Möckmühl Castle

Möckmühl Castle
Möckmühl Castle
Alternative name (s):	Gotzenburg
Creation time :	1251
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Standing position :	Unknown assignment
Place:	Möckmühl
Geographical location	49 ° 19 '29 "  N , 9 ° 21' 38"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 19 '29 "  N , 9 ° 21' 38"  E

The Burg Möckmühl , even Götzenburg called, is a high medieval hilltop castle in Möckmühl in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Wuerttemberg .

location

The Württemberg Burg Möckmühl once shielded the intersection of several customs and conduct streets at the confluence of Seckach in the Jagst . The most important of these routes led from Würzburg to Wimpfen and was already important for the Romans to defend the Limes .

history

It is not known by whom the castle was built. It was probably the noble lords of Dürn , at least not the lords of Möckmühl who appeared around 1150 and died out early. In 1258, after the death of Konrad von Dürn, the castle, first mentioned shortly before (1251), came to his widow Mechtild, last Countess von Lauffen , who served Möckmühl Castle as his seat and personal property for 18 years .

When Mechtild's grandson Count Poppo von Dürn married Agnes von Hohenlohe, Möckmühl's property passed to his wife's family in 1287. She stayed there until 1445. The lord of the castle Albrecht von Hohenlohe († 1338) killed the son of Bavarian Duke Ludwig in a tournament in 1290 , which he tried to atone for through large donations to churches and monasteries. In 1379 the Hohenlohe founded a canon monastery in front of the castle gate, the church of which was destroyed when the French invaded in 1642.

Möckmühl Castle around 1870, oil painting by Karl Weysser

Moved to the Electoral Palatinate in 1445 , Möckmühl became an inheritance in 1451 of the widow of Elector Ludwig , who married Count Ulrich the much-loved of Württemberg in 1453 , whereby the castle and town fell to the House of Württemberg, which was not without hard conflicts. In 1519 Götz von Berlichingen defended Möckmühl Castle as Vogt Duke Ulrichs von Württemberg against the Swabian Confederation and was taken prisoner in the event of a failure, as his notes report. He is said to have responded to the request to surrender with the familiar words "He kahn mich hinden lekhen!"

Rear view

In 1781 the castle building was demolished and in 1829 the city bought it, from Gustav Hermann von Alvensleben (1827–1905), commanding general of the XIII. Army corps that "Götzenburg" acquired in 1902. Expanded by him, the castle with the now raised gable and its keep towers over the city ​​and is visible from afar.

The building, badly damaged by the artillery bombardment of 1945, was restored by Achaz von Alvensleben (1888–1976). In the post-war years, the writer Paul Brock lived temporarily in the castle. The castle remained in the possession of the von Alvensleben family until 1996 and is still privately owned to this day. From 2011 the castle was converted into the ashram of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math group , which belongs to the Hare Krishna movement . In 2017, a real estate agent sold the castle to a former investment banker who wants to live in the castle with his family; Möckmühl was not international enough for the Hare Krishna group.

investment

Circular wall with defense towers

Built in a pentagon, the castle rises, integrated into the city ​​fortifications by side walls, with corner bastions on a narrow rocky ridge. The oldest part is the round keep, now called the "Götzenturm". Its Romanesque manhole is at a height of thirteen meters. The northwest tower is also old. The former shield wall in the east no longer exists. The preserved curtain wall of the castle surrounds the castle building and both towers . An arch bridge leads into the inner courtyard. The original condition has been handed down through engravings by Matthäus Merian and D. Meissner.

Culture

Architecture and love poetry flourished in the vicinity of Konrad and Mechtild von Dürn. Romanesque remains of the Wildenburg near Amorbach go back to them. The minstrels Gottfried von Hohenlohe and Konrad von Brauneck were relatives of the house. Wolfram von Eschenbach was close to the Dürns. With them he created part of his " Parzival ". Albrecht Pilgrim von Buchheim, Ministerialer and Mechtilds Lehnsmann , can be found in their entourage from 1274 to 1282; He was equated by some researchers with the minstrel von Buchein , the alleged author of five songs in the Manessian manuscript .

swell

1. ↑ Klaus Kühnel: Götz von Berlichingen is captured. 485 years ago . Calendar sheet from May 11, 2004 on DeutschlandRadio Berlin ( Memento from October 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ http://scsmath.org/deutsch/
3. ↑ Petra Müller-Kromer: The new owner moves into the castle with his family . In: Heilbronner Voice , July 5, 2017

Web links

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