Rieshofen Castle

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Rieshofen Castle
Rieshofen Castle - general view from the north

Rieshofen Castle - general view from the north

Alternative name (s): Starvation tower
Creation time : around 1290
Castle type : Niederungsburg, moated castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Limestone cuboid
Place: Walting - Rieshofen
Geographical location 48 ° 55 '57 "  N , 11 ° 18' 23.8"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 55 '57 "  N , 11 ° 18' 23.8"  E
Height: 375  m above sea level NHN
Rieshofen Castle (Bavaria)
Rieshofen Castle

The ruins of Rieshofen Castle are located on the southern outskirts of the Walting district of Rieshofen in the Eichstätt district in Upper Bavaria . Remnants of the wall and the keep have been preserved from the high medieval moated castle .

history

Coat of arms of the Lords of Rieshofen

The Lords of Rieshofen are first mentioned in 1337 with "Pertholt de Rodeshouven". The small moated castle was built from 1290 as the seat of this servant family of the Eichstätt monastery and was an episcopal fief . To the east of the fortress , the remains of an older predecessor complex were excavated; the original residence may have been in the area of ​​the St. Erhard Church.

As early as 1310, the widow Elsbeth von Rieshofen had to sell her fiefdom to the Eichstätter cathedral chapter for economic reasons , although her two sons were still alive. However, the family stayed in Rieshofen and is still traceable here in 1346. The cathedral chapter put a guardian on the castle, as such the knight Ulrich von Morsbach in 1346 and Burkhard Reichtershofer in 1406/07.

The Meierhof belonging to the castle was run by the cathedral chapter itself, i.e. it was given to a Kalteis family, who can still be found here in the 16th century (1544 Ursula Kalteis in Rieshofen). It was probably united with the second Meierhof in the village around 1480.

The castle itself seems to have become dispensable. The bridge was last repaired around 1484. As early as 1561 there was talk of a " castle stable ", that is, of a ruin. In 1602 the ministerial seat had disappeared apart from the remains of the wall and the keep.

The name "Hunger Tower" for the Rieshofer Tower goes back to an incident in 1689. The Tögingen Jew Joseph is said to have been guilty of stealing a stolen silver measuring device and was sentenced to death by the Eichstätter Neck Court for this. The alleged fence was thrown into the tower and left to starve to death there.

The "memorial plaque" attached in 1861 incorrectly identifies the tower as a Roman building.

In 1985/86 security measures and excavations were carried out in the castle grounds and part of the moat was restored.

description

The castle from the west
The keep with the high entrance (right)

The rectangular core of the castle is surrounded by the remains of a moat fed by the Altmühl . The actual castle area measures around 26 by 32 meters, the core castle only around 12 by 14 meters.

The approximately 18-meter-high keep , which has been closed off by a low roof pyramid since 1985, rises to the southeast . Its floor plan is square, the sides are about seven meters long. In the basement, which served as a dungeon , it has walls 1.60 meters thick. A total of three floors of quarry stone masonry lie above a plinth made of limestone blocks, which were separated on the inside by wooden intermediate floors. A few narrow slits of light let in sparse daylight inside. The obligatory high entrance to the living area is on the west side, its closure has broken out today; For a long time now, an excavated wall at the bottom of the tower has also given entry. A small staircase led from the living area to the defensive floor; this top floor is spanned by a barrel vault, which means that the tower should not originally have been much higher.

The small palace stood west of the keep free in the middle of a simple Bering , who was armed with no towers. The foundations of the curtain wall and the palace were exposed, preserved and partially bricked up in 1985/86. At the same time, the moat was sunk again and a wooden bridge, which has now been rebuilt, was built at the original location.

The entire complex clearly conveys the image of a small, high medieval ministerial castle in the vicinity of a larger ruling center.

The ruin is freely accessible at all times and serves as a resting place for Altmühl canoeists.

literature

  • Karl Zecherle (editor): Castles and palaces . Eichstätt district in the Altmühltal nature park. Ed .: District of Eichstätt. 2nd unchanged edition. Hercynia-Verlag, Kipfenberg 1987, DNB  944206697 , p. 28-29 .
  • Werner Meyer : Castles in Upper Bavaria - A manual . Verlag Weidlich, Würzburg 1986, ISBN 3-8035-1279-4 , p. 96 .
  • Felix Mader (edit.): The Art Monuments of Bavaria, Central Franconia District, II, Eichstätt District Office . Munich 1928 (Reprint Munich, Vienna 1982, ISBN 3-486-50505-X ).