Mägdeberg Castle

Mägdeberg Castle
	South side of the Mägdeberg ruins
Alternative name (s):	castrum Megideberc
Creation time :	1235 and 1240
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Construction:	Cuboid
Place:	Mulhouse-Ehingen
Geographical location	47 ° 48 '19 " N , 8 ° 47' 51" E Coordinates: 47 ° 48 '19 " N , 8 ° 47' 51" E
Height:	654 m above sea level NN

The castle Mägdeberg is a medieval castle ruins 1.5 km southwest of Muhlhausen-Ehingen in the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg , Germany .

Geographical location

The castle on the wooded Mägdeberg in Hegau is of the hilltop castle type . The ruin stands at around 654 meters above sea level and is strategically located, surrounded by other castles. Hohenkrähen Castle is located in the immediate vicinity of Mägdeberg Castle, about two kilometers to the south-east, and five kilometers to the northwest near Engen, i. H. in sight, Hohenhewen Castle . The Mägdeberg ruins, which are overgrown today, are approached via Mühlhausen. There is a parking lot for hikers about 300 meters from the ruins.

history

Shell tower

The Mägdeberg seen from the Hohenkrähen

First goal

The history of Mägdeberg Castle is closely linked to the history of the village of Mühlhausen northeast of it . The Reichenau monastery had ruled the Mägdeberg and Mühlhausen since the 10th century . The castle on the Mägdeberg was built between 1235 and 1240 under the Reichenau abbot Konrad von Zimmer . It was first mentioned in 1240 as castrum Megideberc .

From 1337 the Reichenau ministerial family von Dettingen (or Tettingen) was at the castle, which they took over as pledge around 1343, together with other castles. Around this time the Counts of Württemberg and the Dukes of Austria also appeared as potential buyers. The object of contention was the castle, as both intended to expand their position in the Hegau.

In 1358 Abbot Eberhard von Brandis (1343–1379) sold the castle to the Habsburgs , the dukes Rudolf IV. , Friedrich III. , Albrecht III. and Leopold III. from Austria. About three months later, in 1359, Count Ulrich IV. And Eberhard II. Von Württemberg acquired Castle Mägdeberg, a very curious situation, since the castle apparently went from two sellers to two buyers at the same time. The Württemberg man managed to establish himself in the castle more quickly. But since the Habsburgs needed the support of Württemberg, the illegal second sale to the Counts of Württemberg had no consequences for the time being.

In 1378, due to a long-running feud between the Counts of Württemberg and the Upper Swabian cities, the castle was destroyed by troops of the Upper Swabian Association of Cities . The castle was besieged by Konstanz troops, whereupon 18 farmers from Mühlhausen deserted, and the rest of the team soon afterwards also gave up. This was one of the first sieges in Hegau with large firearms . The captured castle was then looted and destroyed.

The Mägdeberg ruins lay fallow for over 100 years until they were rebuilt in 1479 by Count Eberhard im Bart . From the Mägdeberg he besieged the neighboring Hohenkrähen Castle , as he was feuding with their masters. Now the illegal sale of 1359. avenged Thus arose about the same time Sigmund of Austria claim to the castle Mägdeberg because he insisted on the illegal purchase of the 1359th When he failed, the Austrian had an army of 3,400 men deployed in front of the castle. These included over a thousand infantry and 400 cavalry men. After a good ten days, the non-fighting siege came to an end and the castle was handed over. Around 1480/81 Eberhard im Bart finally gave up the castle entirely and it came into the possession of Austria.

From 1485 the castle ruins were rebuilt and fortified at the expense of the Archduke of Austria. After completion of the expansion around 1500, the castle was awarded as a pledge and fief by Austria. The new castle was probably built in 1545 in the southeast corner of the Burgbergring. During the German Peasants' War in 1525 , the castle was occupied by farmers from the area, but not destroyed. From 1528 to 1620 it was a fiefdom of the Lords of Reischach .

In 1633 the castle, which had the character of a fortress, was captured and looted by Swedish and Württemberg soldiers during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). In 1634 Konrad Widerholt , the commander of the fortress Hohentwiel , had the castles Mägdeberg and Hohenkrähen burned down so as not to offer any possible enemies of the fortress Hohentwiel any refuge.

The third construction of the castle took place between 1650 and 1653. This was more like a makeshift repair. The castle came to the Lords of Rost as a fief in 1657 (until 1762). In 1700 the complex was in such poor condition that it was abandoned. In 1710 the demolition of the castle began. In 1774 it came to the Counts of Enzenberg as a fief . The Ursulakapelle was closed in 1788 and its roof collapsed between 1820 and 1830.

In 1840 the castle ruins came into the possession of the Countess von Langenstein , and since 1872 the Mägdeberg has been owned by the Count Douglas von Langenstein.

Building description

The Mägdeberg in autumn 2003

The castle complex is freely accessible. The stone cuboid masonry is completely closed and in good condition, so that the shape and dimensions of the former castle have largely been preserved. The remains indicate an impressive defensive system, which, however, was by no means as impregnable as the Hohentwiel fortress . Mägdeberg Castle was destroyed three times in the 17th century. After its abandonment at the end of the 17th century, the castle was slaughtered and used as a quarry.

The fortress is divided into an upper castle ( main castle ) and a lower castle ( outer castle ). It illustrates the construction of the various sections of the Middle Ages. The summit castle dates from the high Middle Ages. The round gun turrets were built in the late Middle Ages.

Ursulakapelle

The castle was accessed from the east through the first castle gate (?). The second castle gate was reached via a gently sloping ramp-like staircase, which was supported by a wall towards the south. Its left was flanked by a huge shell tower. The castle gate had to be supported with a wooden structure as it threatened to collapse. The kennel is on the right. There is a large forecourt in front of the upper gate building. In the third castle gate, in the two-storey and thick-walled gate building to the main castle, stood the building that was last used, the Ursulakapelle, until its roof collapsed. The main castle itself stands on solid rock. In the main castle are the remains of the palace .

literature

Eberhard Dobler: Castle and rule Mägdeberg (= Hegau library. Volume 2). Association for the history of the Hegaus, Singen 1959.
Arthur Hauptmann: Castles then and now - castles and castle ruins in southern Baden and neighboring areas . Verlag Südkurier, Konstanz 1984, ISBN 3-87799-040-1 , pp. 15-17.
Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages - floor plan lexicon . Special edition. Flechsig Verlag, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-88189-360-1 , p. 389.

Web links

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