Oldersum Castle
The castle Oldersum was one of two high medieval castles in Oldersum , a district of the East Frisian municipality of Moormerland , in the district of Leer in Lower Saxony . It is one of the most important sites in East Frisian history . It was the seat of the grandeur Oldersum, which existed until the 17th century and consisted of little more than the castle and the surrounding area. The last structural remains of the castle were removed in 1954. The location of the second castle is still unclear. It could have been in the "Tuitjebluss" area.
history
It is unclear when the castle in Oldersum was built. Their client could not be determined either. Knight Ocko I. tom Brok , Lord of the Brookmerland and the Auricherland , handed over his lands in East Friesland on April 9, 1381 to Albrecht von Bayern , the Count of Holland, in order to get them back as a fief. The two castles of Oldersum, which must have been a few years old at the time, were among the properties named in the feudal contract. Both defensive structures were probably of the East Frisian stone house type .
Around 1413 the castle came into the possession of Focko Ukenas , a follower of Ocko II tom Brok . After Ukena turned away from Ocko, he was finally able to take over on October 28, 1427 after the Battle of the Wild Fields . From him his son Uko Fockena received the castle. In 1430 Uko was besieged there by a group of Frisian chiefs who, under the leadership of the Cirksena, had formed the Freedom League of the Seven East Friesland as an opposition to the Ukena. On November 2nd, 1430 Uko had to give up his claim to rule. In a contract with the besiegers, however, based on the legal claims of his wife, a granddaughter of Ocko I. tom Brok, he was able to obtain the right to live in the castle. Uko stayed there until 1432 and was murdered a year later near Oldersum.
During a punitive expedition in response to the continued support of the Vitalienbrüder by the East Frisian chiefs , the Hanseatic League destroyed both Oldersum castles in 1433. Subsequently, only Oldersum Castle was rebuilt. Around 1438 it came into the possession of Wiard Haiken, the new chief of Oldersum. In addition to Oldersum, Gandersum in the Emsigerland and since 1453 at the latest also Rorichum , Tergast and Simonswolde were part of its glory . Wiards descendants ruled the glory of Oldersum for nearly 200 years. During this time, the castle was divided between the heirs several times.
Thus came Ulrich von Dornum (1466-1536), son of the chief Sibet of Esens to 1494 by marriage to Essa of Oldersum into possession of a half of the castle and so was chief of one half of the split at this time by inheritance glory Oldersum. During his rule, the spot developed into a center of the "East Frisian church reformers" alongside Emden . In 1529 Ulrich housed Andreas Bodenstein in the castle (often just called Karlstadt after his place of birth ) and later also Menno Simons and other "baptismal" ( Mennonites ). In June 1526 Ulrich initiated the Oldersum Religious Discussion in the local church , a public debate between the Emden preacher Georg Aportanus and the Catholic Dominican prior Laurens Laurensen . The text about the dispute, which Ulrich wrote afterwards, was widely circulated and thus contributed to the rapid implementation of Protestantism in East Frisia .
The other half belonged to Boing von Oldersum (approx. 1500–1540). He was a close confidante of Maria von Jever and supported her in her defensive battles against the county of East Friesland . During the Saxon feud , mercenaries of Duke Karl von Geldern and Balthasars von Esens destroyed the castle in 1533. Boing died childless in 1540 during the siege of Wittmund.
After Ulrich von Dornum's marriage to Essa von Oldersum also remained childless, Boing's brother Hero I inherited the two parts of the glory of Oldersum, which were reunited with them. Hero then had the castle rebuilt as a spacious four-wing complex.
In 1559 the warring brothers Hektor and Boiocko von Oldersum divided the castle again. This happened not only ideally, but clearly materially through a wall drawn across the courtyard. Hector received the north-western part, Boiocko the south-eastern part. The brothers also divided the outbuildings. When Boiocko died childless, he did not bequeath his half to his brother, but to Count Johann II of East Frisia . Hector then sued Johann before the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Speyer. In order to substantiate his claims, he submitted the adjacent site plan together with an exact inventory.
An arbitration ruling by the Dutch States General in 1620 finally put an end to the dispute over the division. All third party claims lapsed when Boiocko's will was canceled. Both parts of the castle came back into one hand. The heirs sold the heavily indebted glory with the castle in 1631 to the city of Emden, which at that time was at the height of its economic development. From then on, the city installed a Drosten on Oldersum Castle. A bailiff and a bailiff assisted him in administering the glory.
In 1678, troops from Münster severely damaged the south wing of the Easter house. The city of Emden then had it torn down. In the following years the castle deteriorated more and more. In 1772, the north wing also had to be demolished because it was in disrepair. The north and south wing, the so-called Westerhaus, served as the official residence of the bailiff and rentmaster until 1819. It was then leased as a residential house and finally sold in 1871. The last structural remains of the castle were torn down in 1954 in order to build a ship helm for the Schlömer shipyard there.
Individual evidence
- ^ In the contract according to Günter Müller: 293 castles and palaces in the Oldenburg - East Frisia area . Oldenburg 1977. S. 189 ff. Designated as Tweburgers in Oldersum with all hair to behoeren .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Klaus Euhausen (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape ): Oldersum, municipality of Moormerland, district of Leer (PDF; 59 kB), accessed on June 3, 2013.
- ↑ East Frisian Document Book , No. 389 of November 5, 1430.
- ↑ Hans-Peter Glimme: The Oldersum Castle in its historical circumstances. In: Stephanie Hahn, Michael H. Sprenger: Herrschaft - Architektur - Raum: Festschrift for Ulrich Schütte on his 60th birthday. Berlin 2008. ISBN 3-86732-024-1 . Pp. 68-85
- ↑ nla.niedersachsen.de: Map of Oldersum Castle (1585) (State Archives Aurich, Rep. 244 B 3892) , viewed on June 2, 2013.