Kaysersberg Castle

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View of Kaysersberg Castle from the east

The castle Kaysersberg ( French Château de Kaysersberg ) sometimes, Schlossberg called, which is ruin a hillside castle in the Alsatian village of Kaysersberg about ten kilometers northwest of Colmar in the north of the department of Haut-Rhin . Its name comes from the fact that it was an imperial foundation.

The roots of the plant go back to the 13th century. Expanded in the 14th century, the last structural changes were made in the second half of the 16th century. After the end of the Thirty Years' War , however , the castle was ruined and uninhabited due to numerous sieges and fighting. After 1795 the area was used as a vineyard, for which a lot of building fabric was laid down and the terrain leveled. Today only the keep and parts of the curtain wall are preserved.

The core of the castle has been under monument protection as a monument historique since October 1, 1841 . The remains of the curtain wall connected to the fortifications of the place were added to the French national list of monuments on September 18, 1995 .

Much of the castle grounds are now used as a private garden and are not open to the public. The smaller, northern part of the castle with its keep can be visited.

history

Kaysersberg Castle was first mentioned in a document in 1227. In that year bought King Henry VII. Conrad of Horburg and Anselm of Rappoltstein for the princely sum of 250 silver marks all rights to the kingdom of vogt Wölfelin from on land not built fortifications. It was supposed to control the important trade route from Colmar via the Diedolshauser Pass to the east and thus one of the main routes between Alsace and Lorraine . At the time it was first mentioned, the castle was still very young and probably just under construction. The claim that it existed as early as the 12th century is based on the translation error of a passage from the Chronicle of Richer von Senones . At the same time as the castle, a suburbium was created which, according to reports , could accommodate the castle mansion of 40  knights and which today forms the core of the city of Kaysersberg. The dimensions of the facility were probably still quite modest in the beginning. It consisted of the keep and perhaps a not particularly large manorial building and a maximum of two to three Burgmannen houses. With the exception of the stone tower , the buildings were made of wood.

In the dispute between Emperor Friedrich II. And Pope Innocent IV. Heinrich III destroyed . von Stahleck , the Bishop of Strasbourg , fortifications of the Hohenstaufen in Alsatian territory. In 1246/1247 he therefore besieged the castle and town of Kaysersberg; but unsuccessful. Only when the Kaysersbergers were threatened with excommunication did they give up their resistance. The following year, the Lorraine Duke Matthew II occupied the complex, but promised to hand it over to King William of Holland five years later . In 1261 the castle was owned by Bishop Walter von Geroldseck , who was in dispute with the city of Strasbourg. Rudolf von Habsburg took Kaysersberg as their ally and had all wooden constructions replaced by buildings made of stone. Its expansion, however, was not designed for representation, but purely functional. After he became king in 1273, he gave the castle to castle men as a fief .

The castle ruins in 1785, colored pen drawing by François Walter

In 1330, Ludwig the Bavarian pledged the castle and town to the Bohemian King Johann , but on August 9, 1336, after a brief siege by the governor and the imperial estates, they were taken away from him. From then on, an imperial bailiff managed the castle complex. In 1379/1380 the curtain wall was raised by four meters. At the same time, a new, larger residential building was built on the east side of the inner castle in 1380. In the Middle Ages , the complex was used more often as a pledge, for example it was pledged to Wenzel I of Luxembourg and Konrad Stürtzel , Chancellor of Maximilian I. In 1444 it successfully withstood a siege by the Armagnacs . While the lower castle was probably abandoned in the 15th century, structural changes were made in and on the upper castle during the same period. This included the erection of a round building between the keep and the residential building and the relocation of the dividing wall between the upper and lower castle to the south. A new castle gate was also broken out in the east side of the curtain wall, which enabled direct access to the main castle. Previously, this area was only accessible from the lower castle.

In 1444 the complex was defensive enough to withstand a siege during the Hundred Years 'War , but its defenses during the German Peasants' War were not sufficient to keep the insurgents out. These had positioned cannons against the castle, and after several hours of bombardment, the crew of Kaysersberg had to capitulate on May 18, 1525 . Under Lazarus von Schwendi , Imperial Councilor of Charles V , the system was reinforced again in 1583 to adapt it to modern firearms. The crenellations of the keep received embrasures , the pinnacles shooting window shutters, and behind it walkway was covered. But already around 1600 the castle was considered dilapidated. Nevertheless, it was able to withstand two more sieges in the Thirty Years' War in 1635 and 1636. The fighting contributed significantly to the further deterioration of the facility, so that in 1648 it was completely ruined and uninhabited. The French King Louis XIV , to whom the castle and town had come under the Peace of Westphalia , did not allow the reconstruction of the complex because he was of the opinion that it would be pointless.

View of the castle from the north, mid-19th century.

Confiscated during the French Revolution , the castle ruins were sold to Franz Josef Böcklin von Böcklinsau in 1796 . He had all the buildings with the exception of the massive keep demolished and the castle grounds were partially blasted and then used as a vineyard. The property later passed to the Bastard family and finally to Charles-Sylvestre Rieff , President of the Cour d'appel in Colmar. He left the area of ​​the core castle to the Society for the Preservation of the Historical Monuments of Alsace ( Société pour la Conservation des Monuments Historiques dʼAlsace ). She had the ruins structurally secured in the period from 1865 to 1869 and the complex opened up for tourism through two routes. The east entrance, which had been walled up in the meantime, was reopened and a ground-level entrance to the keep was created. In 1899 the realm of Alsace-Lorraine acquired the castle, so that it fell to the French state after the First World War . During the Second World War , the crew of an American tank shot at the keep because German soldiers had barricaded themselves there. The resulting damage was removed in 1955 as part of repair work.

In the course of restoration work , archaeological excavations and construction studies took place between 1995 and 1998 . For example, the foundation walls of the former residential building were uncovered and dendrochronological studies were carried out to clarify the construction history of the curtain wall. The castle ruins belonged to the French state until the end of 2007, from January 2008 to the municipality of Kaysersberg, and since the beginning of 2016 the Commune nouvelle Kaysersberg Vignoble has been the owner.

description

location

The castle ruin stands 295 meters above sea level on the western slope of the Schlossberg, about 50 meters above the village of Kaysersberg and dominates the townscape. It is located at the northern tip of the former city wall, which was built using the same technique as the castle walls. The complex overlooks the wooded Weiss valley leading out of the Vosges . A footpath leads along vineyards up to the castle complex, whose core castle can be visited all year round.

architecture

Schematic floor plan of the castle

The architecturally almost completely unadorned castle complex is divided into two parts. At the highest point of the area is a small core castle, which is called the upper castle due to its location. To the south of this lies the much larger outer bailey, which is called the lower castle. The two areas are separated from each other by a wall. The building material used was the Grauwacke on the mountain , which may have come from a rudimentary quarry north of the shield wall . Large chunks are built into the keep, otherwise small rubble was used. Some corner braces and garments are made of granite .

Lower castle

Only the polygonal ring wall and minimal traces of a former perimeter development are preserved of the lower castle . The area covers an area of ​​2.8  hectares and was even larger until the 15th century, before the dividing wall to the upper castle was moved to the south. The location of the former wall is now indicated by paving in the ground. The surrounding wall has almost no openings, only on the east side there are a few high slits and an access gate from the 13th century, which is not accessible to visitors. A second, same old gate on the west side of the lower castle is walled up. On the inside of the curtain wall, preserved console stones testify to a former wooden battlement .

Oberburg

The upper castle in the north has an approximately triangular floor plan with an area of ​​276 m². Excavations in the 1990s showed that it was created in four phases. The keep was built in the first quarter of the 13th century and was surrounded by a stone ring and shield wall between 1264 and 1268. In a third construction phase, 1379/1380, the walls were raised and a residential building was erected before the crenellated crown of the keep and the curtain wall were changed one last time in the second half of the 15th century.

The northern tip of the Kernburg-Bering facing the attack side is designed as a shield wall made of humpback ashlars. On its east side it is still 14 meters high. However, at 1.26 meters, it is no thicker than the average of the rest of the circular wall, which is about 7.50 meters high. As in the lower castle, the location of the former parapet walk can be traced using the still existing console stones. The parapet there was 2.40 meters high. The top is protected from the rising mountain ridge to the north by a small neck ditch in front of it . Another, now only very shallow neck ditch protected the inner castle on its east side. Its width used to be about eight meters. Access to the upper castle also took place from this side from the 15th century. A barbican was placed in front of the gate for protection , which after 1415 could only be reached via a drawbridge . A large cross notch from the 15th century built next to the gate also protected the entrance.

