed on June 21, 2020 .
  4. ↑ New life in the old walls in FAZ of December 9, 2017, page 55