Windeck Castle (victory)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windeck Castle
Windeck Castle in July 2005

Windeck Castle in July 2005

Alternative name (s): New Windeck
Creation time : around 1174
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Ruin parts of the keep, stair tower, outer wall, wall of the great hall
Standing position : Counts, clerics, dukes
Place: Windeck - Altwindeck
Geographical location 50 ° 48 '49.5 "  N , 7 ° 34' 44"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 48 '49.5 "  N , 7 ° 34' 44"  E
Height: 220  m above sea level NHN
Windeck Castle (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Windeck Castle
Layout

The Windeck Castle is a ruin in Windeck in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis . The castle ruins are located on the Schlossberg above Altwindeck . The hilltop castle was first mentioned in a document as "castrum novum in windeke" as early as 1174, but archaeologists consider it likely that it is older, as Count Heinrich Raspe III. it was rebuilt around 1170 after being destroyed.

Windeck Castle, aerial view

history

Henry the Second of Brabant
Keep of Windeck Castle in May 2007
Windeck Castle Plateau in May 2007
View of the inner courtyard, 2006
Panorama of the castle ruins

Landgrave of Thuringia

Two castles on the castle hill are known for the 12th century. Alt-Windeck (not to be confused with the village of Altwindeck, formerly Windeck), a tower castle on the spur of the Burgberg, and Neu-Windeck , which is known today as Burg Windeck. Both were in the possession of the Landgraves of Thuringia in 1174, when they were first mentioned in a document . The castrum novum was created by Heinrich Raspe III. , the brother of the Thuringian Landgrave Ludwig III. and its governor in Niederhessen, given as a fief to Count Engelbert I. von Berg . This award of the fief to the Counts of Berg was confirmed in a document by Emperor Friedrich I.

Dukes of Westphalia

Between 1185 and 1188, Landgrave Ludwig III sold. his Westphalian allodial possession , including Alt- and Neuwindeck, for 3,700 marks to the Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Westphalia , Philipp von Heinsberg . After payment of the remaining purchase amount, the property was ceremonially handed over in 1197 with the acceptance of a new oath of loyalty. Contracting parties were meanwhile the new Cologne Archbishop Adolf I and Count Dietrich von Landsberg , who was the daughter and heiress of Ludwig III. had married.

Landgrave of Hesse

In 1247 Duke Heinrich von Brabant , acting on behalf of his three-year-old son Heinrich , who had recently been proclaimed Landgrave of Hesse, enfeoffed Count Adolf IV von Berg with Windeck Castle. Soon afterwards, in a settlement, he received Windeck, Bensberg and also half of the income of Grafschaft Berg. Count Adolf later also bought Alt-Windeck. When Countess Mechthild von Sayn sold Windeck Castle to the Archdiocese of Cologne in 1250, Adolf von Berg refused to give his consent, but in 1267 offered the Musbach and Merten farms as compensation, which was accepted by the Archdiocese of Cologne. These then fell instead of the planned Windeck Castle as a fiefdom to Gerhard von Wildenburg, a vassal of the Sayner family .

Claims of the Messrs. Von Elberfeld were settled in a settlement. They renounced the power of keys to Windeck Castle and received a castle loan in Windeck and a house in Neu-Windeck.

Dukes of Berg

Counts of Berg

Windeck Castle is mentioned in a document from 1247 for the division of the County of Berg. In the comparison between the mother Irmgard von Berg and her son Count Adolf IV. Von Berg , Neuwindeck Castle, along with Bensberg Castle, belonged to Adolf IV's ownership.

Knight of Holstein

1388 was a knight named Wilhelm Staël von Holstein the local magistrate . His family resided in Holstein Castle near Nümbrecht , and the castle, land and people were pledged to them. He had to repair the castle and maintain eight armed men. The bailiffs were first knights, later the nobility and representatives of the sovereigns.

Counts of Kleve and von der Mark

In 1397, after the lost battle at Kleverham, the castle was pledged by Duke Wilhelm II von Berg to Count Adolf von Kleve and Dietrich von der Mark until the ransom had been deposited, but was occupied again in 1398 by Count Adolf von Berg , Wilhelm's son after Dietrich von der Mark fell in a feud with him at Elberfeld.

Dukes of Berg

Adolf was Duke of Berg from 1408 and Duke of Jülich from 1423 .