Keep

The keep of the castle stands just 30 centimeters behind the shield wall and thus also covered the attack side. The tower is one of the first examples of such a round keep on the Upper Rhine and is similar to the main tower of the Pflixburg . It was designed as a purely fortified tower and not habitable, which is evident, for example, from the lack of toilets . Its masonry was probably plastered earlier . The tower height is 24.8 meters with an outer diameter of 11.2 meters. Due to its four meter thick walls, its interior is only 2.4 meters in diameter. This was divided into four floors. The ground floor, which was then lightless, served as a dungeon . The floor above was nine meters high and received sparse illumination from a single slit of light. Some of the consoles for their wooden floor have been preserved. The second floor served as a warehouse. The weir plate on the roof was accessible from there. Today, a modern leading spiral staircase made of concrete from the ground floor there. The pinnacle wreath there received adjustments for firearms such as arquebuses and field snakes in the late Middle Ages . However, it is only original up to a height of 0.55 meters, the rest is a reconstruction. Today's entrance on the ground floor of the keep replaced the original high entrance on the south side of the tower at a height of 10.6 meters in the 19th century . This arched gate has a cladding made of flat humpback blocks, is 1.80 meters high and 0.73 meters wide. It used to be accessible via a wooden balcony in front of which three corbels are still preserved.

A 9.2 × 7.7 meter residential building with three storeys, which leaned against the curtain wall from the inside, had stood southeast of the keep since 1380. Opposite him was another large building on the west side of the main castle. Its floor plan was 8.4 × 11.3 meters. In addition to a cellar, it had two floors above ground. In the 15th century, a round building with an inner diameter of around five meters was built between the keep and the residential building. Its function is unknown.

