Werdenfels Castle

Werdenfels Castle
The north wall of the Palas
Creation time :	around 1230
Castle type :	Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	Administrative center of the county of Werdenfels
Construction:	Limestone natural stone masonry
Place:	Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Burgrain
Geographical location	47 ° 30 '59.2 "  N , 11 ° 5' 30.8"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 30 '59.2 "  N , 11 ° 5' 30.8"  E
Height:	795  m above sea level NN

The ruins of Werdenfels Castle are located about 80 meters above the Loisach Valley between Garmisch and Farchant in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district in Upper Bavaria . The Spornburg served as the administrative center of the County of Werdenfels until 1632 and then began to disintegrate.

As a popular hiking destination, the freely accessible castle ruins offer a good view of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Wetterstein Mountains .

Geographical location

The castle is located at 795  m above sea level. NN north-west of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on an eastern branch of the Kramerspitz in the Ammergau Alps . It is about 80 meters above the valley floor and can be easily hiked on well-marked paths. From the northeast to the southeast, the rocky terrain slopes steeply into the valley, while the terrain rises rapidly to the southwest of the castle. This typical castle location enabled remote monitoring of the important trade route in the valley ( Via Imperii ), but direct intervention was not possible because the castle was too far away.

history

The time when the castle was founded is controversial in castle research. However, the construction should be scheduled between the years 1180 and 1230. The client and the purpose of the original facility are also unknown.

From 1249 the fortress was owned by the Hochstift Freising and was occupied by castle guardians or carers. In 1294, Count Berthold III. von Eschenlohe gave part of his county to the bishopric and was appointed keeper of the castle. After the founding of the county of Werdenfels in Freising , the castle served as the seat of the administration and court. However, not all keepers took up residence in the castle. The county was generally considered to be " the best piece of the imperial princes Freising " (Carolus Meichelbeck). It delivered " Gämbs, rotes und Feder-Wildpräth ... Holtz, Marmor ", which could be transported on the rivers Isar and Loisach directly to the cathedral city.

In the 15th century the Freising had to pledge the facility several times out of financial difficulties. The structural condition of the castle seems to have deteriorated so much by the beginning of the 17th century that the nursing home was relocated to a new office building on the " Wang " in 1632 . From 1676 the fortress was exploited as a quarry . For example, numerous castle stones were reused when the baroque parish churches of Farchant and Garmisch were rebuilt.

In the course of secularization , the castle and the county came to the Kingdom of Bavaria . The approximately 5000 residents of the former imperial rule found it difficult to get used to their new masters at first. A complaint from a Munich official has come down to us from 1806. that " many Werdenfelßer still have no Bavarian hearts !"

In 1822 the Bavarian State Councilor Ignaz von Rudhart acquired the ruin, which has since been privately owned.

In 1905/06 the walls were secured and partially reconstructed. After securing the wall crown in 1961/63, further renovation measures finally began in 1986, which have been continued in smaller sections since then.

and display information about the image

Werdenfels Castle ("A.") and Schwaigwang ("B.") in 1700

description

The limestone that was quarried in the “castle forest” above the fortress was used as building material for the castle . There are also the remains of six ring-shaped lime kilns , which were archaeologically examined in 1997.

A shallow neck ditch protects the complex in the south and west . The approximately square, elevated core castle (27.6 × 24.8 meters) is preceded by two bailey from the 14th and 15th centuries to the north and west .

The keep rose on or above the north-west corner of the main castle, but today it is completely removed on a rubble hill (demolished in 1728/30). The tower was used in the 15th and 16th centuries. Century also as a prison. The north wall and a partition wall of the Palas (24.8 × 11.4 meters, all dimensions according to Zeune ) and the masonry of the two outer castles with the - heavily renewed - "Mittertor" are better preserved .

The partially preserved north wall of the Palas is interrupted on the ground floor by three large pointed arch openings, the actual function of which remains a mystery to this day.

In its last stage of expansion, the castle was probably more of an administrative seat than a defense structure and would not have withstood a serious siege for long. The wall thickness is only around 90 centimeters on average, the attack side was not reinforced or protected by flanking towers. The most defensive part was the high medieval keep, which has only been handed down through a few views from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The castle researcher Otto Piper noticed that Werdenfels Castle was not able to defend itself . He recognized that the fortress " as far as the masonry is still there, is strikingly missing facilities and precautions for sustainable defense ". During his investigations, he finally came to the correct conclusion that the ruins “ no longer correspond to the older castle complex ”.

The associated farm yard was located south of the valley below, on the site of the official building ( Schwaige Wang ) that is still preserved today .

Left: the inside of the hall with the partition wall. Middle: The first outer bailey with the “Mittertor” . Right: west side with outer bailey wall and hall.

literature

• Heinrich Spichtinger: Werdenfels, history of a castle . Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1991.
• Josef Ostler, Michael Henker , Susanne Bäumler: County of Werdenfels 1294 - 1802. Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1994.
• Michael Weithmann: Knights and Castles in Upper Bavaria - Forays into the medieval country between the Alps, Danube, Lech and Salzach . Dachau 1999, ISBN 3-89251-276-0 .
• Joachim Zeune , Heinrich Spichtinger: Werdenfels Castle - Little Guide . Garmisch-Partenkirchen (approx. 2000).
• Werner Meyer : Castles in Upper Bavaria . Weidlich Verlag, Würzburg 1986, ISBN 3-8035-1279-4 , pp. 129-131.

Web links

Commons : Werdenfels Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Werdenfels castle ruins on burgseite.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joachim Zeune: Traces of the Past . Ed .: Heinrich Spichtinger. Adam-Verlag, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1999, The castle of the early 13th century, p. 17 .
2. ^ Werner Meyer: Castles in Upper Bavaria . Würzburg 1986.