Landgrave of Hesse

In 1433 Duke Adolf concluded an alliance with Landgrave Ludwig von Hessen and handed over the castles of Denklingen , Neuenberg bei Lindlar and Windeck.

Count of Nesselrode

In 1435 Adolf von Jülich and Berg pledged Burg und Herrlichkeit Windeck to Wilhelm von Nesselrode the Elder due to financial difficulties due to many feuds . J. (his bailiff since 1431) for 10,000  guilders . As such, Wilhelm was obliged to maintain the castle complex. Between 1443 and 1445 alone, he spent 5530 Oberland guilders on this. Further costly repairs by the von Nesselrode family followed until 1515. He was succeeded by the youngest son Bertram von Nesselrode from 1474 to 1510 , his nephew Heinrich von Nesselrode (1510–1513), his underage son Wilhelm von Nesselrode in partial union with his brother Mauritius von Nesselrode ( 1515-1528).

Johann von Seelbach

From 1542 to 1549 Johann von Seelbach zu Crottdorf officiated . He received an official fee of 100  florins , 300 quintals of oats and tithes . For this he had to employ a chaplain , a waiter , a baker, a cook, a country messenger , a porter and four guards.

Johann von Nesselrode

Wilhelm's son was a bailiff until 1561. During this time Dattenfeld and Much came to the Windeck department.

Johann von Lützenrode

When Johann von Nesselrode died and left no responsible descendants, Johann von Lützenrath zu Vorst was appointed bailiff on Windeck (1561 to 1586).

Wienand from Leerath

When his successor, Wienand von Lyradt zu Hunstorf, also died in 1586, the Windeck office returned to the Lords of Nesselrode.

Count of Nesselrode

Wienand von Leerath served as bailiff from 1586 to 1589. He was perhaps the guardian of Wilhelm von Nesselrode , whose dates are unclear. He was bailiff of Windeck and Blankenberg from 1582 or 1586 and died in 1599 or 1608.

Around this time, major repairs to the buildings in Windeck were required again, which were carried out in 1602 and 1609 according to the expertise of Johann II von Pasqualini, a grandson of the well-known builder Alessandro Pasqualini .

Wilhelm's successor was Bertram von Nesselrode . This was discontinued in 1610 as part of the Jülich-Klevian succession dispute. He died in 1618.

Pfalz-Neuburg / Kurbrandenburg

Rudolf the Second

When the last Duke of Berg von Jülich-Kleve-Berg died in 1609, a dual rule of the beneficiaries was agreed. Emperor Rudolf II , on the other hand, enfeoffed the electoral house of Saxony with the Duchy of Berg . There were also fighting between Prince Moritz of Orange and imperial troops under Johann von Reuschenberg zu Overbach at the Jülich Fortress , but not in the Windeck office.

Heinrich Quadt of Isengarten

In 1610 the Lutheran Heinrich Quadt von Isengarten became the bailiff for the Catholic Bertram . He was involved in the Truchsessian War and, as a mercenary leader, in battles in France. He was also an imperial colonel in the Imperial Army and occupied Windeck in 1609 or 1610 with land riflemen and mercenaries.

In 1613 Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm became a Catholic, Elector Johann Sigismund became a Calvinist . Both demanded sole ownership. With the parties of the Dutch States General and France against the Catholic League , Spain and the Empire, the danger of a Europe-wide war was once again invoked, but was temporarily banned in the Treaty of Xanten as early as 1614 . In 1615, land rifles from Blankenberg and Windeck attacked Siegburg with the support of mercenaries , which was still under Spanish occupation.

Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm tried in 1615 to depose Heinrich Quadt without the consent of the Brandenburg Elector. He remained bailiff until 1617, but entered the service of the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in 1615 . In 1617 he died deeply in debt.

Kurbrandenburg

In 1618 the Thirty Years' War began in Bohemia. Windeck was occupied by Kurbrandenburg troops until 1622 , at times under Lieutenant Colonel Stephan Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz. From 1622 Windeck was occupied by troops of the States General, because in 1621 the Dutch War of Independence against Spain , which had been suspended as an armistice for twenty years, continued. With the comparison of Düsseldorf in 1624, the areas were divided, Windeck came to Kurbrandenburg. After further fighting it came to the Treaty of Kleve .

Pfalz-Neuburg

Palatine-Graefish-Spanish troops under Heinrich von dem Bergh , together with imperial troops under Heinrich Duke von Aremberg, successfully seized the Pfaffenmütze and conquered Jülich . Then at the beginning of 1623 Windeck fell to the Electoral Palatinate.

