Rolandseck Castle

Rolandseck Castle
Roland's arch around 1900
Creation time :	1122 (1040)
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Roland's Arch
Standing position :	Clerical
Place:	Remagen - Rolandswerth
Geographical location	50 ° 38 '26.2 "  N , 7 ° 12' 8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 38 '26.2 "  N , 7 ° 12' 8"  E
Height:	155.2  m above sea level NHN

Rolandsbogen and surroundings around 1900

The castle Rolandseck in Remagen district Rolandswerth was a hilltop castle on the Rhine , the preserved ruins Rolandsbogen is called. It was first mentioned as Rulcheseck ( Ruolechereck ) in 1040 . The castle was built in 1122 by Archbishop Friedrich I of Cologne together with the nunnery Nonnenwerth . A previous building may have existed since 1040.

The ruins of Rolandseck Castle ( Rulcheseck Castle ) are located below the Rodderberg at 155.2  m above sea level. NHN high basalt cliffs above the Middle Rhine Valley , precisely at its last bottleneck on the left bank of the Rhine before the gradual expansion into the Lower Rhine Bay , and together with the castles Drachenfels and Wolkenburg, which are almost directly opposite, served to secure the southern border of the closed territory of the Archbishopric of Cologne in the 12th century. In the 14th century the old name changed to the current one.

Destroyed in the Burgundian War in 1475 , it was rebuilt and badly damaged by the Swedes in the Thirty Years War around 1632 and fell into ruins. This collapsed on February 19, 1673 in an earthquake except for one last castle window, the so-called Roland's Arch .

Around the castle there is a Middle High German version of the Roland saga , according to which the knight Roland comes from here and leaves a grieving Hildegunde vom Drachenfels who then enters the Nonnenwerth monastery - regardless of the fact that the Roland figure was a vassal of Charlemagne in the 8th century can be located, that is, a good 300 years before the castle and monastery were built.

Collapse of the arch in 1839

Painting by Andreas Achenbach , 1834

Bergkegel and Burgbogen came into the possession of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1836. The Rolandsbogen , the remaining castle window of Rolandseck Castle, became a landmark of the Rhine romanticism of the 18th and 19th centuries. Century in the Bonn area. When it collapsed on December 28, 1839, the poet Ferdinand Freiligrath , who lived in Unkel from 1839 to 1841 , initiated the reconstruction by calling for donations in the Kölnische Zeitung . For this he was honored in 1914 with the Freiligrath monument on the footpath from the Rhine Valley to the Rolandsbogen. Thanks to the donations, the arch could be rebuilt in 1840. The Cologne cathedral master builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner contributed the plans for the reconstruction .

Temple

View of the Siebengebirge with a temple

In 1845, the Cologne sugar manufacturer Johann Jakob vom Rath (1792–1868) had a heptagonal viewing pavilion, known as the little temple, set up on a ledge below the arch. Von Rath, however, was unable to acquire the Rolandsbogen. With the construction of the temple and the "Rath'schen Tower" (Humboldt Tower) built on the Rodderberg in 1848, he intends to even surpass the attraction of the Roland Arch. The seven square shape is based on Masonic symbolism and is based on plans by Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, who is also the Apollinariskirche above Remagen designed .

The temple was demolished in 1931 because of the endangerment of the railroad tracks. Ideas of rebuilding the temple in the course of restoration work have not yet been realized.

Humboldtsturm (Rathsturm), aerial photo (2015)

gastronomy

A refreshment kiosk is documented as early as 1894 on the high plateau on Rolandsbogen. The first operator was Peter-Josef Lenz. In 1928/29 the son of the previous operator had a modern restoration company built according to the conditions at the time, with funds from Ernst Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt according to plans by the Mehlem architect Peter Wald ; the new building was inaugurated on May 6th and the restaurant opened on May 8th, 1929. In 1965 Heinrich Böhm laid out a small vineyard around the building. From 1965 to 1995 the married couple Heinrich Böhm and Ursula Böhm ran the restaurant, which Heinrich Böhm acquired in 1990.

The outside terrace offers a good view of the Rhine Valley, in particular of the Siebengebirge with Drachenfels and Petersberg in the north, with Bad Honnef and the islands Grafenwerth and Nonnenwerth in the east and up the Rhine towards Unkel and Oberwinter in the south.

The place had several prominent visitors. In 1903 Konrad Adenauer got engaged here. In June 1999 ( G8 summit in Cologne ), Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder received US President Bill Clinton for a dinner here.

Roland's Arch (2009)

Roland's Arch (2011)

In December 2001 a fire destroyed the restaurant. At the end of 2007 the restaurant was on the verge of collapse. The costs for the care and maintenance of the castle ruins could not be covered by running the restaurant. In early 2008, an investor bought the mountain with the castle ruins. With the departure of the last family member from the management in 2009, Frank Böhm, the Lenz / Böhm family tradition that began in 1894 ended.

The restaurant was completely renovated in 2009 and is managed with a local kitchen. In July 2012, the Berlin catering company Lutter & Wegner leased the operation of the restaurant and remodeled the dining area again. At the same time, the redesign of the outside terrace with a 160 m² glass winter garden was completed in 2013.

Refurbishment and realignment

A long-term renovation plan was developed for the castle ruins and the surrounding area. Planning and implementation take place in coordination with the city of Remagen , the district of Ahrweiler , the monument authorities and the development associations. The renovation of the Freiligrath monument on the historic ascent (historic Postweg) was carried out in 2011.

