Weisenau Castle
| Weisenau Castle | |
|---|---|
| Creation time : | Third third of the 12th century |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle |
| Conservation status: | departed |
| Place: | Mainz-Weisenau |
The Burg Weisenau is an Outbound Castle , the 12th century in the third third of the Mainz city treasurer and Weisenauer Vogt Dudo in front of Mainz village Weisenau was built. Dudo, who from then on called himself Dudo von Weisenau , came from the Mainz ministerial family of the Meingote , who were powerful in the 12th century and held the office of city treasurer for several generations.
Time of construction
According to Ludwig Falck , the castle was built in 1163, shortly after Arnold von Selenhofen was murdered in 1160. The Mainz historian Stefan Grathoff, on the other hand, sees it as being built sometime between 1153 and 1183 and prefers to have it built under Archbishop Christian I von Buch (1165–1183), who was loyal to the emperor and who rarely stayed in his Archbishopric of Mainz .
Ownership
The following ownership of the castle is unclear. Whether this as a late punitive measure after the 1160 assassination of Archbishop Arnold von Selenhofen , in which the Meingote played a leading role, had to be relegated to Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa rather involuntarily , or whether the emperor himself sponsored the building of the castle and gave him the castle from Mainz, who was loyal to the emperor Archbishop Christian I. von Buch was made available, cannot be clearly established. It is certain that the castle came back into the possession of the Dudo around 1189 under Archbishop Konrad I von Wittelsbach . He gave the castle back to Dudo and his family as a Mainz inheritance and thus, as archbishop, retained the feudal sovereignty over the castle, which was directly in his immediate sphere of influence
On August 24, 1192, Emperor Heinrich VI. in the presence of Konrad I. von Wittelsbach in Wizinowe iuxta Maguntiam, a document was issued, which was also the first documentary mention of the place. It is generally assumed that the exhibition site was Weisenau Castle. Only five days later, the castle owner, previously known as “Dudo the Chamberlain” , was first named “Dudo de Wizenowe” in another document from Heinrich VI., This time issued in Worms .
New owners and first destruction
At the beginning of the 13th century it was the absence of male offspring erbberechtigter the sex of Weisenau over Guda of Weisenau and her husband Werner II. Bolanden of the gender of those of Bolanden over. This led to an increased mistrust of the citizens of Mainz against the castle and its new owners, which are located directly in front of the newly built city walls. The turmoil in the course of the clashes between the Staufer and papal parties in the last few years of Emperor Friedrich II could also be felt in Mainz. Archbishop Siegfried III. von Eppstein (1230–1249) succeeded in 1244 in pulling the city of Mainz, which had been loyal to the emperor, to the side of the Pope. In return, he assured them, among other things, that no new city or castle would be allowed to be built within one mile in the vicinity of Mainz. The townspeople of Mainz used the opportunity during the general political confusion and destroyed Weisenau castle sometime after 1244 or shortly before 1250, probably with the help of the opposing king Wilhelm of Holland, who was just in town . The destruction was described as a measure under the peace of the land . In addition, the population of Mainz had Wilhelm von Holland legally certified that no fortress within four miles of the city could be built without their consent. The construction of Weisenau Castle, which remained in the possession of Bolander, was expressly forbidden. In 1253 and again in 1259, the Mainz team succeeded in acquiring the entire castle and grounds with the ruins of the castle. They had legally acquired control of the former Weisenau Castle and were able to finally prevent a possible reconstruction of the castle under different political conditions.
Beginning of reconstruction and renewed final destruction
In the first half of the 14th century there were renewed efforts to rebuild the castle or at least a fortification of the strategically favorable hill above the Rhine south of the city. After the death of Archbishop Matthias von Buchegg , there was a power struggle between Emperor Ludwig IV (HRR) and his candidate, Baldwin of Luxembourg and Pope Johannes XXII , because of the replacement of the bishopric . , who favored Heinrich von Virneburg . The powerful Mainz citizenship supported the papal side. Baldwin of Luxembourg moved with an army from Trier to the city and in numerous smaller skirmishes pushed the Mainz troops back into the city. He then fortified the surrounding monasteries of St. Alban and St. Jakob as well as the St. Viktor monastery and began to build new fortifications on the grounds of Weisenau Castle. To what extent he used the remains of the castle for this purpose, rebuilt or strengthened it, is not entirely clear. The traditions speak of newly built walls and ditches. The Mainz side was aware of the danger of this southern line of fortifications, which enclosed the city seamlessly and strategically in an excellent location, and started a counterattack. On August 10, 1329, urban troops attacked from the city and destroyed St. Alban and St. Viktor in a coup. The Weisenau Castle construction site not far from St. Viktor was also attacked and completely destroyed. The chronicle of the monastery of St. Alban reported: “[...] monasterium s. Albani et ecclesiam s. Victoris canonicorum saecularum una cum castro Weissenaw pro maxima parte destruxerunt. ” After that, the site of the former Weisenau Castle was so completely stripped of its stones and the area leveled that it has been considered a castle since then .
location
The location of Weisenau Castle can no longer be clearly determined today. No remains of the castle have yet been found. An approximate localization of the castle complex on Burgstrasse and in the immediate vicinity of the Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption is likely.
literature
- Stefan Grathoff: Archbishop's castles of Mainz. Acquisition and function of castle rule using the example of the Archbishops of Mainz in the High and Late Middle Ages. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3515082402 (= historical regional studies volume 58)
- Heiner Stauder: The suburbs on the left bank of the Rhine from the early Middle Ages to the 19th century
Web links
- regionalgeschichte.net - Stefan Grathoff: On the history of Weisenau Castle
- regionalgeschichte.net - Sigrid Schmitt : On the history of Weisenau