Neidenstein Castle (Rhein-Neckar District)

Neidenstein Castle
Alternative name (s):	Veste Neidenstein, Nydenstein
Creation time :	around 400 to 500
Castle type :	Höhenburg, hillside location
Conservation status:	Receive
Standing position :	Nobles
Construction:	Truss
Place:	Neidenstein
Geographical location	49 ° 18 '53 " N , 8 ° 53' 8" E Coordinates: 49 ° 18 '53 " N , 8 ° 53' 8" E

The Neidenstein Castle , also Veste Neidenstein or Nydenstein , is a hillside castle on the slope of a spur of the Galgenberg above the Schwarzbach valley above the municipality of Neidenstein in the Rhine-Neckar district in Baden-Württemberg .

history

The hilltop castle , the oldest components of which date back to the 13th century, was first mentioned in 1319 when it was an imperial fief of Friedrich von Venningen. In 1385 the castle was still an imperial fiefdom of the Lords of Venningen , whose line Venningen-Neidenstein resided at the castle. Siegfried von Venningen († 1393) and Jobst von Venningen († 1410) were Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order , Hans von Venningen († 1478) was Bishop of Basel , Siegfried III. von Venningen († 1459) was Bishop of Speyer .

The castle was expanded in the 16th century and the outer bailey was added. The wall paintings in the palas date from 1516, the “mansion” with stair tower in the outer bailey was built by Erasmus von Venningen in 1538, the bay window at the palas dates from 1561 and the outer gate tower from 1569.

The Venningen-Neidenstein line died out in 1611, and the Venningen-Hilsbach line became its line of succession. The last local lord living on site was Philipp von Venningen, who moved to the moated castle in Eichtersheim in 1667 .

Neidenstein Castle 1898

Towards the end of the 18th century, the complex, which had been spared from destruction, began to deteriorate. A bay window in the eastern hall was broken out and installed in the moated castle in Eichtersheim. In the 1890s, the roof of the western hall collapsed, which has only been preserved as a ruin since then. Around 1900, renovation work was carried out on the castle, in the forecourt of which the local Catholic church was built in 1880. During the work, which lasted from 1897 to 1903, large parts of the facility were restored, but the top floor of the defense tower was also removed. From 1960 the renovation of the castle continued.

Todays use

The castle is privately owned by the von Venningen family and can only be visited to a limited extent. The main castle is inhabited, in the "Jägerhaus" in the outer castle below the castle there has been a local museum since 1994. The castle complex is used for cultural events and castle concerts by local associations.

investment

View of the main castle

The castle complex is located on the northern spur of the Galgenberg on the western bank of the Schwarzbach valley . A wide circular wall system with defense and gate towers as well as a wide neck ditch and a kennel surround the very south and highest located inner castle , on the southern flank of which the 25 meter high keep and the 11 meter high shield wall are located. There were two Palas buildings in the main castle . The older western hall has only been preserved as a ruin, the newer eastern hall in the late Gothic style has been preserved and inhabited. The basement of the eastern hall presumably once served as a kitchen and has a segmented vault and a historical chimney . Above is the knight's hall with remains of decorative wall paintings. Above the knight's hall is a room that was used as a chapel until the 16th century.

Inner gate tower and western hall
Outer gate tower
Neck ditch

To the north of the main castle there is a lower bailey - also called the New Castle - in which there are two Renaissance half-timbered buildings: the "Jägerhaus" and the "Herrenhaus" with stair tower, both built by the court judge Erasmus von Venningen and his brothers Christoph and Hans Moritz in 1538. In the forecourt further to the north there has been the Catholic church since 1880, which was built on the foundations of a burned tithe barn from the 16th century.

Hunter's house and mansion in the outer bailey
Stair tower of the manor house
Catholic Church from 1880

literature

Christoph Bühler : Castles of the Electoral Palatinate. Bergstrasse and Neckar Valley . HVA, Heidelberg 1990, ISBN 3-89426-012-2 .
Karl Halter: Neidenstein and his castle . In: Badische Heimat 39, Heft 4, 1959, ISSN 0930-7001 , pp. 358-361.
Friedrich Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages. Floor plan lexicon . License issue. Bechtermünz-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-219-4 .
Max Miller (ed.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany . Volume 6: Baden-Württemberg (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 276). Kröner, Stuttgart 1965, DNB 456882928 .
Karl Friedrich Schimper: Castles and palaces in the Rhine-Neckar triangle. Everything you need to know about the 125 castle and palace complexes in North Baden, South Hesse and the Upper Palatinate . 2nd Edition. Schimper, Schwetzingen 1994, ISBN 3-87742-073-7 .

Web links

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