Rheinstein Castle

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Rheinstein Castle
Rheinstein Castle from the south

Rheinstein Castle from the south

Alternative name (s): Voitsberg Castle, Vaitzburg
Creation time : 1316 to 1317
Castle type : Höhenburg spur location
Conservation status: Preserved essential parts
Standing position : Clericals, nobles
Place: Trechtingshausen
Geographical location 49 ° 59 '37 .3 "  N , 7 ° 51' 30.3"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 59 '37  .3 " N , 7 ° 51' 30.3"  E
Height: 190  m above sea level NN
Rheinstein Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Rheinstein Castle
Rheinstein Castle seen from the right bank of the Rhine (southeast)
Vatzberg (Rheinstein) castle from the east, drawing by Wenzel Hollar around 1636
Rheinstein Castle, 1938

The Rheinstein Castle , also castle Voitsberg or Vaitzburg called, is a spur castle in the upper Middle Rhine Valley in the town of Trechtingshausen in Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany . It received its current name after its reconstruction was completed in 1829.

Rheinstein Castle has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 .

location

The spur castle stands on the left bank of the Rhine on a 90 m high rock spur at 190  m above sea level. NN on the eastern slope of the Binger forest . It is located above the Rhine between Bingen and Trechtingshausen near the Binger Rhine knee . Due to the terraced layout of the Bering , however, it resembles a hillside castle. The construction is strongly reminiscent of Ehrenfels Castle, a little upstream on the right bank of the Rhine.

history

The castle was built as Vaitzburg or Fautsburg in the early 14th century. Other names such as Burg Voi (g) tsberg or Burg Fatzberg with numerous other spellings have been handed down from their history. The name is a variation of Vogtsburg or Burg Vogtsberg . According to other sources, which postpone the start of construction in the 13th century, Bonifatiusberg Castle is said to have been named after St. Bonifatius , the patron saint of the Archbishopric Mainz, which was then sunk into Faitsberg .

middle Ages

Based on the latest dendrochronological studies, the start of construction can be dated to 1316/17, which means that speculations about an early start of construction around 900 or 1000 are outdated. It was first mentioned as a property in Mainz in 1323. It was probably built under the Archbishop of Mainz Peter von Aspelt (1306-20) to monitor the prohibition of the rebuilding of the Reichenstein ruins - located within sight of the downstream Rhine. This was destroyed as the robber barons' nest of the Lords of Hohenfels in 1286 by King Rudolf von Habsburg . After the Hohenfelsers - although actually Mainz feudal men - had sold the ruins to the Electoral Palatinate in 1290 , it became necessary to secure the Mainz territory. A second expansion phase followed around 1330 and probably also a third in the late 15th century, although the castle lost its strategic importance as early as 1344 because the Electoral Palatinate renounced Reichenstein in favor of Mainz.

Modern times

At the end of the 16th century the last inhabitant began to decline due to a lack of economic means. In the Palatinate War of Succession , the castle was probably so dilapidated that the French decided not to blow it up here, as was done with almost all other castles in the valley.

In 1816 the ruined castle caught the eye of the Prussian builder Karl Friedrich Schinkel - the Rhine province had been subordinated to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna a year earlier . He drew up plans for the romanticized reconstruction of the castle, which Prince Friedrich of Prussia prompted to buy the castle in 1823 and which were only implemented by Johann Claudius von Lassaulx in 1825 and, in his successor, by Wilhelm Kuhn in 1827 to the prince's wishes. The Düsseldorf builder Anton Schnitzler took care of the interior work . It was thus the first of the ruined or destroyed Rhine castles to be rebuilt (→ Rhine romanticism ). When the work was completed in 1829, the castle was given the name Rheinstein, as it is known today . In a third expansion phase from 1839 to 1844, the castle chapel and the Schweizerhaus further south uphill were added as a guest house. During the reconstruction, Schinkel attached great importance to the preservation of the medieval building fabric, which in part still clearly stands out from the additions.

In 1863 Prince Georg of Prussia inherited the castle. Prince Friedrich of Prussia was buried in the crypt of the chapel in 1863, his wife Princess Luise in 1882 and her son Prince Georg in 1902.

In 1973 Barbara Irene put the castle up for sale, Princess of Prussia, Duchess of Mecklenburg. She was deceived by a supposed buyer from England , who removed and sold the easily movable parts of the inventory. Later sales by the owner also meant that many objects of the original furnishings disappeared. The poor condition of the building made the sale considerably more difficult, even the state of Rhineland-Palatinate declined, despite the recommendation of the monument office, due to the high repair costs. In 1975 the opera singer Hermann Hecher finally acquired the facility and over the years repaired it with the help of a support association and the State Office for Monument Preservation.

