Jesberg Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jesberg Castle
Jesberg Castle

Jesberg Castle

Creation time : 12th Century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Count
Place: Jesberg
Geographical location 50 ° 59 '45 "  N , 9 ° 9' 3"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 59 '45 "  N , 9 ° 9' 3"  E
Height: 280  m above sea level NHN
Jesberg Castle (Hesse)
Jesberg Castle

The Burg Jesberg , also called "Jesburg" or "ruin Jesberg", the ruins of a Roman hilltop castle in Jesberg in the Hessen Schwalm-Eder-Kreis on the old trade route "Fritzlarer road" in North Hesse .

Construction and beginnings

Towards the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century, the construction of the weir system on the 280  m above sea level. NHN high Schloßberg started over Jesberg. On April 2, 1241, the brothers Ludwig and Wortwin von Linsingen sold the castle and the “Lenswideshusen” court, later known as “Jagsperg” or “Jagesburg”, to Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz . , but received it back as a Mainz fief. The castle was located on the old Fritzlarer Straße, one of the oldest trading routes in Hesse , which connected the Wetterau with the Fritzlar / Gudensberg area , and became - alongside Fritzlar, Naumburg and the Heiligenberg near Felsberg - a main base of Mainz Power in Lower Hesse. The castle was repeatedly mortgaged over the next two centuries; Lien holders and Burgmannen were among others members of the Ministerial families “von Falkenberg ”, “ von Linsingen ”, “von Gilsa” and “von Grifte ”.

Mainz versus Hessen

Around 1350 the castle was badly damaged; the exact reasons are not known, but are likely to be found in disputes between Mainz and the Landgraves of Hesse . When the lords of Linsingen became vassals of the Hessian landgrave in 1400, a Mainz contingent besieged the castle and took possession of it. From 1425 to 1426, under the guidance of Fritzlar Ministerial Happel Katzmann , the castle fortifications were almost entirely renewed (with the exception of the Romanesque keep), considerably expanded and reinforced by digging a moat. In 1427 the castle was involved in the ultimately decisive war between Landgrave Ludwig I of Hesse and Archbishop Konrad of Mainz, when the Mainz troops under Count Gottfried von Leiningen after their defeat on July 23, 1427 on the Großenengliser Platte near Fritzlar (between the Kalbsburg and Holzheim ) initially fled to Jesberg before they were beaten a second time near Fulda on August 10th.

Hessian fratricidal war

In the Hessian fratricidal war of 1469 between Landgrave Ludwig II of Hessen-Kassel and Heinrich the Rich of Hessen-Marburg , Kurmainz stood on Heinrich's side. Jesberg Castle was defended by the Mainz castle man from Linsingen, but after a long siege and bombardment by 500 Bohemian mercenaries recruited by Ludwig and 300 mounted men, who also burned Borken and Schwarzenborn , it was stormed and almost completely destroyed. The defenders are all said to have lost their lives. The castle was not rebuilt until 1524.

Decay and Preservation

View from the keep on the remains of the palace
Building remains with vaulted cellar

In 1586 the castle and court became Hessian for good. With this the castle lost its strategic value and fell into disrepair. Stones from castle walls and wall towers were used as building material for Jesberg houses. In 1721 the Hessian branch of the “von Linsingen” family died out and the castle and the fiefdom fell back to the Landgraviate of Hesse .

Around 1820, the merchant Appell acquired the remains of the castle and saved the complex from complete destruction.

The Jesberg community acquired the ruins and the Schlossberg grounds in 1964. From 1980 to 1987, the castle ruins with was the keep and the surviving parts of Palas , cellars and surrounding walls restored. A circular hiking trail, a parking lot, a music pavilion, sanitary facilities, a tower staircase and a viewing platform were created. The keep is freely accessible daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. from April to October and offers a good view of Jesberg and the Kellerwald .

literature

  • Greaves travel guide Upper Hesse, Kurhessen, Waldeck. Volume 230, Verlag Karl Thiemig AG, Munich 1981, p. 134
  • Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen 1971, p. 195
  • Karl E. Demandt: History of the State of Hesse. Johannes Stauda Verlag, Kassel 1980, p. 23 u. 323
  • 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. 95.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , pp. 197-200.
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm von und zu Gilsa and Detlev Freiherr von Linsingen: The castles in the Gilsatal. Writings of the Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Jesberg eV, Volume 5, Jesberg, 2009

Web links

Commons : Burg Jesberg  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information ) - information according to the highest contour line
  2. ↑ Schloßberg with climbable keep on the website of the Jesberg community