Kühlseggen Castle
The Kühlseggen Castle is located in the municipality of Weilerswist in the Euskirchen district between Swist and Erft , directly on the federal motorway 61 and is one of the most impressive moated castles in the region. At the castle is 105.5 m above sea level. NN the lowest point in the Euskirchen district. The facility is privately owned and inhabited. It can therefore not be viewed from the inside. An outside inspection along the moat fed by the Weilerswister Mühlenbach is possible on a circular path.
History of the residents and owners
In 1312 a Cologne ministerial named "Gobelin von Cudilsheggin", named after his place of residence, was first mentioned in a document. It is therefore assumed that he was the first owner of Kühlseggen Castle. One of his successors was Arnold von Umbescheiden, who was also called "von Cudelzecgen" in 1351.
In 1368 again it is Walfraff Scheiffart von Merode who is named as the owner of the castle, which was probably already fortified at that time . Kühlseggen owned the Scheiffart von Merode until the beginning of the 16th century and expanded it into a knight's seat suitable for the state assembly . Then the plant went by marriage to Goswin Brent von Vernich.
Before that, however, inheritance disputes over the rights to the castle had already broken out. These were awarded in full to the Raitz von Frentz family by the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer in 1613 . Its members sold the property, which had since fallen into disrepair and was badly damaged by war, in 1616 to the mayor of Cologne, Johann Monumet (called von Bolandt) .
Further changes of ownership followed before the Cologne Jesuits bought Kühlseggen in 1746 and renovated the building . When the Jesuit order was abolished in 1773, its ownership fell to the Archbishopric of Cologne , which a few years later transferred the castle to the Bonn University , founded in 1777 .
In 1781 the buildings with 500 acres of surrounding land were auctioned off and came to the Baron Heereman von Zuydtwyck . His daughter Josepha married Clemens Wenzeslaus von Eltz-Rübenach in 1836 and brought the castle into their marriage. It is still owned and inhabited by this family today. The outer bailey is used for agriculture.
Building history
Until well into the 19th century, the buildings of the castle complex stood on two islands: one piled high with the manor house and a second island on which the outer bailey stood. The appearance of the first castle complex is no longer comprehensible these days, but historians suspect that it could possibly have been a moth with a residential tower on the main island. It is also not clear whether the walls of the slightly sloping substructure of Kühlseggen Castle were built under Arnold von Umbescheiden, or whether they date from earlier times.
The Scheiffart von Merode carried out various extensions and modifications during their time. Remains of "her castle" are still present in the walls of the manor house.
When the castle passed into the possession of Johann Monumet in 1616, he had the existing buildings completely renovated. So new beam ceilings were put in, the completion date of which is documented in 1617 by the wall anchors on the house. In addition, the main building received new cross-frame windows . The arched gate of the outer bailey and the two gate pillars on the main castle were also built during this time. The latter testify to the fact that the two castle islands were connected by a drawbridge at that time, thanks to the devices still in place .
However, the multiple changes of ownership in the following 130 years were not conducive to the building fabric. When the Jesuits took over the castle complex in 1746, the buildings were again badly dilapidated. The order then had all the dilapidated parts torn off. In addition to a few outer walls, only the oldest residential building from the Middle Ages and its attached corner tower remained. A small extension on the north wing was converted into a historicizing Gothic chapel .
From 1781, Heereman von Zuydtwyck had the ailing outer bailey renovated and expanded. In the 19th century, their moats were filled in because they had lost their defensive function. Thus only the main castle was located on an island.
In the second half of the 19th century, some parts of the main castle were so badly damaged that a stepped gable and the vault of the castle chapel collapsed. However, with the help of the Provincial Conservator, these were restored.
Kühlseggen Castle did not see better times until 1962. Up to this point in time it was not inhabited and its building structure was badly damaged. Max Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach had the entire complex completely renovated and rebuilt in order to use it as a private residence. The roof trusses and the existing interior fittings had to be almost completely replaced and are therefore no longer preserved in their original state.
literature
- Paul Clemen , Edmund Renard : The art monuments of the district of Euskirchen (= The art monuments of the Rhine Province . Volume 4, Section 4). L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1900, pp. 185-187 ( digitized version ).
- Harald Herzog: castles and palaces. History and typology of the noble seats in the Euskirchen district. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7927-1226-1 , pp. 355-361.
- Harald Herzog: walls, towers and ruins. A hiking guide to the castles and palaces in the Euskirchen district. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-7929-1153-2 , pp. 147-151.
- Dirk Holtermann, Harald Herzog: The Euskirchen Castle Tour. Cycling between Erft and Eifel. Walter Rau, Düsseldorf 2000, ISBN 3-7919-0750-6 , p. 25.
- Robert Janke, Harald Herzog: Castles and palaces in the Rhineland. Greven, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-7743-0368-1 , pp. 58-59.
- Hans Kisky: Castles, palaces and court festivals in the Euskirchen district. Association of History and Home Friends of the District of Euskirchen e. V., Euskirchen 1960, p. 104.
- Hans Kisky: Castles and manors in the Rhineland. Based on old engravings and templates (= castles, palaces, mansions. Volume 15). Weidlich, Frankfurt a. M. 1960, p. 103.
- Corneel Voigt, Stefan Frankewitz : Flight over the Rhineland. Pomp, Bottrop / Essen 1996, ISBN 3-89355-138-7 , pp. 126-127.
Web links
- History of the castle and photos
- Material on Kühlseggen Castle in the Duncker Collection of the Central and State Library Berlin (PDF; 1.6 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harald Herzog: Walls, Towers and Ruins. A hiking guide to the castles and palaces in the Euskirchen district. 1990, p. 147.
- ^ Franz Schorn: Kühlseggen Castle awoke to new life. In: Kreisverwaltung Euskirchen (ed.): Home calendar for the district of Euskirchen 1965. Schiffer, Rheinberg 1965, pp. 131–143, here p. 137.
- ↑ See Harald Herzog: Castles and Palaces. History and typology of the noble seats in the Euskirchen district. 1991, p. 357.
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 2.4 ″ N , 6 ° 50 ′ 21 ″ E
