Hornsberg Castle (Seulingswald)

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Hornsberg Castle
Hornsberg (2008), view from the north

Hornsberg (2008), view from the north

Alternative name (s): Hornungskuppe
Creation time : after 1150
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: small remains of the wall have been preserved
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Boss cuboid
Place: Dankmarshausen and Heringen (Werra)
Geographical location 50 ° 54 '24.8 "  N , 9 ° 59' 7.3"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '24.8 "  N , 9 ° 59' 7.3"  E
Height: 405  m above sea level NN
Hornsberg Castle (Thuringia)
Hornsberg Castle

The Burg Hornberg , of which only still a ruin has been preserved, was in the Middle Ages small fortification built. It was the ancestral seat of the Lords of Hornsberg, Ministeriale of the Fulda Abbey .

location

The hill fort is located at 405  m above sea level. NN high Hornungskuppe in the Seulingswald , directly on the Hessian-Thuringian border, and today belongs partly to the places Heringen in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg in Hesse and Dankmarshausen in the Wartburg district in Thuringia . It is located about 2.6 km north-north-west of the center of Heringen, west of Widdershausen and north-east of Bengendorf , north-west of Monte Kali on the opposite side of the visitor facility.

history

To protect its possessions in the Werra Valley, the Fulda Abbey had Hornsberg Castle built during the Staufer period . A Hinricus de Hornesberc was mentioned in 1214 as a fuldischer feudal man . As a pledge of the financially distressed monastery, the castle came under imperial administration in 1294 when King Adolf von Nassau began his campaign in Thuringia. After the king's death (1298), the castle was redeemed by Fulda again, but it is said to have been abandoned as early as the 14th century.

At this time the von Hornsberg family had already entered the service of neighboring castles and towns; with the tribe of Hornsberg the family died out in 1484. The Hornsberg coat of arms showed two horns in the shield and as a crest.

During their march through the Werra Valley in the spring of 1525, the rebellious peasants took the majority of the small aristocratic seats and devastated them. In 1574, in the Salbuch von Friedewald , Hornsberg Castle was listed as a desert.

Current situation and usage

Remnants of the ramparts and the neck ditch surround the remains of the castle that remained as overgrown stone mounds. On the Thuringian side, the castle ruins are a designated ground monument of the city of Werra-Suhl-Tal and are owned by the municipality. On the Hessian side, the site of the potash dump extends right up to the castle site, but this is to be retained.

Name interpretation

Located on the edge of the Werra valley, the striking, conical elevation of the Hornungskuppe was a noticeable feature of the terrain; it also gave the castle its name.

literature

  • Alfred Schulze: From the history of Hornsberg Castle. On the prehistory and early history in the eastern Seulingswald. In: ZHG 80 (1969), pp. 111-117.
  • Gerhard Seib: From the history of Hornsberg Castle. Investigations at Hornsberg Castle. In: ZHG 80 (1969), pp. 118-126.
  • Waldemar Küther : From the history of Hornsberg Castle. The von Hornsberg family. In: ZHG 80 (1969), pp. 127-154.
  • Heringen city administration (publisher): Heringen hiking guide . Heringen 2000, p. 80
  • 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. 183.
  • Sven Ostritz (ed.): Archaeological hiking guide Thuringia, Wartburg district, south. Commission publisher Beier Beran, Langenweißbach 2010, p. 22ff

Web links

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