Wildenstein Castle (Eschau)

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Wildenstein Castle
BurgruineWildensteinEschau.jpg
Alternative name (s): Ash Castle
Creation time : around 1250
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Count
Place: Eschau -Wildenstein
Geographical location 49 ° 49 '43 "  N , 9 ° 17' 34.1"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 49 '43 "  N , 9 ° 17' 34.1"  E
Height: 350  m above sea level NN
Wildenstein Castle (Bavaria)
Wildenstein Castle

The Wildenstein castle ruins belong to the hamlet of Wildenstein , a district of Eschau in the Miltenberg district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria .

Geographical location

The ruin of the Höhenburg lies on the narrow, wooded ridge of the summer mountain at 350  m above sea level. NN , which extends between the narrow valleys of the Rechbach (sometimes also referred to as Brunnfloßgraben ) and the Aalenbach (which rises in Hollergrund) in an east-west direction from the Heckberg massif towards the Elsava valley. The ruin lies on a steep slope to the north and south. The path leads from the hamlet of Wildenstein in turns steeply up the southern slope of the ridge and ends at the top of the section of the ring trench that surrounds the forward gate.

It is the only preserved castle complex in the inner Spessart .

history

The castle was built around the beginning of the 13th century by the Counts of Rieneck , presumably to protect the Rieneck possessions from the neighboring Kurmainzischen places. It was first mentioned in a document in 1260. In a feud between the Counts against Kurmainz and Reinhard I von Hanau , the castle was taken. A comparison was made. The Counts of Rieneck were forced to recognize the Mainz rights and had to promise not to build a castle in the Spessart region. Nevertheless, immediately afterwards they started building the castrum Esche (Eschau Castle), against which Mainz again protested. In 1261 a new settlement was reached, in which the brothers Ludwig, Gerhard and Heinrich von Rieneck undertook not to build a "Burglichbu" on Mainz land after Bishop Wernher of Mainz destroyed Esche Castle. When the archbishop began to build a castle near Eschau himself , the Rieneckers protested. At the same time, they set about restoring Wildenstein Castle. In 1266 a new comparison was made. The Counts of Rieneck promised Archbishop Wernher to pay 500 marks in silver and pledged themselves to the agent, Count Hermann von Henneberg, for 300 marks with the castrum Wildenstein . They also undertook to hand over the castrum to Ronnenbach for grinding. In January 1271 the counts had to submit unconditionally to the Archbishop of Mainz at a meeting in Aschaffenburg .

In order to later secure themselves against Mainz, they gave Wildenstein Castle, the villages of Eschau and Kleinheubach to the Count Palatine near the Rhine as fiefs. The castle remained in the possession of Rieneck until the family died out. It was the seat of the Rieneck bailiff . In 1340 Johann Gundelwin is named as bailiff of Wildenstein, in 1382 a lord of Fechenbach as a nobleman , in 1420 Eberhard Rüd von Kollenberg as a castle man . In 1319 the castle was partially mortgaged. When Count Philipp, who was married to Margareta von Erbach , the last Rienecker, remained childless, in 1520 Eberhard Schenk von Erbach had the right to the Palatinate fiefdom of the Rienecker guaranteed. In 1559, after Count Philip's death, the Count Palatine near Rhine took possession of Wildenstein Castle as a fallen fief and handed it over to the Count of Erbach in 1560 as a free allodial property. The castle initially remained the seat of the bailiff under the Counts of Erbach, but was then abandoned and left to decay. In the 1680s the last bailiff of Count Erbach, Johannes Schnellbacher, lived on Wildenstein with his wife Anna Maria and their nine children. At this point the castle was already in disrepair. Johannes Schnellbacher died on December 25, 1689 and was buried in Eschau on December 27. With the subsequent relocation of the cellar rights, Wildenstein Castle forfeited its last function and was finally forfeited.

description

The old, Romanesque castle from the early 13th century was a simple complex, protected only by the moat and the mighty curtain wall , the old structure of which is characterized by the large humpback cubes with pincer holes. A large breach can be seen in the eastern shield wall , which was probably struck by fire from Bliden during the siege of 1260 and then closed again with less high -quality ashlar . At this point, the main wing of the castle, including the missing today will keep suspected, probably damaged in the siege and was subsequently demolished. In the Gothic period, a smaller tower, similar to a donjon, was added to the north side of the curtain wall, which was also rebuilt at the time.

Large parts of the curtain wall, the 14th century gate, the rectangular north tower and a cellar vault and parts of the residential building have been preserved in a partially dilapidated condition. Since 1997 an interest group, which founded the association "Burgfreunde Wildenstein eV" in 2002, has been looking after the castle ruins. As part of the renovation of the Palas , the Archaeological Spessart Project carried out documentation and excavations accompanying construction on behalf of the Burgenverein and with its support and in coordination with the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation from April to June 2011. These could also be continued in 2012. One of the results is the finding that the walls of the building were built down to the natural rock; When the palace was rebuilt in the Gothic period, the humpback cubes of the destroyed keep were reused.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Burg Esche - Entry in the Burgenlexikon ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.burgenlexikon.eu
  2. ↑ spessartprojekt.de - excavation diary 2011 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / spessartprojekt.de

literature

  • Felix Mader : The art monuments of Bavaria Lower Franconia XXIII. Bez.-Amt Obernburg , Verlag R. Oldenbourg, Munich 1925.
  • Ursula Pfistermeister : Well-fortified Franconia, Volume 2: Around Würzburg, castles, fortified churches and city walls . Hans Carl Verlag, Nuremberg 2001, ISBN 3-418-00386-9 , pp. 125-127.

Web links