Wildenburg Castle (Hunsrück)
| Wildenburg Castle | ||
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 Wildenburg Castle observation tower |
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| Castle type : | Hill castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Standing position : | Count | |
| Place: | Kempfeld | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 46 '33.4 " N , 7 ° 15' 22.6" E | |
| Height: | 630 m above sea level NN | |
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The Wildenstein Castle is a ruined castle in Kempfeld in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate ( Germany ). Parts of the facility are located in the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park .
location
The ruin is located in the Hunsrück between the Black Forest high forest in the north and the town of Idar-Oberstein in the south at approx. 630 m above sea level. NN on the Wildenburger head above the valley of the Idarbach . It was the highest castle in the Hunsrück.
history
The forerunner of the Wildenburg was a presumably Celtic refuge castle with double ramparts from the Latène period (approx. 450–50 BC). The Wildenburger Wall is one of a number of Celtic ramparts in the southern Hunsrück between the ring wall of Otzenhausen , the Ringkopf , the Altburg and the Alteburg in the Soonwald . A short section of the wall was reconstructed as the "Gallic Wall" ( murus gallicus ).
Around the year 350 AD, a late Roman fortification was set up on the Wildenburg for a short time.
In the late Middle Ages , Wildgrave Friedrich von Kyrburg built the Wildenburg on the rock at the western tip of the ring wall (first mentioned in 1330) and in 1651 it was sacked and destroyed by marauding Lorraine troops. After partial reconstruction in 1660, the lower castle served the Wildenburg office as the administrative seat until the county was abolished in 1792.
investment
Only a few remains of the wall have survived from the upper castle , which is situated on a rock . A 22-meter-high observation tower was built on the top of the rock in 1980 and completed in 1981. It offers a very good view in all directions from its 15-meter-high viewing platform, which is attached to the tower in a ring . Orientation boards on the parapet explain the goals.
From 1859 the buildings of the lower castle with gate tower, farm buildings and surrounding wall for the establishment of the Prussian district forester's office had already been restored. After further renovations, these buildings now house a castle restaurant and are the seat of the Hunsrück Association . The knight's hall is used as a registry office and for smaller festivities.
environment
According to a local monument, there was also a hamlet below the castle , but nothing has survived today ( desertification ). The Wildcat Center Wildenburg , one of the three gates of the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park, is also located below the castle .
literature
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich and Achim Wendt: Castles in the Hunsrück and on the Nahe. "... where a mighty tower still looks down defiantly. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2493-0 , pp. 160–163.
- Hans Nortmann: "Wildenburg": Archaeological circular route. In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region. Trier 2008, ISBN 978-3-923319-73-2 ( series of publications of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 35 ) p. 128f.
- August Heidrich: History of the Wildenburg and its surroundings. Bad Kreuznach 1906.
Web links
- Entry on Wildenburg near Kempfeld in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- The Wildenburg near Kempfeld private website: cultural landscape Nahetal and Hunsrück
- All-round view from the observation tower
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wildenburg is again a gem in volksfreund.de from December 11, 2012, accessed on October 10, 2015