Neu-Elkerhausen Castle

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Neu-Elkerhausen Castle
Creation time : around 1352
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Wall remains
Standing position : Free nobles
Place: Weinbach -Gräveneck
Geographical location 50 ° 26 '42 "  N , 8 ° 14' 58.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '42 "  N , 8 ° 14' 58.6"  E
Height: 160  m above sea level NHN
Neu-Elkerhausen Castle (Hesse)
Neu-Elkerhausen Castle

The castle New Elkerhausen is the residue of a hilltop castle on the so-called "Scharteberg" at around 160 m above sea level. NN near Gräveneck , a district of Weinbach in the Hessian district of Limburg-Weilburg .

history

After the Lords of Elkerhausen had lost their ancestral castle Elkerhausen Castle (also simply called Alt-Elkerhausen to distinguish it ) in 1352 , they built Neu-Elkerhausen Castle as a Diezer fiefdom on the Schartenberg.

But since they had made themselves unpopular with the more powerful lords of the area through numerous robberies, they were to be punished for it in 1381/82. These brought Landgrave Hermann II. Of Hesse and Count Ruprecht VII. Of Nassau-Sonnenberg, which in 1381 by King Wenceslas to the bailiff of the Wetterau had been appointed a coalition together, which also counts of Solms , Johann II. Of Limburg and Dietrich III. von Runkel belonged to. In 1381 they built a siege castle, the Steuerburg, on the opposite side of the Lahn .

For their part, the Lords of Elkerhausen found support from Count Palatine Ruprecht I near Rhine and Count Wilhelm II and Dieter VIII von Katzenelnbogen , Simon III. and Johann IV of Sponheim and Johann I of Nassau-Dillenburg . They even succeeded in destroying the tax castle by arson in 1382, the year after it was built. It was not rebuilt and the besiegers gave up their plan to destroy the Elkerhausen castle.

In 1395, under Count Philip I of Nassau and his allies, another fortress was built opposite Neu-Elkerhausen Castle, Gräveneck Castle , and in the following year the robber baron nest was conquered and destroyed.

The remains of the curtain wall and the stump of the square keep are freely accessible.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ After the destruction of Neu-Elkerhausen Castle in 1396, it lost its strategic importance. The village of Gräveneck came into being after the castle was built.

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 433.

Web links