Friedrich Wilhelm von der Lippe

Friedrich Wilhelm von der Lippe called Hoen zum Broich and Wilberhoven was bailiff since 1581. He was also Drost zu Hoerdt and Leunen and also a Lutheran. He was deposed after the castle was conquered in 1622.

Walram Scheiffarth from Merode zu Allner

Walram Scheiffarth von Merode was the administrator from 1622 until his death in 1625. In 1625 50 men were to be stationed at Windeck under Captain Heeß, but this did not happen. After the Spanish withdrawal, 30 imperial companies of the emperor moved in support against the Netherlands , but then withdrew to Bergisch and caused much annoyance to the population.

Count of Nesselrode

Adolf von Nesselrode

In 1625 Adolf von Nesselrode zu Ehreshoven, who himself was in the service of the Electorate of Trier , took office.

Wilhelm von Hillesheim

Wilhelm von Hillesheim remained bailiff until 1637 despite difficult times.

In 1630 two imperial companies marched through the Windeck office and plundered the population. This was also the year Sweden intervened in the war. In 1631 the Bergisch offices were asked to provide eight companies for the appointed Swedish Colonel Ludwig Heinrich Graf zu Nassau-Dillenburg . In 1632, skirmishes began between local land riflemen and small wandering Swedish troops.

Sweden

The Swedes moved into southern Germany, but 11,000 men under Lieutenant General Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin moved to the Rhine. Siegburg was taken from October 27 to 31, Windeck on October 30 and Blankenberg at the same time within two days . Bensberg and Brück were also taken. All goods were robbed, men and women murdered, driven naked under beatings and much more.

Swedish commanders

Lieutenant Johan Babtista, Captain Kleynaw, his Lieutenant Quest, Hauptman Heinrich Wilhelm Gürtzgen, the Welsche Capitein Du Lac, Drost a lieutenant, and Haubtmann Ley, who died here, again Gürtzgen, then Capitein Leutnant Gerhardt Steuber auss the means Irsen in Leuscheit ( Leuscheid ) and Captain Hans Vargell.

The imperial troops under Philipp Graf von Mansfeld moved to Cologne in 1633, they lived even worse than the Swedish.

1635 Lieutenant Colonel Jorgen Graf von Wittgenstein moved with ten companies from Count Nassau-Dillenburg troops through Windeck, Windeck had to pay for supplies. Then Ludwig Heinrich Graf von Nassau-Dillenburg camped in Nassau and Freusburg and demanded supplies. He had switched sides with his troops and was now imperial. On October 24, 1635 the Swedes withdrew, they withdrew from the whole of Sieg .

Pfalz-Neuburg

In 1635 a regiment from Kurkölner was in office. The troops of the neutral Count Palatine were incorporated into one third of the imperial army in 1636. The castle was therefore probably only occupied by land riflemen.

In the first half of 1636 the Marquis du S. Martin camped here with a regiment of cuirassiers and ten companies. Then came Colonel Westphalen with two regiments of horse that Münsterische Regiment and Lieutenant Colonel Dinas Lurig called on the Wiedenhoff, after that Captain Schonfeld. At the end of the year the personal company of Lieutenant Colonel Hanß Georg von Magdalo of the Vlefeld Regiment, a company of the Württemberg regiment and Rittmeister Saur came to Waldbröl . Then the Hessians withdrew from the duchy for a payment of Rt 6,000.

In 1637 the Bavarian league rider leader Johann de Werth asked for provisions for Ehrenbreitstein . Then a company of riders lodged under Rittmeister Stockhausen. Next, the Venetian captain Antonio Drohin made a stop with three regiments of dragoons . At the end of the year a staff unit of a hundred came under Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenholtz.

Bertram von Nesselrode

Bertram zu Nesselrode was a bailiff (1637 to 1663) during the Thirty Years War and the last of the von Nesselrode family, who are still based in the neighboring municipality of Ruppichteroth .

1638 lodged a train of the General-Graf-Götzischen-Leibregiment, the Lorraine Rittmeister Lory and the Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Kaderberg from the Horwich Regiment. 1639 was the imperial regiments Meutter and Sparr in the Duchy of Berg. All asked for free lodging and travel meals.

