Thurndorf Castle

Thurndorf Castle
Thurndorf Castle on the map of Eschenbacher Landschreiber Wolf Puellenhover from 1568
Creation time :	12th Century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Castle stable with preserved stump
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Place:	Thurndorf (Kirchenthumbach)
Geographical location	49 ° 46 '23.1 "  N , 11 ° 39' 29.9"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 46 '23.1 "  N , 11 ° 39' 29.9"  E
Height:	586  m above sea level NN

The castle Thurndorf is an Outbound medieval Ministerialenburg in the Upper Palatinate district Thurndorf the community Kirchenthumbach in Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria .

location

The complex, which only consists of a tower stump and a few remains of the wall, is located next to the parish church of St. Jacobus Maior in the middle of the Thurndorf district of Kirchenthumbach on the north-western border of the Upper Palatinate administrative region and Upper Franconia . The former castle is connected to the nearby Creußen for historical reasons. Thurndorf is located on a geological border between the Franconian Alb and the Upper Palatinate Bruchschollenland . The geological structures south to west of Thurndorf belong to the Malm and the Upper Cretaceous and they consist of limestone ; to the east lie red sandstone deposits from the Triassic . The place was built in the vicinity of the medieval highways between Nuremberg to Bohemia and was tied to the so-called. "Eger Street". The so-called “Forchheimer Weg” ran south of Thurndorf from Auerbach via Kirchenthumbach to the Rauhen Kulm .

The castle lies on a ridge that slopes moderately to the southwest. The castle complex once had an extension of 100 × 130 m, the highest elevation in the core castle was 586 m, with the Goldbrunnen- and Mühlbachtal (left tributary to the Pegnitz ) being 475 and 505 m above sea level, respectively. The relatively large extent and the archaeological findings suggest that the complex was divided into two parts from the 12th century onwards with a main castle in the east and a bailey to the west and south-west. Archaeological findings suggest that the complex was secured by a ditch to the south and north. The original gate may have been in the southwestern castle area. The old path from Altkreisendorf to Hagenohe led past the southern flank of the castle.

history

A first wood-stone-earth system in Thurndorf is mentioned in 1003 in connection with the Schweinfurt feud between King Heinrich II and Heinrich von Schweinfurt , who came from the family of the Counts of Schweinfurt . This facility was likely to have been destroyed in this feud. The possessions of the Schweinfurters in the Nordgau then passed temporarily to a Berengar , who is regarded as the progenitor of the Counts of Sulzbach . After the collapse of the Schweinfurt rulership, the facility was likely to have been in a desolate place before it was transferred to the Sulzbachers. During the excavation campaigns (see below), remains of a wooden building from around 1000 were found, but these cannot be clearly assigned to this early building. The oldest ceramic finds that have been made can be dated between the late 8th and 10th centuries and indicate that settlement began in the Carolingian-Ottonian period. As archaeological findings show, the stone castle construction in Thurndorf probably began in the Salier period around 1100.

A Sigboto I. von Thurndorf is mentioned for the first time in 1121 in the Bamberg document for the Michelfeld monastery as the Bamberg Ministeriale . Since 1144 the people of Thurndorfer have been among the ministerials of the Counts of Sulzbach, who in turn were richly endowed with bailiwick estates . Outside the local area, the Thurndorfer also appear in the wake of the Sulzbach counts. So occurs Luitpold of Thurndorf , son of Sigboto I. at a donation to the Gefürstete provost Berchtesgaden or at a donation to the monastery Reichenbach , even if the act with the Count Berengar II of Sulzbach to 1107/09 established Baumburg Abbey is he named as a documentary witness. A brother of Luitpold von Thurndorf is Sigboto II. Von Thurndorf , then the grandchildren will become a Konrad , a Sigboto III. and one named Heinrich , who donated their Troschenreuth estate to the Michelfeld monastery in 1188 ; they are all ministerials of the Sulzbach counts.

