Rahden Castle

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Rahden Castle
Rahden Castle

Rahden Castle

Creation time : 1296
Castle type : Niederungsburg, location
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Drosten
Place: Rahden
Geographical location 52 ° 26 '15.7 "  N , 8 ° 35' 46.9"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 26 '15.7 "  N , 8 ° 35' 46.9"  E
Rahden Castle (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Rahden Castle

The castle Rahden is a former moated castle in the town of Rahden in the Minden-Lübbecke .

location

The castle ruins are located in the Kleinendorf district near the Große Aue . It was originally built to protect several trade routes that were led through a ford across the great floodplain. Today only a ruin remains of it.

history

Castle with supports for half-timbered beams

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1296. Rahden Castle was rebuilt or expanded between 1310 and 1320. In 1320 Hardecke von Engelingborstel was named as Drost at the Rahden Castle. Rahden Castle was one of five state castles that the Bishop of Minden built to protect against the Counts of Diepholz and Hoya . Other regional castles included the Reineburg near Lübbecke , the Schalksburg in Hausberge, the Schluesselburg Castle in Petershagen and the Petershagen Castle .

Rahden Castle was pledged again and again, for example, from 1391 to 1395, the Bussche family pledged to the castle. In 1431 the troops of the bishop in Minden destroyed the castle, in a dispute with a mortgage holder the bishop of Minden had the castle and the town of Rahden burned down in 1591 in order to force the castle to be surrendered.

Rahden Castle was given up as the official seat in 1711, and official business was carried out by the “New Office House”, which was roughly in the area of ​​today's Rahden Castle. Rahden Castle burned down in the winter of 1878, only the remains of today's ruins remained from this fire.

building

The scope of Rahden Castle was researched in 1969 by engraving by the Rahden local researcher Heinrich Bretthauer. The entire building complex had the dimensions of about 63 m × 53 m. The castle had a moat that was fed by the Great Aue. Access was via a drawbridge from the south via today's Lemförder Straße. The castle consisted of the castle (today's ruins of the main building), a horse house, a gatehouse and a connecting building. Leaning against the main building was a mighty keep . There were also towers on the north and south sides of the entrance. The extent of the building can still be seen today, during the engraving the dimensions were marked by boulders , which can be seen today in the area of ​​the Heimatpark and the museum courtyard .

In the early 1980s, members of the Rahden Heimatverein salvaged an old, stone lintel with an inscription from the ruins. It was set up in front of the ruin. The inscription commemorates the 59th bishop of the Principality of Minden, Duke Christian of Braunschweig and Lüneburg , who lived from 1566 to 1633. The lintel was probably made in the castle in 1619.

In the 1990s, measures were taken to strengthen the castle ruins. Mighty steel girders and prestressing steel were built into the ruin to prevent it from falling apart. But even today you can see that the north wall of the ruin with the half-timbered bearings leans threateningly to one side. On the occasion of the activities for the 975th anniversary of the city of Rahden in 2008, the ruins were cleared of extensive vegetation. This also makes it easier to see details of the ruin.

North side of Rahden Castle, in the background the Rahden Museum Courtyard
A lintel from the castle from 1619

See also

List of architectural monuments in Rahden

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Rahden  - Collection of images, videos and audio files