Kriebstein Castle

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Kriebstein Castle
Kriebstein Castle

Kriebstein Castle

Creation time : after 1384
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Receive
Place: Kriebstein
Geographical location 51 ° 2 '32.5 "  N , 13 ° 1' 3.2"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 2 '32.5 "  N , 13 ° 1' 3.2"  E
Kriebstein Castle (Saxony)
Kriebstein Castle

The Castle Kriebstein is a corporation founded in the 14th century castle in the same community Kriebstein near the town of Waldheim in Saxony .

Geographical location

The castle rises on a steep cliff above the Zschopau in Kriebstein. Within the topographical group of hilltop castles , it embodies the spur castle type : it lies on the outermost foothill of a mountain spur surrounded by the Zschopau in a wide arc on three sides .

description

Kriebstein Castle. In the center of the residential tower from 1399
Castle access via the neck ditch (north side)

The rock that supports the castle is separated from the rising hinterland by an artificially sunk neck ditch . Typologically, Kriebstein represents the combination of a tower castle with a ring castle with an oval floor plan.

The monumental residential tower from around 1399 rises as a dominant feature on the highest cliff. With an edge length of 22 m × 12 m, the tower reaches a height of 45 meters up to the weather vane. Its late medieval oriel tower and the roof turret determine the charming image of the castle with the unmistakable roof silhouette. The tower-like gatehouse , the circular wall with the utility wing, the kitchen and other additions, including the chapel wing , are grouped around the residential tower .

To the east of the chapel wing are the two-bay, rib-vaulted Gothic hall and the rear castle. This building complex directly above the steep slope of the Zschopau is combined by a continuous upper floor from the 17th century. Immediately next to the residential tower, in the center of the castle, is the late Gothic kitchen building. The entire facility is closed by an economic wing, which u. a. the ballroom (now used as a concert and event hall; weddings also take place in the castle) and the fountain room, as well as the northern defensive wall , which again joins the gatehouse.

history

Carl Friedrich Lessing : Kriebstein Castle, around 1840
1890-1900

Before the Lords of Beerwalde founded Kriebstein Castle in the 14th century, they lived on a tower hill castle, the Waal, which was located in the village of Beerwalde and can still be seen in remains today. When Kriebstein Castle was founded, it became the residence and manor of the von Beerwalde family, whose property included the towns of Waldheim and Hartha as early as 1400. Due to the first documented mention of the castle, according to which Dietrich von Beerwalde committed himself in 1384 to “build the krywenstein on which his father sat”, the castle that stands today can be seen as a uniform building for Dietrich. These include, above all, the residential tower (roof structure in 1399), the chapel built as a single building with this, and the circular wall with the gatehouse. Only small remnants of his father's predecessor have survived. In 1407 Dietrich von Beerwalde was enfeoffed again with Kriebstein. After Dietrich's death in 1408, the rule of Kriebstein fell to his widow Elisabeth and, after her death, to his daughter Klara as personal treasures .

With the acquisition of the castle and rule of Kriebstein by Hugold III. von Schleinitz in 1465 began the second significant epoch in the history of the castle. Schleinitz, as chief marshal of Elector Ernst and Duke Albrecht, entrusted Arnold von Westfalen , the Wettin court architect and designer of the Albrechtsburg in Meissen , with major renovations and extensions from 1471 . The forms created by this outstanding master builder can also be found in this building. Master Arnold von Westfalen managed the renovation and new construction of the economic wing with the “new dance hall” and the well room as well as the so-called “rear castle” and the new construction of the kitchen house, whose typical window shapes bear witness to his activity.

With the above-mentioned construction project, Kriebstein Castle received its expansion that is still visible today. Despite later extensions and structural changes, it was able to retain its Gothic character up to the present day. After Hugold von Schleinitz's death in 1490, there were frequent changes of ownership without major construction activity. Under Georg von Carlowitz (1544–1550), the Kriebstein rule with villages and the two towns of Waldheim and Hartha reached its greatest territorial extent.

The last third of the 17th century was characterized by brisk building activity under the rule of von Schönberg . The additions to the extensions adjoining the residential tower and the gatehouse as well as the stairwell between these two structures were built. The inscriptions on the weather vanes on the roof turrets of the residential tower and the gatehouse still remind us of the more modest structural measures taken by the Lords of Milkau . In 1825 Hanscarl von Arnim acquired Kriebstein from Planitz near Zwickau, which remained in the possession of the von Arnim family until 1945. Under the direction of the court architect Karl Moritz Haenel , the castle underwent radical changes in the years 1866–1868 in terms of practical use, in the forms of Neo-Gothic . These last major structural changes are dignified in their execution, but bring a certain ambiguity to the monumental medieval structure. In addition to a partial change in the room layout inside, a building in the utility wing was reduced by two floors and the northern defensive wall was gradually demolished with the loss of the wooden battlements , but an area of ​​the circular wall was also secured by supporting buttresses. The modifications to the kitchen house are serious. The original half-timbered building with a half- hipped roof has been massively replaced and the huge chimney and hearth torn down.

