Münstereifel Castle
| Münstereifel Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Münstereifel Castle, aerial photo (2015) |
||
| Alternative name (s): | State castle Münstereifel | |
| Creation time : | 13./14. century | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, hillside location | |
| Conservation status: | Preserved essential parts | |
| Standing position : | Landesburg | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Bad Münstereifel | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 33 '16.6 " N , 6 ° 45' 55.8" E | |
| Height: | 295 m above sea level NHN | |
|
||
The castle Münstereifel is the ruin of a country castle and stands high above the spa town of Bad Münstereifel in Euskirchen ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ) on a steeply for Erft sloping hillside.
The hillside castle was largely laid out in the 13th century under Walram von Bergheim and completed in the 14th century by Gottfried von Bergheim. (Gottfried was a brother of Wilhelm von Jülich ). Gottfried received the rule of Bergheim and Münstereifel. He is buried in a high grave in the collegiate church. They later appointed officials as administrators. From the years 1559/60 there are invoices for construction work on the windows. These construction measures were supported by the ducal builder Alessandro Pasqualini and his advice.
The castle served as a residence for the lords of Bergheim and was first mentioned in 1317.
In the 15th century castle, city and department Münstereifel belonged to the Duchy of Jülich , in advance of the so-called Hubertus battle in 1444 where several local there were knightly , horsemen and Burg men for the corresponding array Duke Gerhard of Julich-Berg patterned.
The state castle of the dukes of Jülich was set on fire by French troops in 1689. Nothing is known about their previous appearance. After this time only bailiffs and waiters sat in the half-destroyed castle . In 1809 the last ducal bailiff, Johann Peter de Requilé, bought the ruin, which he used as a quarry . In 1879 a dance hall was built in the northwest corner . In 1911 the city bought the rest of the building and expanded the hall to the east. From 1955 to 1959 the city built a restaurant to the south of the dance hall and the masonry was secured.
The four-sided castle complex followed the fort principle . In the middle of the southern front, the only access was through a double tower gate. Central tower and west tower have disappeared to the remains of a wall. There was no outer bailey, but there was a front gate, the eastern longitudinal wall of which is still standing next to the preserved eastern tower of the main gate. It supports the reconstructed covered battlement . From here a small door leads into the outer pen. The east tower of the main gate was restored in the 1960s. The building was decorated on the flattened inside with new walls and a door wall from the 17th century from a demolished building in the city center. A spiral staircase and a lavatory inside the tower show that the tower also served as an apartment for the tower guard .
The imposing shield wall adjoining the tower is over two meters thick. Its central tower is over four meters thick in the basement. There is a spiral staircase in this wall. It also leads to the battlement of the wall. This battlement is about ten meters high. In the north wall there were lavatory bays showing this part of the residential building.
The castle was surrounded by a kennel at a distance of 4 to 6 meters . This had a courtyard level about 1.20 m lower, deeper trenches and considerably higher buildings and roofs.
The castle has been privately owned since 1984. There is a restaurant in the castle and the new owner has also furnished several luxury apartments in it.
In the city there is also the old castle , which can only be seen as the rest of the fortifications.
literature
- Harald Herzog: Castles and palaces - history and typology of the aristocratic seats in the Euskirchen district . Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7927-1226-1 , pp. 395-400
Web links
- Entry on Münstereifel Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Drawing of the castle
- The castle on www.nrw-live.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Landesarchiv NRW, Rhineland Department: Jülich-Berg I, No. 1011, fol. 1r-5v; Jülich-Berg II No. 4315, fol. 5r-9r.