Reichenberg Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)

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Reichenberg Castle
Reichenberg Castle, general view of Burgberg

Reichenberg Castle, general view of Burgberg

Creation time : 1319
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Standing position : Count
Place: Reichenberg
Geographical location 50 ° 9 '30.6 "  N , 7 ° 45' 35.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 9 '30.6 "  N , 7 ° 45' 35.9"  E
Height: 230  m above sea level NHN
Reichenberg Castle - Excerpt from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian , 1655

The Reichenberg Castle is a medieval castle above the town of Liberec in Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate ( Germany ). Due to the location of the hilltop castle at 230  m above sea level. NHN in the Hasenbachtal behind Sankt Goarshausen am Rhein, it is relatively unknown, but it is one of the most important and unusual castle complexes in Rhineland-Palatinate. It is part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site .

history

The builders were the Counts von Katzenelnbogen , who had developed from under-governors to one of the most powerful gentlemen of the German Middle Ages. Construction began under Count Wilhelm I in 1319. When he died in 1331, only the habitable shield wall with the two 40 meter high flanking towers , the eastern outer bailey and the foundations of the western main castle were completed. In 1352 the heirs Eberhard and Wilhelm II von Katzenelnbogen divided the castle among themselves. Wilhelm II reversed the original concept and built his castle on the grounds of the outer bailey. A spacious residential building was built by 1358, which was  secured with casemates facing east and south - the oldest in Germany. The three-story, semicircular residential building has column constructions that are unusual for Central Europe and shows architectural details that go back to Syrian crusader castles .

In 1479 the castle passed to Hesse by inheritance and remained there for a long time with Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg . In 1649–51 a restoration took place after a siege. However, the building quickly lost its military value and was soon only used as the administrative seat of the Reichenberg Office , for which grain stores and barns were built. Reichenberg was a Hessian fortress until 1806 and was then sold to Moses Aron from 1821 "for demolition" - which, however, was essentially omitted. The castle lover archivist Friedrich Gustav Habel acquired the castle in 1836 and contributed significantly to its preservation. In 1880 Baron Wolfgang von Oettingen rebuilt a historicizing residential building in the west. The von Oettingen family owned the castle until 1956 and made great efforts to secure the structure.

After one tower of the shield wall was blown up in 1814 due to the danger of collapse, the second one collapsed in 1971. There was also a partial collapse in the building of the hall, so that the false ceilings are missing today. Other parts are also in danger of collapsing. Security measures that have taken place to date have therefore primarily ensured that steel scaffolding prevents further deterioration. The castle has had a new owner since mid-2010. Together with the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate, he plans to protect the castle from further deterioration.

literature

  • Michael Fuhr: Who wants to be the keeper of the river? 40 castles and palaces on the Middle Rhine . 1st edition. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-7954-1460-1 , pp. 104-106.
  • Karl Willi Hebel: Reichenberg village and castle in the Taunus. Reichenberg community, Reichenberg 2000.
  • The Rhine from Mainz to Cologne . DuMont art travel guide.

Web links

Commons : Burg Reichenberg  - Collection of images
Wikisource: Burg Reichenberg in Merian's Topographia Hassiae  - sources and full texts