Parts of Kriebstein Castle were opened to the public for inspection as early as 1930. It is noteworthy that the castle complex was always carefully maintained by the von Arnim family and extensive restoration work (chapel) was carried out without government subsidies. This commitment contributed significantly to the reputation of "the most beautiful knight's castle in Saxony". After the expropriation of the von Arnim family in September 1945, the castle was now "nationally owned" - initially used for residential purposes and by the forest administration. The museum was able to reopen on August 6, 1949.

In 1986 the Kriebstein treasure was found in the residential tower . It was part of the property that Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff had saved from his Steinort Castle in East Prussia from the invasion of the Red Army . Cultural property from Dresden collections was also moved to Kriebstein Castle because of the air raids on Dresden .

Kriebstein Castle and its museum have been owned by the Free State of Saxony since January 1, 1993 and are subordinate to the state enterprise "State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony". On February 12, 2010, the state of Saxony and the Lehndorff community of heirs agreed that 423 works of art would be returned in 2011.

The castle is the station of the Luther Trail .

In the media

Postage stamp of the German Post of the GDR from the series Castles

Kriebstein Castle has already served as the location for a number of films / series (selection):

It is also shown on a series of GDR stamps (see picture).

literature

  • Cornelius Gurlitt : Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kgr. Saxony. Issue 25. Ah. Döbeln, Dresden 1903, pp. 87-104.
  • Otto Eduard Schmidt : Kriebstein Castle - A monument to Central German history and culture . In: Messages from the Saxon Homeland Security Association . Volume 23, Issue 9-12, 1934, pp. 193-232.
  • Otto Eduard Schmidt: The medieval frescoes of the castle chapel at Kriebstein . In: Messages from the Saxon Homeland Security Association . Volume 27, Issue 1-4, 1938, pp. 43-51.
  • Jochen Pfob: How old is Kriebstein Castle actually? In: Erzgebirgische Heimatblätter. No. 3, 1980, ISSN  0232-6078 , pp. 64-65.
  • Wolfgang Schwabenicky : The high medieval fortification "Waal" in Beerwalde, Kr. Hainichen . In: Work and research reports on the preservation of monuments in Saxony . Issue 24/25. Berlin 1982, pp. 311-382.
  • Bernd Wippert: On the building history of Kriebstein Castle. In: Messages of the Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz e. V. No. 2, 1993, ISSN  0941-1151 , pp. 11-15.
  • Peter Petersen: Dendrochronological studies at Kriebstein Castle / Saxony . In: Research on castles and palaces . Volume 1. Wartburg Society, Munich, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-422-06136-3 , pp. 95-103.
  • Bernd Wippert: A "forgotten" vault - brought back to life. The treasure vault at Kriebstein Castle . In: Sächsische Schlösserverwaltung (Hrsg.): Yearbook 1995 of the state palaces, castles and gardens in Saxony . Dresden undated, pp. 179-183.
  • Wolfgang Schwabenicky: The beginnings of the castle and rule Kriebstein. In: Schwabenicky, Wolfgang (Ed.): Archeology and Building History - Research Reports from the District of Hainichen , Mittweida 1994, pp. 5–16.
  • Bernd Wippert, Gabriele Wippert: Kriebstein Castle (= DKV art guide . No. 548). Munich, Berlin (2000).
  • Bernd Wippert, Gabriele Wippert: Kriebstein Castle. Edition Leipzig, 2013, ISBN 978-3-361-00690-4
  • Bernd Wippert: The Kriebstein Room at Kriebstein Castle . In: Sächsische Schlösserverwaltung in the State Office for Finance (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the state palaces, castles and gardens in Saxony . Volume 7. Dresden 2001, pp. 30-37.
  • Peter Petersen, Bernd Wippert: Kriebstein Castle. An architecture guide. Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-361-00560-4 .
  • Peter Petersen, Bernd Wippert: Kriebstein Castle. On the change in lower-nobility ideas of living in the 15th century . In: Burgenbau im Late Mittelalter II (= research on castles and palaces . Volume 12). Wartburg Society, Munich, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-422-06895-7 , pp. 79-94.
  • Annette Binninger: The Kriebstein treasure is returning home to East Prussia . In: Saxon newspaper . Issue from 13./14. February 2010.
  • François Maher Presley : Waldheim in Mittelachsen , in-Cultura.com , Hamburg 2015, pp. 130–147, ISBN 978-3-930727-44-5 .
  • François Maher Presley: Waldheim Top 25 , in-Cultura.com , Hamburg 2017, pp. 12–16, ISBN 978-3-930727-55-1 .

Web links

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

swell

  • First documentary mention of Kriebstein Castle on October 4, 1384, original in the main state archive in Dresden, financial archive document No. 44/65.