Kirchhain Castle

Kirchhain Castle
Building that was erected in 1830 on the residential tower (preserved foundation walls) of the castle
Creation time :	1344/45
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Burgstall
Standing position :	Landgraves
Place:	Kirchhain
Geographical location	50 ° 49 '13.8 "  N , 8 ° 55' 9.1"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 49 '13.8 "  N , 8 ° 55' 9.1"  E
Height:	219  m above sea level NHN

The castle Kirchhain is a Outbound hilltop castle on 219  m above sea level. NN in the small town of Kirchhain in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse .

The castle was built in 1344/45 by Landgrave Heinrich II of Hesse on today's Kirchberg, a basalt knoll protruding south into the Ohm valley and the Amöneburg basin , which rises 20 m above the lowland, as a Hessian bulwark against the approximately 3 km further Mainzische Amöneburg to the south . With the construction of the castle and the planned establishment of the town of Kirchhain under its protection shortly afterwards, the Landgrave consolidated his rule in the area in which the Teutonic Order as bailiwick had held all sovereign rights since 1234 and 1244 . In 1354, when Landgrave Heinrich II concluded an extensive settlement with Archbishop Gerlach von Nassau , the castle and town of Kirchhain were formally fiefdom , but the landgraves retained jurisdiction and de facto rule as feudal holders .

The castle was leaned directly to the northeast on the defensive wall of the churchyard at that time . According to contemporary tradition, which is formulaic and not necessarily credible, it consisted of a keep , masonry chambers , planks - palisades , moats and drawbridges . Today only the foundation wall of the almost square castle complex (about 18.5 m × 20 m) is preserved. Below the castle and the church district, the small town was founded as planned.

The castle was destroyed in the Hessian War in 1646 and not rebuilt.

literature

• 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. 254.
• Georg Wilhelm Sante (Hrsg.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany . Volume 4: Hessen (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 274). 3rd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-520-27403-5 .

Web links

• Kirchhain, Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. (As of July 23, 2012). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

Remarks

1. ↑ The archbishop had to take almost all previous Mainz possessions in Lower and Upper Hesse from the landgrave as fiefs; only Fritzlar , Amöneburg and Naumburg remained in Mainz ownership.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information about the successor building at www.kirchhain.de