Vlotho Castle
| Vlotho Castle | ||
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 Vlotho Castle - formerly Pallas with a modern protective roof |
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| Creation time : | around 1250 | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, spur location | |
| Conservation status: | largely reproduced ruin | |
| Standing position : | Count | |
| Place: | Vlotho | |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 10 '17 " N , 8 ° 51' 34" E | |
| Height: | 141 m above sea level NN | |
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The Burg Vlotho is the High Middle ruin a Höhenburg above town Vlotho in East Westphalia Herford ( North Rhine-Westphalia ). The aboveground areas were largely reconstructed in the course of the excavations between 1936 and 1939.
location
The extensive facility is located on the 141 meter high Amtshausberg almost 100 meters above the level of the Weser on a rock. This is a terrain spur of the so-called Ebenöde . The slope drops steeply to the east and south. Minden is 14 kilometers north, Herford 14 kilometers southwest and Bielefeld 26 kilometers southwest. There are traces of settlement from prehistoric times in the area.
A natural port basin was created through a branch of the Weser on the left, and an important branch of the Frankfurt-Bremen trade route to Vlotho led to this section of the Weser, via Lemgo and Wehrendorf. Today Wehrendorf belongs to the Vlotho district of Valdorf.
The castle can be reached by car via the Bad Oeynhausen interchange and the connecting federal highway 514 or by train via the Vlotho regional train station.
history
Settlement history
The castle hill was probably caused by an already about 2,000 years ago Wallenburg attached. At the time of the Carolingians around 850 AD, there was a fortified royal court here.
After the rule of Vlotho fell to Count Heinrich von Oldenburg (nickname of the "Myldebogener"), a brother-in-law of Count Heinrich von Tecklenburg, in 1248, he built Vlotho Castle around 1250 as an official residence. From here, trade on the Weser and the streets was monitored.
Although part of the County of Ravensberg , it was temporarily in the possession of Count Otto V. von Everstein .
In 1368 the troops of the city of Minden destroyed the castle and city of Vlotho. The occasion was a feud with the County of Lippe. However, since the castle was needed as an administrative seat, it was rebuilt. At times, two domains were administered from here.
In the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War and in the decades that followed, the castle changed hands several times, was plundered and fell into disrepair.
In 1709 it was sold "on demolition" for 172 thalers. The principle: Anyone who paid could break an amount of stones as building material, depending on the amount of the payment. Most of the castle was demolished in this way.
In 1884 an inn was built on the castle grounds. In 1903 the Vlothoer Bismarck Tower was built in the south-eastern outer area . It was designed as a changing garden and equipped with artificial grottos , from which a view of the course of the Weser in the east with the so-called Lippische Pforte was possible. In 1922, the Vlotho volunteer fire brigade built a shell-shaped pavilion for music performances on the eastern outer wall.
Extensive excavations took place from 1936 until the outbreak of World War II. Parts of the complex were secured and restored above ground as a ruin, the castle fountain exposed to a depth of 63 meters. The Bismarck Tower and the museum of local history that has now been set up were demolished. Other buildings that did not meet the requirements for an original design as possible also disappeared.
The Vlotho volunteer fire brigade built another massive pavilion in 1949. There were increasing protests of the citizens of the Uffeln district on the increasingly densely populated opposite bank of the Weser because of the noise pollution. In fact, the sound carried far beyond the Weser, which was a hundred meters below. This music shell was replaced by a tent stage when the castle grounds were redesigned in 2001/2002.
Building history
Reliable information about the building history of Vlotho Castle is rare; Most of the information is based on assumptions. After the castle was built around 1250, it was razed around 1368. Apart from the foundations, hardly any components have survived from the High Middle Ages. There are few drawings from 1581; but these do not show a binding view of the castle. The existing models (among others by W. Kreideweiß) are based on assumptions. In 1709 the castle was systematically demolished and the area practically leveled. The prison remained in place until the 1936s.
Todays use
A part of the reconstructed ruins was covered with a modern protective roof. As part of the city tours, the castle murmur is offered, during which the area can be explored in the dark under supervision.
investment
The castle ruins are around 110 meters long and up to 60 meters wide. The curtain wall is largely preserved. From the former buildings such. As the Palas are only foundations exist. The castle fountain is currently 52 meters deep. In the course of the excavation in 1936/39 it was exposed to a depth of 63 meters; it was already assumed at the time that it was around 100 meters deep, which would have placed the bottom at about the same level as the Weser. There is a restaurant with a beer garden in the spacious castle complex. The terrace offers a wide view of the Weser valley.
The Schwedenschanze ramparts, located about 500 m northwest of Vlotho Castle , are probably also connected to the castle complex . The exact interpretation and dating of the hill are still unclear.
literature
- Gustav Engel: Landesburg and sovereignty on Osning, Wiehen and Weser . Bielefeld 1979, DNB 801039622 .
- Karl Großmann : History of the Office Vlotho 1246–1963 . Vlotho 1963, DNB 451686136 .
- Karl Großmann: History of the city of Vlotho . Vlotho 1971, DNB 720233585 .
- Heinrich Harland: History of the rule and city of Vlotho . Vlotho 1888, OCLC 79833997 .
- Rolf Plöger: Vlotho Castle on the Weser, Herford district . Ed .: Antiquities Commission for Westphalia. 2013, ISSN 0939-4745 .
Web links
- Entry on Vlotho Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Vlotho Castle on burgen-und-schloesser.net
- History and pictures of the castle
- 360 ° panoramic image of the ruins of Vlotho Castle in the Westphalia Culture Atlas (requires Flash player )
Individual evidence
- ↑ JF Knapp: Regenten- und Volksgeschichte, 1836, p. 309
- ^ Karl Großmann: History of the city of Vlotho. Vlotho 1971
- ↑ E. Hartmann, Vlotho, the Weserpforte ... in the Ravensberger Heimatkalender, 1941, 16. JG, p. 48