After the death of Count Gebhard III. von Sulzbach In 1188, Sulzbach's own estates Thurndof, Creußen , Hahnbach and Parkstein, including the raft, came to Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa through purchase from the heirs . This created a direct connection to the Eger region, which after the death of Margrave Diepold III. († 1146) was withdrawn as a completed imperial fief and was transformed into the imperial territory of Provincia Egrensis or terra Egrensis in the second half of the 12th century . Luitpold von Thurndorf will have met his future master as early as 1183 in Eger on the occasion of the donation for Berchtesgaden. Konrad von Thurndorf is named as the Hohenstaufen Ministeriale in the service of Philip of Swabia . The Lords of Thurndorf have thus been promoted to the Reich ministry . At that time you also donated a hereditary funeral in Michelfeld Monastery. The tower in Thurndorf, built from square humps, also dates from this time.

At the end of the Hohenstaufen rule , the Thurndorfer chose the Walpoten as the new feudal lords and also established close relationships with the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg . These came into possession through the marriage of the second heir daughter of the Lords of Pettendorf Heilwiga to Gebhard I. von Leuchtenberg in the northern Upper Palatinate. The Thurn villages and the lights Berger damaged due usurped advocacies the monastery Speinshart . This asked King Konrad IV. For help and in 1235 the king commissioned the Eger district judge Ramung von Kammerstein to protect the Speinshart monastery against Heinrich and Konrad von Thurndorf . The dispute was decided in 1241 in favor of the monastery, the monastery should have no bailiwick apart from the emperor. Eschenbach , the market town of Speinshart Abbey , also belonged to the possessions of the Lords of Thurndorf .

Since 1251, Duke Otto the Illustrious of Bavaria has been the local sovereign - presumably through purchase. In the Bavarian Salbuch of 1285 the extensive office of Thurndorf is described, which also includes the possessions of the Lords of Thurndorf , such as Sachsenreuth , Windischendorf, which has long been desolate, or Heinersreuth . In addition, the properties from the clearing activity should be mentioned, which the Thurndorfer exercised in competition with the Lords of Pettendorf . The Pettendorfer inheritance came to her husband Otto V. von Scheyern and thus to the Wittelsbach family through the first heir, Heilika von Lengenfeld, around 1112/19 . In addition, properties around Eschenbach, in the Pegnitztal and in the Veldensteiner Forst are mentioned that belonged to the Thurndorf office. In 1318, Emperor Ludwig pledged Thurndorf and the market in Eschenbach to Konrad von Schlüsselfeld . The waiters were named under the castle men in 1318 , as was Konrad de Schlammersdorf in 1334 .

In the first half of the 14th century, Thurndorf Castle was rebuilt or expanded in the direction of a Ganerbeburg . Here, several emerged Burghuten for Burggrub , Ernst field , Eschenbach, Neuzirkendorf (today part of Kirchenthumbach) Naslitz (today part of Schlammersdorf ), (today part of Attracted Reuth Auerbach in the Upper Palatinate ), but still remained in the possession of the ruler, but individually to Nobles (e.g. to the von der Grün family ) were awarded. These castle men built their homes in the outer bailey of Thurndorf, some of them were later "built up", so they were not always in the hands of aristocratic owners.

Coat of arms of the Barons von Wildenstein according to Siebmacher's coat of arms book

With the house contract of Pavia of August 4, 1329, Thundorf Castle fell to the Rudolfinian line of the Wittelsbach family . In 1349, Dietrich von Wildenstein , victum of Count Palatine Rudolf , was awarded Thurndorf as a fief. After the death of Ruprecht I , Emperor Karl IV. Thurndorf Castle was also pledged. In the time of Charles IV, 19 Burghuten belonged to the Thurndorf office, which mainly served to support civil servants; the castle probably no longer had any military significance (it was also spared from the Hussite incursions ). When Charles IV had to sell the southern Upper Palatinate to acquire Brandenburg , Auerbach was developed into the capital of the part of the country that remained for New Bohemia . The importance of Thurndorf declined massively (the Thurndorf population had to sell their grain at the Auerbach weekly market).

