Monschau Castle

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Monschau Castle
View from the opposite side of the valley. The youth hostel building can be seen above the historic walls and on the left the steel frame for the roofing of the "Monschau Classic"

View from the opposite side of the valley. The youth hostel building can be seen above the historic walls and on the left the steel frame for the roofing of the "Monschau Classic"

Creation time : 13th Century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Receive
Standing position : Count
Construction: Humpback cuboid
Place: Monschau
Geographical location 50 ° 33 '11 "  N , 6 ° 14' 23"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 33 '11 "  N , 6 ° 14' 23"  E
Monschau Castle (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Monschau Castle

The Monschau Castle is a castle in the eponymous town Monschau in the southern cities of Aachen region . Today it is used as a youth hostel and in summer as a venue for concerts and operas.

history

The hilltop castle is first documented as "castrum in Munjoje" in a document from Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne from 1217. It was expanded into a fortress for the Counts of Jülich in the middle of the 14th century and provided with mighty circular walls and battlements . In 1543, troops of Emperor Charles V besieged the facility with heavy artillery, captured it and looted it and the city of Monschau.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the French administration declared the castle to be state property and sold it to private individuals who had the roofs removed between 1836 and 1837 in order to be exempt from building tax. As a result, the castle fell into ruins until the administration of the Rhine Province secured and repaired it at the beginning of the 20th century . After the First World War , a youth hostel was opened in the west wing. Monschau Castle was preserved as a " youth castle ". In 1971 Christo packed the castle as a work of art, among other things.

Slate was mined directly below the castle from around the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. During the Second World War, the caves served as an air raid shelter for the people of Monschau.

Haller

Another fortification structure is within sight of the castle on the other side of the city: the Haller. It is debatable whether it is an outpost of the castle, a detached watchtower, or the rest of an older castle complex.

photos

  • Historic postcard of the castle with the roof removed

  • Walled-up slate tunnel below Monschau Castle

  • Haller ruin

  • A bird's eye view of the castle (2017)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Elmar Neuss MA: Monschau Castle 1198–1998 . In: Contributions to the history of the Monschauer Land . No. 4 . History Association of the Monschauer Land eV, 1998, ISSN  0939-0340 , Introduction, p. 1 (On page 4 illustration of the original copy of the document mentioned in the North Rhine-Westphalian main state archive in Düsseldorf).
  2. ↑ Michael Ruetz , Willi Bongard : project mon SCHAU . Christo project monschau. DuMont, Cologne 1971, ISBN 3-7701-0646-6 .
  3. ↑ When Christ was packing the castle . May 12, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

Web links

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