Laach Castle (Kruft)
| Laach Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alternative name (s): | Pfalzgrafenburg | |
| Creation time : | 11th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle, spur position, moth | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall | |
| Standing position : | Nobles | |
| Place: | Kruft | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 24 '27.1 " N , 7 ° 16' 44.9" E | |
| Height: | 318 m above sea level NHN | |
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Castle Laach , also Pfalzgraf Castle called, is a Salian Outbound Spur castle on Laachersee opposite the Abbey Maria Laach . The castle site is in the area of the local community Kruft in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate .
location
The castle complex of the type of a tower hill castle (Motte) was 318 m above sea level. NHN on a rock spur, which at the time was a peninsula because of the 15 m higher lake level, above the eastern shore of the lake and was temporarily the seat of the Rhineland Count Palatine . Count Palatine Heinrich von Laach from the House of Luxembourg - Gleiberg († 1095) founded the Laach Monastery ( monasterium ad lacum ) in 1093 . Laach Castle ( castellum ad lacum ) was demolished in 1112 by the stepson and adoptive son of the Count Palatine, Siegfried von Ballenstedt, at the instigation of the abbey, which wanted to be absolutely safe from interference by the lord of the castle, the Count Palatine. The loss of the castle did not mean a great loss for Siegfried, as he had another castle in the area with Rheineck Castle.
The 170 m long castle complex was divided into two sections, the oval part towards the lake, the elongated part towards the land side. A mighty neck ditch closed off the eastern land side. Two section trenches between the two castle areas offered further protection. Stone tower structures can be proven by their foundations (three square towers with 4.5 m (2) or 8 m side length). The other buildings were probably made of wood.
At the beginning of the 16th century, few remains of the castle were still visible. Today only small traces and the field names "Laacher Burg" and "Alte Burg" indicate their existence.
Remains of Roman buildings
During an excavation in 1935, the Mayen excavator Josef Krämer found Roman bricks on the summit of the mountain spur. Additional brick remains were discovered in the rock debris near the lava pit in the 1980s. This find situation suggests an originally Roman development in the area of Laach Castle. Due to the strategically favorable location and the proximity (approx. 200 meters) to a Roman court complex in the large Roßtal valley, Gerd Otto interprets these finds as the remains of a defensive system or a refuge from the late Roman period. The demolition of the facility by Siegfried von Ballenstedt appears in a new light. It is possible that the remains of a pagan wall within sight of their monastery made the monks uncomfortable.
literature
- Horst Wolfgang Böhme (Hrsg.): Castles of the Salierzeit. 2 volumes. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, ISBN 3-7995-4134-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerd Otto: In the footsteps of the Romans in the East Eifel. Sutton Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-86680-445-6 , pp. 17-20.
Web links
- Entry by Reinhard Friedrich and Jens Friedhoff on Pfalzengrafenburg in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Reconstruction drawing of Laach Castle by Wolfgang Braun