Sparneck Castle

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Sparneck Castle
The office building built on the castle walls in 1730

The office building built on the castle walls in 1730

Alternative name (s): Veste Sparneck
Creation time : mentioned in 1298
Castle type : Location
Conservation status: The cellar and stables have been preserved, the castle stables and parts of the moat are still recognizable
Standing position : Aristocratic rule
Place: Sparneck
Geographical location 50 ° 9 '41.7 "  N , 11 ° 50' 34.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 9 '41.7 "  N , 11 ° 50' 34.9"  E
Height: 560  m
Sparneck Castle (Bavaria)
Sparneck Castle

The castle Sparneck was a castle in the market Sparneck in the Upper Franconian district of Hof .

history

The origin of the name Sparneck

The coat of arms of the von Sparneck family in Siebmacher's book of arms

Sparneck can be derived from the original word rafter hedge. This is composed on the one hand of the word rafter , which refers to the coat of arms of the von Sparneck, decorated with two red rafters, and on the other hand of the Middle High German word hecke or eck . This means loosely translated on a mountain spur and describes the location of the main castle in Sparneck .

When a change of power took place in the northern Fichtelgebirge in the middle of the 12th century , parts of the retinue of the Margraves of Vohburg settled on the Waldstein . The Lords of Waldstein, as they were now called, can be documented between 1170 and 1206. The von Sparnberg lords , who descended from the von Waldstein clan, have also been attested since 1202 . They lived at Sparnberg Castle in a loop of the Saale between Hirschberg and Blankenberg .

A man named Rüdiger, who came from this Sparnberg line, settled between 1200 and 1223 at the foot of the ancestral castle of his ancestors, the Waldstein. He was named as a witness in Eger on November 10, 1223 "Rudergus de Sparrenhecke" and was thus the first lord of Sparneck .

The history of the village of Sparnecks

Even if one can infer the existence of a castle from the appearance of Rüdiger von Sparneck as early as 1223, a "castrum Sparnecke" was only named in 1298 when Babo von Sparneck pledged his property to the bailiffs von Plauen and Ulrich Sack von Planschwitz with parts of the castles Waldstein and Sparneck and the city of Münchberg with all related uses and rights. The Sparnecker got their property back after a short time and on July 13, 1364 granted Münchberg the city charter of Nuremberg . Münchberg later also received higher jurisdiction and market rights.

The castle in Sparneck

There are no sources that could provide information about any damage to the castle over the centuries: the Hussites marched through Sparneck in 1430, but there is no evidence that they devastated it. During the Bavarian War , which Margrave Albrecht Achilles waged against the secular and spiritual princes from 1459 to 1463 and which also raged in the Fichtel Mountains, the Sparneckers' property was spared "thanks to God's help".

Destruction of the castle by the Swabian Federation in 1523

In the middle of the 15th century, many once powerful lords operated in a way that was later referred to as robber baronism to preserve their property. Here Hans Thomas von Absberg stood out in Franconia around 1500 . He kidnapped merchants several times and demanded a large ransom for their release. On June 24, 1520, he attacked a group of travelers on the Hahnenkamm . Count Joachim von Oettingen , who moved with the group, was so badly wounded in the scuffle that he succumbed to his injuries on July 6th. This event was also reported to the Swabian Confederation and Charles V , who had just been elected German Emperor, who thereupon pronounced imperial ban on the Absberger . Finally, in May 1521, Absberg attacked a group of returnees from the Reichstag in Worms on the Knittlinger Steige. He fell into the hands of Hans Lamparter von Greiffenstein (spokesman for the emperor) and Johann Lucas, who handled financial transactions on behalf of the emperor. After several stops he took them to the Waldstein , from where they were able to flee and reach Nuremberg. There they indicated the Sparnecker as the Absberger's helpers. On June 1st a huge army, consisting of 10,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 horsemen and carrying 100 rifles , 33 cannons and 900 quintals of gunpowder , was set up. On July 10th, the troops reached Sparneck Castle and burned it down to the ground. The widow of Rüdiger von Sparneck lived in a house next to the castle, reportedly a pretty young woman who implored the soldiers to spare her house. But despite all the precautionary measures (even the citizens were tasked with protecting the house from the raging fire) it caught fire because of the great heat and the woman had to be saved from death. The “Ander Haus” on the woodcut probably means the Stockenroth Castle, which belonged to the Wolf von Sparneck and no woodcut exists of its destruction. The castle fell into disrepair and was not rebuilt by the Sparneckers, whose end was thus sealed. The fiefs of Sparneck, Waldstein and Stockerode (with a further 22 villages subject to tax) were confiscated by the Crown of Bohemia and sold to Christoph Haller von Hallerstein at Ziegelstein Castle († 1581), councilor of Emperor Charles V. The last of the Sparneck family died in Wunsiedel in 1744 .

The woodcut by Hans Wandereisen

Main article: Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523

Afterwards colored woodcut by Hans Wandereisen from 1523

In the woodcut by Hans Wandereisen , the castle dominates the village from a hill. It consists of a palace with flock guard turrets at the corners. On the right side you can see the remains of the already destroyed keep , which was lifted by the force of the explosion; three stories fell into the moat. The castle is protected by a surrounding moat . The camp of the Bund troops can be seen in the foreground. Parts of the village are shown to the right and left of the castle complex. The burning houses are civil estates and stables. The monastery , which was founded by Friedrich von Sparneck , can also be recognized.

The woodcut by Joseph Baader from the 19th century
The back of the office building. Parts of the former castle can still be made out

Variations

In 1880 Joseph Baader published a work on the procession of the Swabian Federation in 1523 with a detailed description of all 23 castles and corresponding woodcuts. Baader used the Wandereisen originals as a basis for his tracing. However, he made serious mistakes. The Baader woodcut shows the castle in the middle of the village, but the depiction of the complex is very unrealistic. So Baader recorded as three large towers, one of which the keep is supposed to represent. The other two towers at the corners of the Palas were really small crowd watch tower as parts of the battlements . The blue roof covering with golden balls on the spiers did not correspond to reality either, since the hall was covered with simple red shingles and had a simple gable roof. The cuts by Joseph Baader, who otherwise did an excellent job, cannot be used as a source for further research.

Successor building: The Hartungsche Amtshaus

In 1730, the margrave bailiff Hartung built an official building on the walls of the castle, which is still preserved in its almost original form. In the rear outside area, some parts of the castle wall are still present. In 1763 the Feezsche Amtshaus was built .

The castle today

Only the cellars and parts of the former stables, which are still used by the residents today, have survived from Sparneck Castle. The castle stable with its moat is still visible in some places. The office building, built in 1730, is to be converted into a local museum.

literature

Web links

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