Kastellaun Castle
| Kastellaun Castle | ||
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 Castle hill with lower castle 2007 |
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| Alternative name (s): | Kestilun | |
| Creation time : | before 1248 | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, location | |
| Conservation status: | Preserved essential parts | |
| Standing position : | Count, Ministeriale | |
| Place: | Kastellaun | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 4 '15 " N , 7 ° 26' 18" E | |
| Height: | 434 m above sea level NN | |
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The Castle Kastellaun is the ruins of a hilltop castle on Castle Hill at 434 m above sea level. NN connected to the former city wall of the town of Kastellaun in the Rhein-Hunsrück district in Rhineland-Palatinate .
history
The castle, built in the 13th century, is first mentioned in 1248 in the possession of the Counts of Sponheim and in 1301 was the residence of Count Simon II of Sponheim . Hilger and Gerhard von Kestellin are mentioned in a document as early as 1226 . It is not certain whether the two named themselves after the castle or after the place.
In 1321 the castle was besieged by Archbishop Baldwin of Trier . In 1325 he built the nearby Balduinseck castle against the Sponheim lands .
When Walram von Sponheim left Kastellaun in 1340 , the castle was administered by bailiffs and castle men . After the Counts of Sponheim died out, the castle and the county fell to Margrave Bernhard von Baden and Count Friedrich von Veldenz . The two exercised the so-called common rule .
The last count of Veldenz died in 1444 and bequeathed his share of the common part to his son-in-law Stefan von Pfalz-Simmern-Zweibrücken . As a result, the rear county of Sponheim was drawn into the Palatinate sphere of interest, involved in wars and property of the Palatinate .
In 1594, the castle was the refuge of Margrave Eduard Fortunatus, who had been expelled from the Margraviate of Baden-Baden , and was again the residence.
During the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648 the castle was occupied and in 1689 it was blown up by French troops in the Palatinate War of Succession . Some of the explosives on the powder tower did not detonate, which is why one side of it is still preserved today. Kastellaun Castle was not rebuilt afterwards.
In 1820 the ruin came into private ownership, in 1884 the town of Kastellaun bought it and carried out the first security measures. From 1990 to 1993 the castle hill and the castle ruins were renovated, the lower castle and access road were rebuilt.
description
The castle is divided into a main and a bailey . On the main castle are the remains of the keep , the curtain wall and two residential buildings. The older east building dates from the 14th century, the cellar was rediscovered during excavations (1990–93). The highly visible residue on the west side of the main castle dates from the eastern Palas and the subsequent square Powder Tower . Both buildings were probably built in the 16th century. A kennel is located in front of the city to the east . In the outer bailey there are two new buildings on old foundations. The original entrance was in the gate tower at the northern tip. Today's approach is modern.
Todays use
The former hall of the castle is now used as an open-air stage for theater performances.
In the castle cellar and parts of the lower castle, which was rebuilt in 2006/2007 on old foundations, the gastronomy has moved and offers, among other things, knight's meals in a medieval ambience. The town of Kastellaun also offers a child-friendly leisure program at the castle on Sundays in summer. Other special events attract a particularly large number of visitors to the ruins.
A documentation center was inaugurated in the lower castle on September 9, 2007. It links up with the most important events in the region from prehistory to the present. As the “House of Regional History”, the main stages of the Celtic and Roman past of the Kastellauner Land are presented on the ground floor . A reconstruction of the Beller chariot grave found in 1938 , remains of Celtic clay vessels, clothing brooches and jewelry as well as the model of a Roman legionnaire's helmet give an impression of how our ancestors once lived. The first floor traces the medieval life of knights and nobles in the Hunsrück castles. On the upper floor there are model replicas and information about the former Pydna missile station and the Hunsrück peace movement , as well as its current use as a Bundeswehr location and festival site ( Nature One ).
literature
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich u. Achim Wendt: "... where a mighty tower defiantly looks down". Castles in the Hunsrück and on the Nahe , Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2493-0 , pp. 90–95.
- Hubert Leifeldt: Kastellaun Castle - New research on a native castle in the Hunsrück , in: Olaf Wagener (Ed.): The castles on the Mosel. Files from the 2nd international scientific conference in Oberfell an der Mosel , Koblenz 2007, pp. 168–189
- Gustav Schellack, Willi Wagner: Castles and palaces in the Hunsrück . Cologne 1979
- Gustav Schellack, Willi Wagner: Castles and palaces in the Hunsrück, Nahe and Moselle regions . Kastellaun 1976
