Linz Castle

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Linz Castle
The Electoral Castle Linz in Linz on the Rhine

The Electoral Castle Linz in Linz on the Rhine

Creation time : 1364 to 1368
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: essential parts received
Construction: Truss
Place: Linz on the Rhine
Geographical location 50 ° 33'57.6 "  N , 7 ° 16'43.3"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 33'57.6 "  N , 7 ° 16'43.3"  E
Height: 60  m above sea level NN
Linz Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Linz Castle
Linz Castle, south side
Linz Castle, west side

The electoral castle Linz , also known as the Archbishop's Castle , is a town castle in Linz on the Rhine in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate . It was built shortly after Linz was granted city rights by the Elector and Archbishop of Cologne as a bulwark of his possessions on the right bank of the Rhine ( Trutzburg ) and as a customs castle.

location

The moated castle is located in the urban area of ​​Linz am Rhein, north of the “ Rheintor ”, which has been preserved from the city ​​fortifications , in the immediate vicinity of the Rhine and the federal highway 42 , about halfway between Cologne and Koblenz .

Linz Castle, aerial photo (2014)

history

Beginning of the first half of the 14th century was the place Linz, which was first documented in 874, by the Cologne archbishop Heinrich von Virneburg in the period 1304-1332, the town charter . A successor to this archbishop, Engelbert von der Mark , who was also elector of Cologne , began a few years later (1365) with the construction of Linz Castle. Because of an uprising of the Andernach against the elector in 1359, the sovereign Andernach removed the customs law and moved it to Linz. The construction of the castle cost the elector 30,000 Cologne marks . He had to borrow this money, which led to the fact that, after the castle was completed, he pledged it to the Archbishopric of Trier for eight years .

It can be assumed that initially the north-west tower of the wall was combined as a keep with a castle house on the west side of the castle. Only gradually, additional buildings expanded the facility. In 1456 the gatehouse, castle gate with bridge, fountain, prison and castle square with moat are listed in a partition agreement. The Linzer Landesburg was the seat of the bailiff of the electoral office of Linz , the representative of the elector, and the waiter who collected taxes and duties and administered the elector's possessions and income.

In 1475 Linz was besieged by imperial troops in the so-called “Neuss War” for more than two months, with the “strong fortress” suffering great damage.

The Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann V. von Wied , sought refuge in Linz Castle in 1547 and tried in vain to avert his excommunication and impeachment from here. Later he withdrew to his family castle Altwied .

In 1707, the elector moved the administration of the Electoral Cologne Higher Office from the Altenwied Fortress (near Neustadt ) to Linz. This required an almost complete new construction of the castle. From the late Gothic building only the foundations and the north-west tower remained. Four wings now enclosed a square inner courtyard. A moat surrounded the castle complex on the south and east sides. In the 18th century the castle was also called "Schloss Linz".

When after the secularization of 1803 princely Nassau-Usingsche administrative and judicial officials moved into the building, it consisted “of the wing facing the Rhine, which is intended as an apartment; the press houses and fruit floors , in which the office and repository are located, a remise , directly opposite, which is used as a horse and wooden stable and connects the apartment with the press houses, as well as the entrance doors and some trailers that the close fourth page. "

Linz Castle and Rheintor, before 1835

After Linz fell to Prussia in 1816 , the castle lost its "sovereign importance". The Prussian Treasury sold it in 1821 for 4,050 Reichstaler to Anton Feith, a Rhine toll inspector . The state left the moat to the city, which filled it in and used it to create the “Burgplatz”. In the first half of the 20th century, the "Feiths Burg" fell into disrepair, and in 1951 it became the property of the city, which initially housed social housing in it.

In 1973, during an external renovation, the half-timbering in the southern gable walls was exposed, and in 1985 the city sold the castle. The castle, which is now privately owned again, was extensively renovated by the "new lords" and has been a tourist attraction ever since.

investment

Linz Castle was built on the outskirts within the city walls in the north-west of the city and was part of the city fortifications. It was also secured towards the city with walls and a moat . The Niederungsburg consists of four building wings that enclose a square inner courtyard. The two- and three-story wings are partly made of half-timbering and were rebuilt several times until the 19th century. The two lower thirds of the corner tower, which are round in its two lower thirds and eight-sided in the upper part, have been preserved from the founding period with a steep Gothic roof dome . From the forecourt of the castle nothing can be seen of the former fortifications. A two-flight staircase leads to the south portal. Another entrance is in the east wing.

Todays use

The castle is also used as a tourist attraction because of its central location in the old town of Linz. Among other things, the following are offered:

  • Halls for weddings or meetings
  • A "torture chamber" in the castle dungeon
  • Roman glassworks

literature

  • Heiko Laß: The Rhine, castles and palaces from Mainz to Cologne . Michael Imhof Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-937251-64-2
  • Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich: "... like a monarch enthroned in the middle of his court". Castles on the Lower Middle Rhine . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2210-3 , pp. 100-103.

Web links

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