Rüthen Castle
| Rüthen Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alternative name (s): | Rüdenburg | |
| Creation time : | around 1200 | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, spur location | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall | |
| Standing position : | Landesburg | |
| Place: | Rüthen | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 29 '28.7 " N , 8 ° 25' 21.5" E | |
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The castle Rüthen (lat. Castrum Rüden ) (sometimes also called Rüdenburg ) in Rüthen is a defunct state castle of the archbishops of Cologne . There is hardly anything left of the former spur castle today.
history
The city of Rüthen was founded in 1200 by Archbishop Adolf I at a strategically important location. It was supposed to secure the Westphalian property of the Cologne archbishops against the bishops of Paderborn and the noblemen of Büren . The place is on a mountain spur above the valley of the Möhne .
In addition to fortifying the city , the archbishops had a castle built. The Counts of Arnsberg , who also had rights in the area, were so strongly on the defensive there that they could not prevent it.
The castle was first mentioned in a document as Castrum Rüden around 1220. The castle was completed around 1226. To protect the city, the castle was located about 150 m to the west, directly over a mountain ledge. It was separated from the city by ramparts and moats . The main castle itself was made of stone. There was a keep inside the castle . A palace was built in the final phase of castle building. The water supply was ensured by a separate well . There is also evidence of a castle chapel . It was consecrated to St. George and had its own chaplain. The houses of the castle men were probably right on the castle wall .
After its construction as the seat of the Marshal of Westphalia, the castle was an administrative center of the Cologne property in Westphalia. The castle was occupied by up to 15 castle men and their subordinates. By obliging the noble families around Rüthen to serve in the castle and giving them castle fiefs, they were integrated into Cologne's politics in Westphalia. Even after the castle fell, the castle fiefdoms remained and were awarded again if necessary. The known families with one or more fiefdoms included those of the Borg , Grafschaft , Holthausen , Hüsten, Meschede and Rüdenberg .
After the purchase of the county of Arnsberg in 1368, the administrative center shifted from Rüthen to Arnsberg. The castle itself also lost its importance and was abandoned. As a result, the facility fell into disrepair. A fire also destroyed the remains in the 17th century. The area has been used as pastureland since the 16th century at the latest. The local rifle brotherhood later used the remains of the keep as a shooting range. The town of Rüthen's cemetery has existed there since 1826. The former church portal of the Capuchin Church was erected there in 1880 as the entrance . The foundation walls of the keep have now been exposed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The town castle Rüthen is not to be confused with the Rüdenburg in Arnsberg and the castle of the Rüdenberger near Alten-Rüthen.
- ^ Nobility seats in the Duchy of Westphalia
literature
- Cornelia Kneppe: Castles and cities as crystallization points of rule between 1100 and 1300. In: Harm Klueting (Hrsg.): The Duchy of Westphalia, Vol. 1: The Duchy of Westphalia: The Electorate of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization 1803. Münster 2009, pp. 218f.
Web links
- Entry on westfalen-adelssitze.de ( Memento from April 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Brief description ( Memento from December 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )