Neuenahr Castle

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Neuenahr Castle
Castle plateau with a modern lookout tower

Castle plateau with a modern lookout tower

Creation time : around 1225
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Count
Place: Bad Neuenahr
Geographical location 50 ° 31 '52 "  N , 7 ° 8' 17"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 31 '52 "  N , 7 ° 8' 17"  E
Height: 337  m above sea level NHN
Neuenahr Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Neuenahr Castle
Equestrian seal from Count Otto, the progenitor of the Neuenahr line from 1230 (reproduction)
Coat of arms of the Counts of Neuenahr

The castle Neuenahr is the ruins of a hilltop castle at 337  m above sea level. NHN on the Neuenahrer Berg in the lower Ahr valley in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in the Ahrweiler district in northern Rhineland-Palatinate .

history

The castle, built by Count Otto von Neuenare around 1225 , was the official seat of the County of Neuenahr , while he was still called Ottonis Comitas (Count) de Landahr and in 1231 a Count Otto von Neuenahr was mentioned. Otto, the son of Gerhard von Are and Nürburg, was the first to name himself after the newly built castle.

genealogy

Count Otto von Neuenahr left two sons, Gerhard and Ludwig. Gerhard's wife was Elisabeth von Sponheim ; his son Theodorich followed him and left four children, Wilhelm I, Johann I, Ludwig and Sophie, when he died in 1276. His widow Hedwig and her children pledged the county, with the exception of the castle, the villages of Wadenheim , Ramersbach and the Grevel im Scheidt court, to Archbishop Siegfried of Cologne. Wilhelm I was not able to redeem the county and therefore entrusted it to the archbishop as a fief and open house. As a participant in the Battle of Worringen at the side of the Archbishop, he handed over his vineyards in Wadenheim to Lehn to Count Adolf von Berg in order to free himself from captivity. He was followed by his sons Krafto and Wilhelm II. With wife Bonizetta, who later took care of their underage son Wilhelm III. the county administered to 1327. In 1343 Wilhelm III. from Cologne Archbishop Walram von Jülich enfeoffed with Neuenahr Castle. His wife was Johanna von Elslo, they only had one daughter, Katharina, so his uncle Krafto, canon in Cologne, followed him in the county. In 1353 he agreed with Johann II von Saffenburg the marriage between Katharina and his son Johann III. The father declared his eldest son to be the only heir to Saffenburg and Krafto declared the daughter of his late nephew Wilhelm, while Katharina also declared that he was the only heir to the county of Neuenahr.

After the death of Krafto it came between the Saffenburgers Johann III. and Katharina, with the agnates from the Neuenahrer line to considerable inheritance disputes which partly ended in an open feud. These were Johann III. von Neuenahr zu Rodensberg (Roesberg between Bonn and Brühl), Gottfried von Neuenahr zu Hackenbroich both grandchildren of Johann I von Neuenahr, the brothers Johann and Diedrich, sons of Johann III. von Neuenahr, also Gerlach von Isenburg, who made claims about his wife Demudis von Neuenahr. The attempt by the Archbishop of Cologne, Wilhelm von Gennep, to settle a comparison between 1360 and 1362 was unsuccessful. In the renewed feud, Johann and Dietrich expelled the rightful heirs from the castle and demanded 20,000 gold guilders as a condition for their withdrawal. During the years of the occupation of Neuenahr Castle, they inflicted street robbery, fire, manslaughter and other damage to masters, knights, servants, citizens and merchants. In order to take possession of their inheritance, asked the Saffenburger Johann III. with wife Katharina von Neuenahr help with Archbishop Friedrich III. from Saar Werden.

Destruction of the castle

In 1372 the castle was built on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne , Friedrich III. von Saar are destroyed with the support of the Ahrweiler citizen rifle in order to end the robber baronism that originated from this castle. A report from the Curkölnischen Chronik: In the year 1372 Mr. Friedrich enclosed the old and strong castle Nuwenare, which was occupied by Salentin Graf zu Wied and Mr. von Isenburg and others, took it within 10 (the number is only indistinctly legible) days and destroyed them . This help cost the Saffenburg dearly, Archbishop Friedrich demanded 50,000 guilders for his "war effort", furthermore the castle hill, with the stipulation that a castle should never be built there again, the county of Neuenahr should from now on share both equally belong. At the end of the 17th century, the ruins of the castle complex were demolished, most of the stones and building materials were removed; they were used, among other things, to rebuild the rent master's building, today's Beethoven House, at the foot of the castle hill.

Description of the castle

The castle hill consists of basalt , which is covered in a coat-like manner by a layer of greywacke . A quartz rock is still visible on the eastern castle hill , which probably also served as building material there. The castle complex is still surrounded on three sides by an artificial deep neck ditch which, despite the rubble, is still 10 m deep in places. The demolition material served as building material, the smaller rock particles still pile up today as two huge spoil heaps to the side of the neck ditch. On the steeply sloping mountain side to the Ahr, where the old entrance to the castle was located, there was a natural protection.

Today the foundation walls of the triangular enclosure wall , a rectangular central tower and other building remains are still preserved. A round observation tower made of reinforced concrete was built on the castle grounds in 1972 . There is also a modern Eifelverein pavilion to protect hikers and visitors.

  • The Neuenahrer Berg, on which the castle remains are

  • Today's observation tower from 1972

  • Castle plateau with observation tower and hiking hut

  • Moat

literature

  • Hans Frick: Sources on the history of Bad Neuenahr, self-published by the Bad Neuenahr community, 1933, as a commemorative publication for the 75th anniversary of Bad Neuenahr.
  • Michael Losse : Cheeky and firm, with vertical wall towers ... like a crown. - Castles, palaces and fortresses on the Ahr and in the Adenauer Land. Schnell & Steiner publishing house, 2008.
  • Bernhard Gondorf: The castles of the Eifel and their peripheral areas. A lexicon of the "permanent houses" . J. P. Bachem, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-7616-0723-7 , p. 30 .
  • Julius Wegeler : Bad Neuenahr and its surroundings. For spa guests and history lovers. T. Habicht, Bonn 1862, pp. 27-33.
  • Joachim Gerhardt, Heinrich Neu: Art monuments of the Ahrweiler district. 1st half volume, L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1938, pp. 181-184.
  • Heinrich Stötzel: The legends of the Ahr valley. Verlag Ludwig Röhrscheid, Bonn 1938, pp. 40-44.
  • Johann Christian von Stramberg : Rheinischer Antiquarius, III. Department, Volume 9, Koblenz, 1862, pp. 521-615. Rheinischer Antiquarius, Department III, Volume 9 (1862) in the Google book search
  • Schannat-Bärsch: Eiflia Illustrata, Volume 1, Section 1, reprint Osnabrück Otto Zeller, 1966, pp. 138–154.

Web links

Commons : Neuenahr Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jul. Wegeler: Bad Neuenahr and its surroundings. For spa guests and history lovers. T. Habicht, Bonn 1862, p. 28.
  2. ^ Johann Christian von Stramberg: Rheinischer Antiquarius, III. Department, Volume 9, Koblenz 1862, pp. 526-550.