Mellnau Castle
Mellnau Castle | ||
---|---|---|
Mellnau Castle - south side of the castle complex (2007) |
||
Alternative name (s): | Elenhouch, Elnhoch | |
Creation time : | around 1248 | |
Castle type : | Höhenburg, summit location | |
Conservation status: | ruin | |
Standing position : | Archbishops, Landgraves, Ministerials | |
Place: | Weather - Mellnau | |
Geographical location | 50 ° 55 '46.5 " N , 8 ° 44' 54.3" E | |
|
The castle Mellnau is the ruins of a hilltop castle on a mountain above the village Mellnau , a district of weather in Marburg-Biedenkopf in Hessen .
history
The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1263 as "Elenhouch" and was then usually referred to as "Elnhoch". The name "Mellnau" only came up for the castle around 1500. The Archbishop of Mainz, Siegfried III, is the builder . von Eppstein , who had the castle built to replace the destroyed Hollende Castle around 1248 to protect the Wetter monastery . The 19-meter-high dungeon was built in the years 1329-1331.
In an agreement between Hesse and the Archbishop of Mainz Werner von Eppstein in 1263, u. a. determined that the castle remained under the control of the archdiocese.
In the "Rhenish Customs War" between King Albrecht I and the Archbishoprics of Cologne , Mainz and Trier as well as the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the castle was conquered in 1301 by Imperial Bailiff Ulrich I of Hanau . As a result, the castle was pledged several times. In 1342 the Archbishop of Mainz Heinrich III. from Virneburg the castle again.
In 1381 there was an unsuccessful siege by Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse . As a result of the Mainz collegiate feud in 1464, the archbishop's share in the Wetter monastery and thus also Mellnau Castle was pledged to the Landgraves of Hesse. The castle then remained in Hesse and lost its military importance. It became a fiefdom of Messrs. Milchling von Schönstadt, but was no longer occupied by castle men from 1510 when the seat of the Hessian bailiff was moved to the city of Wetter. After that, the facility, which was no longer used, gradually fell into disrepair. With the allodification of the fiefs in the 19th century, the castle became Milchlingisches private property.
Building description
The curtain wall of the almost oval medieval core castle is still largely in place today. In the south-west, the ring wall is interrupted by a younger gate system; the original gate, which is now walled up, was immediately to the east of the keep . In the north - at the level of the keep - the curtain wall has been converted into a shield wall . The ruins of the palace are on the southeast side of the curtain wall .
The round keep - built around 1329 - is free-standing in the eastern part of the inner castle. It has a diameter of 9.5 meters with walls up to 3 meters thick and is now used as a lookout tower .
photos
literature
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich, Jens Friedhoff : "Decided with strong iron chains and bolts ...". Castles on the Lahn . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7954-2000-0 , pp. 116-119.
- Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 257.
- Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls . Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 .
- Georg Wilhelm Sante (Hrsg.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany . Volume 4: Hessen (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 274). Unchanged reprint of the 3rd edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-520-27403-5 .
- 700 years of Mellnau Castle. Festschrift for the 1963 anniversary celebration , Mellnau community (ed.), 1963, 133 pages
Web links
- Entry by Jens Friedhoff zu Mellnau in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute, accessed on March 23, 2017.
- Burgruine Mellnau Tourist information on www.mellnau.de
- August Heldmann: On the older history of the monastery, the church and city of Wetter, and the Mellnau Castle , In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, New Series, Volume 24, First Half, Kassel 1899, pp. 69–142
- Mellnau Castle on the Burgenwelt.org site
- Mellnau Castle on www.burgenlexikon.eu