After Ruprecht von der Pfalz was elected Roman-German king , the New Bohemian territories were conquered by Palatinate troops in 1400 . The transition in Thurndorf seems to have taken place without any problems and without war incidents, because the king continued to enfeoff the families living here with their castle estates. Vacancies that occurred after the escape of the Bohemian castle keepers ( Dislas von Beheim , Piozko der Beheim ) served to equip his helpers. The Thurndorf office, which now consists only of the lordly part of the castle and some affiliations of the office, is lent to Ulrich den Pucher as a pledge in 1402 . The pledge seems to have been released again, because in 1409 it was given to another favorite by Count Palatine Johann . The castle hats in Thurndorf were traded as private property in the 15th century. Outstanding is Hans von Wildenstein , who also acted as a carer here . The entire Thurndorf office came as a morning gift to the wife of Christoph von Pfalz-Neumarkt , Dorothea von Brandenburg-Kulmbach , but without prejudice to the rights of the Wildensteiner . In 1453 the property passed to Alexander von Wildenstein , a Palatine nurse in Lauf an der Pegnitz . In 1482 he was allowed to acquire the entire Thurndorf Castle including the castle hats as a fief. The property then passed to his daughter Christina von Wildenstein or her husband Christoph von Lentersheim . From the inheritance of the couple who died childless, Ludwig von Eyb , electoral district judge and curator of Auerbach, acquired the Thundorf estate, which he was still actively expanding. Owned by the family of Eyb bought Alexander von Pflug also Landrichter to Auerbach, the possession by 14,000 florins . He acquired the last remaining castle hats and thus reunited the entire medieval fiefdom in one hand. 1577/80 was Landsassiat continues to buy, specifically to Alexander von Redwitz , county judge in Amberg . He and his son were building a new castle in the southwest of the castle district. The old castle was abandoned and the stones were used to build the new castle and the new church tower in Thurndorf. The palas of the castle and the upper floors of the tower were affected by the demolition. The manor house of the castle became the rectory east of the church. The tower from the Hohenstaufen era, which stood on the border between the manorial part of the castle and the small parceled out castle estates, became a barn. The building was further damaged by a fire in 1585. Between 1960 and 1990 the remaining tower floors were demolished and the majority of the above-ground structure was destroyed by the owners and the church administration.

Todays use

The excavated tower stump can be viewed freely in the Thurndorf cemetery grounds; Parts of the excavated castle ruins had to be filled in again. There is also a virtual reconstruction of the castle. The coat of arms that was attached to the new Thurndorf Castle was placed in the cemetery area. It is an alliance coat of arms of the Lords of Redwitz and the Lords of Schaumberg .

description

The remains of the castle were rediscovered in 1999 on the occasion of the planned expansion of the cemetery at St. Jacobus Church in Thurndorf. The tower stump was integrated into a barn and built over. First of all, locals tried to remove the 3 to 4 m towering castle ruins with the help of the technical relief organization , which was finally stopped by the district administrator. The first archaeological investigations were carried out in 2000 and 2002 under the direction of the medieval archaeologist Mathias Hensch . Although a further excavation was planned for 2004, the church administration dug up some of the archaeologically unexplored areas with an excavator and thus destroyed it. Charges were brought against this violation of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act ; however, the proceedings were discontinued by the Munich public prosecutor's office in September 2004 because of the “lack of public interest in criminal prosecution”.

In April 2012, on the occasion of the renovation of the foundations of the St. Jacobus Church, a "construction site observation" was carried out by the Regensburg branch of the BLfD , which provided findings on the early development of this church.

In the southern part of the castle area, foundations of a stone building with the dimensions 8 × 16 m were found. This is where the central structure of the castle can be seen up to the 12th century. This building had a basement level that was about 2 m deep, which was reached via a wooden staircase and which led to a presumed 2.8 m high entrance portal, of which individual soffit stones and the threshold made of sandstone blocks have been preserved. A second entrance from the north was 2 m wide and had stone steps.

