Körse Castle
| Körse Castle | ||
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 Remains of the main castle |
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| Creation time : | around 1000 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Ring walls of the main castle, archway of the outer castle | |
| Construction: | Granite, basalt | |
| Place: | Kirschau | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 5 '20 " N , 14 ° 25' 48" E | |
| Height: | 275 m above sea level NN | |
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The castle Körse is the ruins of a hilltop castle at 275 m above sea level. NN on a granite cone surrounded by the Spree near Kirschau in the Bautzen district in Saxony .
history
When the Sorbian settlement area was expanded into the region of today's Kirschau around the 10th century , the rock spur was used to build a weir system, a ski jump . The castle wall with the name Korzym (property of the Korz) had the task of protecting the settlement area from surprise attacks.
Around 1100 the Germans occupied and destroyed the castle. Between 1200 and 1250, a stone German fortification was built on the same site. During this time the castle, whose name Körse refers to its Sorbian origins, was the largest and strongest defensive structure in Upper Lusatia .
Their task was to protect the Bohemian Steig , one of the oldest traffic connections between Upper Lusatia and Bohemia (known there as Alte Prager Straße). It led from Bautzen via Obergurig , Kirschau , Schirgiswalde and Sohland to Schluckenau ( Šluknov ), Bohemian Leipa ( Česká Lípa ) to Prague . In addition, a salt road crossed nearby , which also had to be guarded.
Later, however, the lords of the castle were accused of robbery, so that in 1352 the castle was stormed and destroyed by troops of the Six City League. An information board in the remains of the current complex claims that the lords of the castle were declared enemies because of their opposition to the Bohemian king and the League of Six cities.
In 1359 the castle was again destroyed and razed. There was no reconstruction.
construction
The castle consisted of the main castle with keep , an outer bailey , a drawbridge and four gates and bastions.
The granite was used for the construction , but also basalt from Horken near Halbendorf . The binding agent used was sand mortar, which was mixed with washed and humic acid-free river sand. The curtain wall surrounding the former courtyard is about three meters high. It is said to have been six to seven meters high.
present
What has been preserved from the once proud castle is a semicircular approx. 3 meter high and approx. 100 meter long curtain wall , which represent the remains of the main castle. You can also see the archway of the outer bailey.
The granite stones inside the ring wall indicate the effects of fire during the siege and storming of the castle.
The first excavation work began in 1922, and the finds that were subsequently unearthed can be seen in the castle museum, which opened in 1995.
literature
- Christian August Peschek : Part of a little trip on the Bohemian border from Bauzen . In: Lusatian monthly or contributions to the natural economic and political history of Upper and Lower Lusatia . Second piece, February 1791, Zittau 1791, pp. 52-56.
- Hermann Knothe : History of the castle and the village of Kirschau, south of Budissin . In: Lausitzisches Magazin. On behalf of the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences . Volume 47, Görlitz 1870, pp. 293-295.
- Gerhard Steude: Guide to Körse Castle and the Castle Museum in Kirschau . 1936.
- Körse Castle . Bautzen 1954.