Rheinstein Castle around 1832 on an engraving after William Tombleson from the south

Chronology of the owners

Double portrait of Prince Friedrich of Prussia and Wilhelm zu Solms-Braunfels in cuirassier uniforms , 1830, painting by Wilhelm von Schadow , Museum Kunstpalast , Düsseldorf

From the 14th to the 17th century, the castle was given as a fief by the Archbishops of Mainz: The owners and liege lords included:

  • 1323: Count Matthias von Buchegg , Archbishop of Mainz
  • 1348: Konrad von Falkenstein, cathedral propst zu Mainz, from 1362 to 1388 as Kuno II of Falkenstein Archbishop of Trier
  • 1409: Johann von Nassau enfeoffed the privy councilor Johann von Selheim with Königstein. Occasionally the archbishops of Mainz stayed there in their secular capacity as electors of the Holy Roman Empire.
  • 1459: Elector Dieter von Isenburg enfeoffed the cathedral scholast Volpert von Dres with the castle and the village of Assmannshausen .
  • 1572: The castle and all associated goods were handed over to the Mainz cathedral custodian and treasurer Anton von Wiltberg. However, he could not keep the castle economically. Gradually it fell into disrepair, but remained Wiltberg's residence until his death.
  • 1779: The ruin found a new owner in Privy Councilor J. von Eys. He sold the walls for four leaf coins to the government councilor Johann Jacob Freiherr von Coll.
  • 1823: On March 31st, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig, Royal Prince of Prussia, bought the castle ruins and the rock. The prince was a nephew of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Queen Luise.
  • From 1825 to 1829 the reconstruction took place under the direction of the castle builder Claudius von Lassaulx, whose task his pupil Wilhelm Kuhn continued from 1827 and completed the castle construction. From 1829 onwards, Prince Friedrich called the castle Neu Rheinstein or Rheinstein because of its imposing rocky location directly above the river. And his half-brother he left in 1830 by the painter Wilhelm Schadow against the backdrop of the castle portray .
  • 1842: Rheinstein Castle became Prince Friedrich's favorite place to stay. Many crowned heads of the time were guests at the castle, including Victoria, Queen of England, Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia. Prince Friedrich had the Wiesbaden building officer Ph. Hoffmann draft a plan for a chapel with a burial place according to his ideas. The neo-Gothic chapel with a crypt for the princely family was inaugurated just two years later.
  • 1863: After the prince's death, his son, Prince Georg of Prussia, inherited Rheinstein.
  • 1902: Prince Heinrich of Prussia , a brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, inherited the castle.
  • 1929: The wife of Prince Heinrich, Irene von Hessen and bei Rhein became the owner.
  • 1953: The last owner from the German nobility was Barbara Irene Princess of Prussia , wife of Christian Ludwig Herzog zu Mecklenburg .
  • 1975: The castle became the private property of the Hecher family.

nowadays

Rheinstein Castle from the east with ascent
Rheinstein Castle from the south

After more than thirty years of renovation work, the castle has been extensively repaired and largely restored in the original. It is privately owned, but is accessible for a fee at regular opening times. The mostly reconstructed architectural paintings and the restored glass windows from the 14th to 17th centuries are particularly worth seeing. The Burgundy Garden, an example of medieval garden art, is now part of the World Heritage Gardens route . There is a restaurant at the castle; a tower apartment and a holiday apartment in the castle can be rented. Romantic gardens and historical rooms are available for civil and church weddings.

The Rheinturm , which can be climbed as a lookout tower, and the adjoining terraces offer a very good view of the Rhine Valley and Assmannshausen.

Furthermore, Rheinstein Castle is the namesake of the Academic Association Rheinstein zu Cologne in CV , which was founded in 1925 and visits the castle annually.

Events

literature

  • Joachim Glatz: Trechtingshausen. Rheinstein Castle. 4th edition. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013. ( Small art guide No. 2538.)
  • Ulrike Glatz, Joachim Glatz: Rheinstein Castle near Trechtingshausen. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2012. (Wartburg Society (Hrsg.): Castles, palaces and fortifications in Central Europe , Vol. 27.)

Documents

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert R. Taylor: The Castles of the Rhine: Recreating the Middle Ages in Modern Germany. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1998, p. 119
  2. ↑ Catholic Student Union | AV Rheinstein zu Cologne in the CV. Retrieved September 14, 2017 (German).