Wildeck Castle (Abstatt)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wildeck Castle
Wildeck Castle (2006)

Wildeck Castle (2006)

Alternative name (s): Wildeck Castle
Creation time : around 1200
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: many times rebuilt and renewed
Standing position : Count
Place: Abstatt
Geographical location 49 ° 4 '11 "  N , 9 ° 19' 14"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 4 '11 "  N , 9 ° 19' 14"  E
Wildeck Castle (Baden-Württemberg)
Wildeck Castle

The castle Wildeck , even Wildeck Castle called, is a hilltop castle in Abstatt in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Wuerttemberg . The castle was probably built in the high Middle Ages by the lords of Heinriet and in 1492 passed to Ludwig , the progenitor of the third line of the Counts of Löwenstein , who, according to evidence, were already involved in viticulture in the 16th century . In 1933 the castle and the surrounding vineyards came to the Württemberg state. Since 1940 there has been an experimental estate of the viticulture school in Weinsberg in the castle, which has been rebuilt in many ways , where the varieties Samtrot and Dornfelder have been bred.

location

The Spornburg is located on a mountain spur above Abstatt on the edge of the Löwenstein Mountains . From the castle you get a good overview of Abstatt. In addition to Abstatt, you can also see the villages of Vohenlohe and Happenbach, which belong to Abstatt, and the neighboring communities of Beilstein with Söhlbach, Ilsfeld with Auenstein and Helfenberg and Untergruppenbach with Unterheinriet. The Helfenberg castle ruins are only about one kilometer away.

history

Tower of Wildeck Castle, 2010

The origins of the castle are largely in the dark. It was created during the late land development phase in the High Middle Ages . There are no documents about the early history of ownership, but it is assumed that the castle was built between 1250 and 1330 as the second castle of the lords of Heinriet and that the Wildeck branch of the lower nobility served as a residence. Between 1336 and 1364 Abstatt was separated from Heinriet and remained the only seat of the Heinriet. Via the last male descendant of the family, Philipp von Heinriet († 1462), the castle came to his son-in-law Peter Harrant von Hohenberg († 1490) in 1450, after his death it fell back to the liege lord and was given to Wilhelm von Neipperg , the castle Wildeck and the village of Abstatt in 1492 sold to Ludwig , son of Frederick the Victorious and from 1494 Count zu Löwenstein. In 1504, the feudal sovereignty of Baden passed to Württemberg , who gave the Wildeck lordship back to the Counts of Löwenstein in 1510, who in future only had economic use, while Abstatt and Wildeck were placed under the sovereignty of the Württemberg office of Beilstein. With Württemberg, the castle came under Austrian administration for a short time in the early 16th century. Wildeck Castle was destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525 , and according to a building inscription from 1533 it was rebuilt that year. In the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War , Abstatt and Wildeck Castle came to Anton Wolfradt in 1622 after the Battle of Wimpfen , and later with Helfenberg to Colonel Peter Pflaumer from Möckmühl . After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the castle was bought back by Count Carl zu Löwenstein in 1653.

Due to the climatically favorable altitude, viticulture already played an important role in the 16th century on the surrounding altitude and in the castle. In 1589 16 acres and in 1653 28 acres are mentioned. The clerical administration also played a part in some good princely situations. The highest quality variety cultivated there at that time was probably the muscatel , which is expressly mentioned in 1653.

With the reorganization of southwest Germany as a result of the Rhine Confederation Act of 1806, the rule of Wildeck was abolished. The castle with vineyards and lands remained in the private ownership of the Löwenstein-Wertheim family and became the seat of a district forester, while the management of the complex and lands was carried out by the Löwenstein Rent Office in Abstatt.

In July 1932, Karl Hereditary Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg sold the Abstatt forest district and the Wildeck winery to the Jewish merchant Salman Schocken , who was refused the purchase by the Fideikommissgericht in Stuttgart, so that the Württemberg state acquired the facility in July 1933.

The viticulture school in Weinsberg tried for several years to keep the winery, was assigned it on August 1, 1939 and finally began in 1940 to rebuild a winery on the existing land. The acquisition of the remaining, partly heavily parceled out vineyards in private hands around the castle dragged on until 1972.

Access to the facility

During the Second World War , the castle was damaged by artillery fire. For a long time the castle buildings only had temporary roofs, the current structures of the castle are the result of more recent construction measures. The training rooms on the upper floors of the tower, which was particularly damaged in World War II, were not set up until 1995. Old farm buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries such as the well house, wine press extension on the tower, wine press house, day laborer's house and others were demolished and a new machine hall was built. The area around the castle was also changed several times in the 20th century; both through road construction and through the construction of reservoirs or the filling of sinks with the excavation of the lakes. As a result, the vineyard area was leveled in places in 1954. In 1982 the state also acquired the newly created wine-growing areas there.

The experimental estate in Wildeck played a significant role in the development of the Samtrot and Dornfelder grape varieties . Since 1992 the experimental estate has been managed according to the guidelines of ecological viticulture. In 1996 the operating area was a total of 21.1 hectares, of which 8.6 hectares was accounted for by vines, the remainder by young plant, fallow land, meadows, water areas as well as buildings and paths. About a quarter of the area was of Riesling ingested more significant shares had Samtrot, Müller-Thurgau , Pinot Noir , Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris .

literature

  • Dietmar Rupp: Burg Wildeck - from the rule of wine for Ökoweingut. In: History sheets from the Bottwartal. Vol. 7, 1997, ISSN  0948-1532 , pp. 43-66.

Web links

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