From the 2nd quarter of the 12th century, a tower with a base area of ​​10.7 × 10.7 m was built at the highest point on the mountain top. The interior has a clear width of 3.5 by 3.5 m. The basement was sunk 1.5 m at the time of construction. This has a thickness of 3.56 m in the lowest wall sections. The exterior of the double-shell masonry consists of humpback ashlars with a wall filling in Opus spicatum technique and can be dated to around 1140/50. The inner shell consists of long bosses with smooth surfaces. The three-layer foundation is 10 cm wider than the rising masonry. Since the place name "Thurndorf" was used as early as 1121, it can be assumed that this was not the first or only tower in the building. In a more recent, but still medieval construction phase, the basement received two vaults one above the other, with several layers of stone in the inner shell in the north and south walls being cut to half their depth for the support surface; To make the vault accessible, a steep cellar staircase was broken into.

Immediately to the northeast (1.4 m distance) of the tower was a high quality square building made of sandstone (smooth square) about 30 m long, which can be referred to as the palace of the castle. The masonry was double-shelled, the filling masonry consists of red iron and limestone, which was poured with a lime mortar. The wall thickness was 1.64 m in the foundation area and 1.34 m in the rising area. This also has a 0.4 m deeper foundation with a base zone protruding outwards and inwards. From a green sheet of flat glass it can be concluded that the hall had colored window glazing; iron shingle nails cover a roof with shingles. This was the official castle of Thurndorf mentioned until the 16th century. The first-mentioned building also remained.

The new castle chapel on the eastern edge of the core castle was also built in the 12th century. This was an 11 m long and 8 m wide hall with a retracted choir that was not archaeologically secured . For this church, the so-called Theophilus bell was cast from the workshop of a Wolfger , which is now in today's parish church.

Towards the end of the 12th century, the main castle was enclosed by a wall that crossed the castle area from south to north, into which the tower was also integrated. The wall was about 1.5 m thick in the foundation and 1.2 m in the rising masonry. The wall ended 2 m south of the tower to leave room for a gate. The existing curtain wall and the gate continued to exist. Immediately to the east of the tower, the remains of a fire or hearth were found, which was probably housed in a wooden building.

literature

• Stefan Benz: Thurndorf: The rise and fall of a central place in the northern Upper Palatinate. Beck, Munich 2002. Journal for Bavarian State History , 65, 2002, pp. 883–910.
• Mathias Hensch : The castle of the Lords of Thurndorf: Archaeological search for traces in an almost forgotten place of high medieval rulership. Buchhandlung Eckhard Bodner, Pressath 2017, ISBN 978-3-939247-75-3 .

Web links

• Entry on Thurndorf Castle in the private database "Alle Burgen".
• Thurndorf Castle on Burgenwelt.org , accessed on February 12, 2020.
• Pictures of the excavations of Thurndorf Castle on burgen-und-schloesser.net , accessed on February 12, 2020.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heribert Sturm : Neustadt an der Waldnaab - Weiden. Community Office Parkstein - Weiden . Ed .: Commission for Bavarian State History (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria . Old Bavaria, No. 47). Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7696-9912-2 , p. 15 , above ( digitized version [accessed February 11, 2020]).
2. ^ Heribert Sturm : Kemnath . Ed .: Commission for Bavarian State History (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria . Old Bavaria, Issue 40). Munich 1975, ISBN 3-7696-9902-5 , p. 8 , above ( digitized version [accessed February 11, 2020]).
3. ^ Dieter Bernd : Vohenstrauss . Ed .: Commission for Bavarian State History (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria . Old Bavaria, Issue 39). Munich 1977, ISBN 3-7696-9900-9 , p. 75 , above ( digitized version [accessed February 11, 2020]).
4. ↑ Notarial instrument on Christoff von Lentershaim dated March 2, 1507 on the database in the state archive of Nuremberg , accessed on February 13, 2020.
5. ↑ Nadine Trautzsch, Views of the reconstructed Thurndorf Castle , accessed on February 13, 2020.
6. ↑ Silvia Codreanu-Windauer: Foreword. In Mathias Hensch , 2017, pp. 6-7.