literature

  • Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The castle building of the Staufer in Alsace. In: Volker Herzner, Jürgen Krüger (eds.): Castle and Church of the Staufer Period (files from the 1st Landau Staufer Conference 1997). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2001, ISBN 3-7954-1410-5 , pp. 76–110, here pp. 80, 88–92, 97–98.
  • Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250) (= The castles of Alsace. Architecture and history. Volume 2). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-06635-9 , pp. 288–295.
  • Fritz Bouchholtz: Castles and palaces in Alsace. Based on old templates (= castles, palaces, mansions. Volume 24). Weidlich, Frankfurt a. M. 1962, pp. 122-124.
  • Jacky Koch: Bois dʼéchafaudages et de construction au château de Kaysersberg (Haut-Rhin). In: Jean-Michel Poisson, Jean-Jacques Schwien (eds.): Le bois dans le château de pierre au moyen âge. Actes du colloque de Lons-le-Saunier, 23-25 ​​October 1997 (= Annales littéraires de lʼUniversité de Franche-Comté. "Architecture" series, volume 742-743). Presses Universitaires Franc-Comtoises, Besançon 2003, ISBN 2-84627-037-6 , pp. 294-310 (excerpts from Google Books ).
  • Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). 2 volumes. Dissertation at the Université de Lorraine. Nancy 2012, especially Volume 2, pp. 271–292, 387–404.
  • Jacky Koch: Le château de Kaysersberg, à la lumière des dernières observations archéologiques. In: 4 sociétés dʼhistoire de la vallée de la Weiss. Annuaire 1996. Ammerschwihr 1996, ISSN  0765-1252 , pp. 49-57 ( digitized version ).
  • Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales dʼAlsace. Dictionnaire dʼhistoire et dʼarchitecture. La Nuée Bleue, Strasbourg 2013, ISBN 978-2-7165-0828-5 , pp. 173-175.
  • Gilbert Charles Meyer, Georges Bischoff: Kaysersberg. In: Roland Recht (Ed.): Le Guide des châteaux de France. Haut-Rhin. Hermé, Paris 1986, ISBN 2-86665-025-5 , pp. 81-84.
  • Charles-Laurent Salch: Nouveau Dictionnaire des Châteaux Forts dʼAlsace. Alsatia, Strasbourg 1991, ISBN 2-7032-0193-1 , pp. 168-170.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Entry no.PA00085474 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ^ A b Charles-Laurent Salch: Nouveau Dictionnaire des Châteaux Forts dʼAlsace. 1991, p. 169.
  3. ↑ Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The castle building of the Staufer in Alsace. 2001, p. 98.
  4. ↑ a b c d Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250). 2007, p. 288.
  5. ↑ Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The castle building of the Staufer in Alsace. 2001, p. 97.
  6. ↑ Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The castle building of the Staufer in Alsace. 2001, p. 88.
  7. ↑ a b c d Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250). 2007, p. 293.
  8. ^ Charles-Laurent Salch: Atlas des châteaux forts en France. 19th edition. Publitotal, Strasbourg 1988, p. 648.
  9. ↑ Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales d'Alsace. 2013, p. 173.
  10. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 275.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Entry No. IA68000579 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  12. ↑ a b Jacky Koch: Bois dʼéchafaudages et de construction au château de Kaysersberg (Haut-Rhin). 2003, p. 304.
  13. ↑ Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales d'Alsace. 2013, pp. 173, 175.
  14. ↑ a b Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales d'Alsace. 2013, p. 175.
  15. ↑ Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250). 2007, p. 294.
  16. ^ A b Gilbert Charles Meyer, Georges Bischoff: Kaysersberg. 1986, p. 82.
  17. ^ Fritz Bouchholtz: Castles and palaces in Alsace. According to old templates. 1962, p. 123.
  18. ^ Séance générale de Colmar du 6 July 1870. In: Bulletin de la Société pour la Conservation des Monuments Historiques dʼAlsace. 2nd series, volume 8, part 1. Berger-Levrault & Cie. Paris 1872, p. 30 ( digitized version ).
  19. ↑ a b Séance générale de Colmar du 6 June 1870. In: Bulletin de la Société pour la Conservation des Monuments Historiques dʼAlsace. 2nd series, volume 8, part 1. Berger-Levrault & Cie. Paris 1872, pp. 30–31 ( digitized version ).
  20. ↑ Information on the castle ruins on chateau.over-blog.net , accessed on May 14, 2018.
  21. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 282, note 238.
  22. ↑ Jacky Koch: Bois dʼéchafaudages et de construction au château de Kaysersberg (Haut-Rhin). 2003, p. 39.
  23. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 278.
  24. ^ Thomas Biller: Architecture of the defensive. The development of the noble castle in Alsace 1150-1250. In: Karl Clausberg: Buildings and images in the high Middle Ages. Illustrative contributions to cultural and social history. Anabas, Giessen 1981, ISBN 3-87038-082-9 , p. 75.
  25. ^ A b Charles-Laurent Salch: Nouveau Dictionnaire des Châteaux Forts dʼAlsace. 1991, p. 168.
  26. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 282.
  27. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 388.
  28. ↑ Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250). 2007, p. 292.
  29. ↑ a b Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 393.
  30. ↑ a b c d Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The late Romanesque castle building in Alsace (1200-1250). 2007, p. 290.
  31. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 394.
  32. ↑ Jacky Koch: Bois dʼéchafaudages et de construction au château de Kaysersberg (Haut-Rhin). 2003, p. 162.
  33. ^ Jean Wirth: Les Châteaux-forts Alsaciens du XIIe au XIVe siècle (= Recherches sur les châteaux forts Alsaciens. Volume 2). Center dʼArchéologie Médiévale de Strasbourg, Colmar / Strasbourg 1975, p. 92.
  34. ↑ a b Jacky Koch: Bois dʼéchafaudages et de construction au château de Kaysersberg (Haut-Rhin). 2003, p. 161.
  35. ↑ Information on Nicolas Mengus' castle on the Châteaux Forts d'Alsace Association website , accessed on May 15, 2018.
  36. ↑ Jacky Koch: Lʼart de bâtir dans les châteaux forts en Alsace (Xe – XIIIe siècle). Volume 2. 2012, p. 289.

Coordinates: 48 ° 8 '25.1 "  N , 7 ° 15' 44.3"  E