The Rolandsbogen, which is in danger of collapsing and overgrown with ivy, was completely renovated from 2010 to 2011. The external appearance of the Rolands Arch has changed after the completion of the renovation due to its removal from ivy . In September 2012, the upper part of the staircase to the viewing terrace and the forecourt of the arch were renewed. In addition, parts of the Romanesque castle wall, the original upper castle, could be exposed and renovated in the Freiligrathsaal . These are probably original parts of the wall from the 12th century.

In July 2013, the Rolandsbogen was included in the nationwide funding program for National Valuable Cultural Monuments .

Aerial view of the Rolands Arch

Rolandsbogen, collapse of the south wall in 2015

In 2014 the access from the former moat was renewed and a viewing platform with benches was built at the entrance to the former outer bailey. The south-eastern historical castle path below the imposing castle walls was also restored, but not yet opened to the public for safety reasons. The up to 12 meter high southern castle walls of the outer bailey, around 900 years old dry stone walls , have been renovated since spring 2015 . The renovation work was made more difficult because the castle ruins are located in a landscape protection area and the renovation work could only be carried out in a few months of the year. In addition, on January 29, 2015, part of the southern castle wall and a platform of the staircase leading to the plateau that was bounded by it on the valley side collapsed, so that the only access to the Rolandsbogen was temporarily closed. The Rolandsbogen could then only be reached via a temporary building staircase until the old access was restored by erecting a new concrete wall in March 2016. Following the appearance of the old castle wall, the wall was finally clad with quarry stone. Finally, the historic Burgweg could also be reopened, completing the restoration work.

literature

• Ansgar Sebastian Klein : Ferdinand Freiligrath, Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and the reconstruction of the Rolandsbogen. In: Kölner Domblatt . 75, 2010, pp. 226-259.
• Ansgar Sebastian Klein, Alexander Thon: Rolandseck castle ruins and Rolandsbogen . Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-6820-0 .
• Kurt Roessler: Rolandsbogen. The lyrical landscape of the Rhine. History and poems of Rolandseck Castle since 1122. A new Roland album. Edition Rolandsbogen, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-935369-21-3 .
• Kurt Roessler: The walls of Rolandseck Castle. Edition Rolandsbogen, Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-935369-24-4 .
• Josef Ruland: The Rolandsbogen in Remagen-Rolandseck. To be rebuilt 150 years ago. 1st edition RVDL, Cologne 1990. (Rheinische Kunststätten, issue 359)
• Alexander Thon: "... no borg laz was born for furbaz". Notes on the history of Rolandseck Castle via (Remagen-) Rolandseck up to its fall in the 17th century. In: Analecta Coloniensia. 9, 2009, pp. 151-192.

Web links

Commons : Rolandsbogen  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Hermann-Josef Fuchs on the Rolandsbogen
• Roland's Arch: saga, poems and reports, views

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A Bohemian painter experiences the Rhine ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Information according to the digital topographic map 1: 5,000 (DTK5)
3. ^ Emil Meynen : The federal capital Bonn and its neighbors Bad Godesberg and Beuel . In: Institute for Regional Studies (Ed.): Reports on German Regional Studies . Volume 28, Issue 2 (March 1962), self-published by the Federal Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Research, Bad Godesberg 1962, pp. 149–170 (here: p. 150). (also published as a special print)
4. ↑ Hans Kleinpass: The street names of the Mehlem district - 4th part: banks of the Rhine to Schützengraben . In: Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 27/1989, Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV , ISSN  0436-1024 , pp. 38–59 (here: p. 48).
5. ↑ Image on Flickr
6. ↑ IN! MAGAZINE FOR WORDS, IMAGES AND SOUND No. 2S, January 2013
7. ^ Kurt Roessler: Rolandsbogen. The lyrical landscape of the Rhine. History and poems of Rolandseck Castle since 1122. A new Roland album. Edition Rolandsbogen, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-935369-21-3 ; Kurt Roessler: The walls of Rolandseck Castle. Edition Rolandsbogen, Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-935369-24-4 .
8. ^ Rolandswerth.de History
9. ↑ Viktor Francke: Millions for the Rolandsbogen , General-Anzeiger of September 20, 2012, accessed on June 23, 2019.
10. ↑ Hans Kleinpass: The street names of the Mehlem district - 4th part: banks of the Rhine to Schützengraben . In: Godesberger Heimatblätter: Annual issue of the Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg , Issue 27/1989, Association for Home Care and Home History Bad Godesberg eV, ISSN  0436-1024 , pp. 38–59 (here: pp. 48 f.).
11. ↑ oral Report, Heinrich Böhm, (born March 21, 1932) on December 13, 2014
12. ↑ Adenauer's engagement in 1903
13. ↑ The current chronicle from the district and municipalities ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Heimatjahrbuch Kreis Ahrweiler 2000. 58th year , p. 27.
14. ↑ Fire in the Rolandsbogen restaurant. Generalanzeiger Bonn of January 3, 2002
15. ↑ A buyer is being sought for the Rolandsbogen , General-Anzeiger , September 5, 2007
16. ^ Rescue for the Rolandsbogen , Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , December 7, 2009
17. ↑ The viewing terrace will be given a glass and steel structure , General-Anzeiger , April 6, 2013
18. ^ Renovation work on the Rolandsbogen , Presse Anzeiger, October 4, 2010
19. ↑ Renovation work on the arch completed , Presse Anzeiger, November 24, 2011
20. ↑ The plateau of the Rolandsbogen has been redesigned , General-Anzeiger , June 18, 2012
21. ^ A push for the Rolandsbogen , General-Anzeiger , July 16, 2013
22. ^ Danger to life on the Rolandsbogen , General-Anzeiger , February 2, 2015
23. ↑ The site of the collapse is being scrutinized , General-Anzeiger , February 4, 2015
24. ↑ Circle releases new stairs to the Rolandsbogen , General-Anzeiger , March 19, 2016