Leofels Castle

Leofels Castle
	Shield wall of Leofels Castle
Alternative name (s):	Lewenfels
Creation time :	around 1220 to 1250
Castle type :	Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status:	ruin
Construction:	Humpback cuboid
Place:	Ilshofen- Leofels
Geographical location	49 ° 12 '30 " N , 9 ° 54' 58" E Coordinates: 49 ° 12 '30 " N , 9 ° 54' 58" E
Height:	405 m above sea level NN

The castle Leofels even Lewenfels called, is a Stauffer period castle in the same place (in the local dialect: "Läâfls" [ lɛə̯fl̩s ]) in the field of city Ilshofen in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Wuerttemberg , which since 1976 also the owner of the plant is. The name refers to Latin leo (German lion); a mention of the early 14th century is called "Lewenfels".

location

The ruin of the Spornburg lies at about 405 m above sea level. NN above the Jagsttal on a valley spur, which is bordered southwest by the small creek cut of the only 800 meter long Jagst tributary Leofelser Bach and east by a small old southern valley bay of the Jagst, and occupies its northwestern tip. On the rest of the area, the houses of the hamlet of Leofels are located, rising south to the hilly, arable Ilshofen plain . North in the valley on the other side of the Jagst, the hamlet of Hessenau is about 400 meters away. Hessenau is an old mill Weiler to about 310 320 m above sea level. NN , which is connected from Leofels with a Steigenstraße , which then continues down into the Jagsttal, while the valley above is impassable.

history

Leofels Castle before the demolition

The castle was built at the time of Emperor Friedrich II . In 1333 the Bishop of Würzburg sold it to Ulrich III. of Württemberg . Haug von Vellberg lived in the castle from 1399 and acquired it as a Württemberg fief in 1409 . In 1468 it passed entirely to the Lords of Vellberg. After the death of the Konz von Vellberg, who left no heirs, it returned to Württemberg in 1592 and was probably no longer inhabited since then.

In 1707 lightning struck the castle. In the 19th century, usable parts such as roof tiles were still sold. Without the protective roof, the buildings quickly decayed. The keep was demolished in the 18th century.

From 1979 to 2000 the folk festival Burgruine Leofels (later Festival Burgruine Leofels) took place almost annually in and around the ruins . The organizer was the now dissolved association Festival Leofels e. V. Alongside many other well-known artists, Long John Baldry , Whippersnapper, Liederjan , Colin Wilkie , Das third Ohr , Albion Band , Paul Millns , Thomas Felder , Oisin, Linnenzworch , Praxis, Emma Myldenberger, Peter Kirtley and Lilienthal performed there.

The castle is used for theater performances and concerts in summer.

description

The castle complex has a well-preserved shield wall with humpback blocks and is dated to around 1230. It is believed that Leofels was an imperial castle .

Information board
Row of windows
Single window
Interior view of the ruin
View of the inner wall
View over the Jagsttal

Redevelopment

The castle ruins were completely renovated from 2013 to 2016, which is why there were no castle spectacles there in those years. The old noodle factory in Gerabronn served as an alternative . The renovation measures are expected to cost around one million euros.

literature

Alois Schneider: The castles in the Schwäbisch Hall district - an inventory. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1228-7 , pp. 116-120.
Thomas Biller: The building history of Leofels Castle , Ostfildern: Thorbecke 2020, ISBN 978-3-7995-1471-2 .

Web links

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