Neuenstein Castle (Saasen)

Neuenstein Castle
Neuenstein Castle with keep
Alternative name (s):	Neuwallenstein
Creation time :	around 1250 to 1267
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Standing position :	Count
Place:	Neuenstein- Saasen
Geographical location	50 ° 55 '13 "  N , 9 ° 33' 18"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 55 '13 "  N , 9 ° 33' 18"  E
Height:	343  m above sea level NHN

The Castle Neuenstein , also Neuwallenstein called, is a high medieval castle in the same named municipality of Neuenstein (district Saasen ) in the district of Rotenburg in northern Hesse .

location

The hilltop castle is located on a hilltop at 343 m above sea level. NN in the Knüllgebirge . To the northeast and directly below the castle runs the “Am Pommer” motorway gradient on federal motorway 7 .

history

Northwest view of Neuenstein Castle today

The castle was probably built around the middle of the 13th century by Albert I von Wallenstein (formerly Count von Schauenburg ), who had resided at the six kilometers northwest of Wallenstein Castle ("Waldinsteyn") since the beginning of the century , after which he had resided also called since 1233. Both castles were on the road from Hersfeld via Homberg (Efze) and Fritzlar to Kassel .

The castle was first mentioned in 1267 as "Neuwallenstein" when Albert II von Wallenstein with the Hersfeld abbot Heinrich III. concluded an exchange agreement. Conrad von Wallenstein, presumably a brother of Albert I, took over the inheritance of Albert II when he died in 1284. Conrad became the founder of the new Wallensteiner line. He no longer had the title of count, since in all probability his Schauenburg ancestors had already sold the Ditmold High Court (with which the title of count was connected) to the Archdiocese of Mainz in the first half of the 13th century .

In the 14th century, Simon von Wallenstein still owned half of the castle. The other half was shared by Friedrich von Schlitz (called von Steinau) and Friedrich von Herzberg. To put an end to the road robberies of the Wallensteiners, their liege lord , the Hersfeld abbot Simon I of Buchenau , allied with Landgrave Otto I of Hesse , Count Johann I of Ziegenhain and the judge of the peace and provincial bailiff in the Wetterau , Eberhard von Breuberg . On July 24, 1318, they destroyed the robber barons nest in Neuwallenstein. It was not until 1357, when Simon von Wallenstein allied himself with his new liege, Otto I of Hesse, against the Fulda Abbey , that he received permission to rebuild the castle.

Bay window in the west wall of Neuenstein Castle

In 1521, the Albertine line of the Wallensteiner died with the former Hessian chief magistrate and court master Konrad II from Wallenstein and there were years of inheritance disputes, with the castle often changing hands. What happened to her in the Thirty Years War is not known. From 1639 to 1643 reconstruction of the castle took place, the palace was restored castle-like.

After the death of Baron August Gottfried von Wallenstein, the last Wallensteiner, in 1745 the castle fell back to Hessen-Kassel as a settled fief . The defenses were demolished and only the 28 meter high keep , with walls up to two meters thick, has survived to this day. The complex, now called a castle, was then used as a landgrave's hunting seat. From 1775 it was the seat of the Obergeis office and from 1760 to 1866 the seat of a Hessian domain master . Two buildings of the former domain are still northwest of the castle, on the opposite slope. From 1870 a Prussian, from 1919 Hessian forest office moved in. The Neuenstein Forestry Office remained in the castle until its dissolution in 1997.

The community of Neuenstein bought the castle in 2000 and converted it into a conference and event center from 2002 to 2003.

literature

• Rudolf Knappe: Palaces and fortresses in North and East Hesse . Wartberg Verlag Gudensberg-Gleichen, 1996, ISBN 3-86134-237-5 , pp. 46-47.
• Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 267f.

Web links

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

• Schloss Neuenstein GmbH

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Son of Berthold von Lißberg , who in 1344 had become the owner of the castle fief of Herzberg Castle through his marriage to Mechthild von Romrod , following inheritance and landgrave enfeoffment ; Friedrich von Lißberg often called himself von Herzberg.
2. ↑ Martin Röhling: The story of the counts of Nidda and the counts of Ziegenhain. Niddaer Geschichtsblätter No. 9, published by Niddaer Heimatmuseum eV, Nidda 2005 ISBN 3-9803915-9-0 , p. 48.