Hessen-Kassel

Wilhelm the Fifth of Hessen-Kassel

Since the beginning of the Hessian War in 1640, there were marches in Windeck. Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel was allied with Sweden .

1640 After numerous negotiations, a Hessian protection company on horseback was stationed on Windeck and Blankenberg. In 1641 Lieutenant Hans Dietrich von Eischewitz was in command of Windeck. About 160 regular troops would be stationed there, plus the land rifle. In 1642, protection payments to the Hessians were rejected. These in turn fear the defection of their army, which should be assigned to the imperial troops. In 1643 Hachenburger and Sayner invaded Windeck, but could not take the festivities.

Pfalz-Neuburg

In 1644 the Bergische fortresses were occupied by the troops of the lords of Pfalz-Neuburg . In 1645 the 300-man garrison was reinforced by 30 land rifles. Marshal von Weschpfennig delivered five tons of powder, the commandant was urged to pay attention.

In 1646 the Hessians attacked Windeck Castle and conquered it after five weeks of siege. Colonel Sparr, who led the counterattack in Bergisch, also attacked Windeck and won the new hill, but then withdrew. In a skirmish in Windeck- Herchen between imperial troops and a unit from Hessen-Kassel returning from an attack on Bad Honnef , one lieutenant and one ensign and forty soldiers die each, but sixty Hessians were taken prisoner.

The Swedish occupiers stayed until 1647, before they had to surrender to imperial troops under General de Lamboy , who was supreme commander of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian district, after a long siege . The garrison of the castle was provided by the regiment on foot from Colonel Heinrich von Plettenberg . When the imperial family withdrew in 1648, they finally destroyed the castle, so that apart from the chapel and some farm buildings only rubble and ruins remained. In 1655 a reconstruction was examined, but rejected. Some outbuildings were restored as an official and court house as well as a prison.

In 1672, Windeck was attacked by French troops in the course of the Dutch war , first defended, but later taken, burned and destroyed. The Windeck office was relocated to Denklingen . The residents of the surrounding villages then used the ruins as a quarry.

Receipt

For a long time, this castle ruin was considered a quarry for the population.

When the Grand Duchy of Berg was dissolved in 1815 as a result of the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna , the castle ruins came into Prussian possession.

In response to a letter from the population in 1819, the royal government president Ludwig von Hagen ordered a ban on demolition.

Prussia sold the castle ruins in 1852 to the royal Prussian district administrator of Waldbröl, Oscar Danzier . He was interested in historical buildings and their preservation. So he had clean-up work done and paths and stairs built. The ruins were converted into a park landscape.

In the years 1859/60 Danzier had the so-called Windeck Castle built on the south-east tip of the castle hill on the foundations and vaults of the old castle . This passed by inheritance to his daughter Arnoldine, who was married to the Sicilian Andrea Caminneci. It was set on fire by American artillery shelling in Easter 1945. The cannon for bombarding the castle was set up in Saal near Leuscheid .

The owner couple had died and their heirs had preferences other than restoring the building after the turmoil of the war. Therefore, the burned-out ruin remained unprotected for years. The remains became increasingly neglected before the then Siegkreis bought the facility from Andrea Caminneci's grandson, Manfred Caminneci, for the symbolic price of one Deutsche Mark in 1961 in order to save the ruins from deterioration. Just one year later, the Siegkreis began to partially secure it and to restore it. In the course of the work that continued until the end of the 1960s, the remains of Windeck Castle were also completely demolished because the old castle ruins were considered to be historically valuable and worth preserving. The stones of the castle were the restoration of the palace used -Mauer - it was after the demolition had left the fortress only stumps of the great hall, but it lacks in the reconstructed wall the receptacles for the bars of the former ceiling and also the wall upside down built.

During the subsequent excavations, the chapel that was added later was also discovered. It was decorated with tiles that adorned the coat of arms of the Nesselrode . These were collected abundantly from visitors. A small remnant is now in the Windeck local history museum below the castle.

Since August 1987, the Rhein-Sieg district of the victory circle and the municipality Windeck in the context of the legal successor to job creation measures of the labor office extensive archaeological excavations and conservation measures carried out on the castle ruins. The viewer does not see much of it today, as nature has overgrown the old walls again and they are thus hidden from view.

Modern use

Today the castle is used to present various cultural events to the population. In addition to some theater performances (Der Graf von Windeck), events were also held as part of the Siegtal Festival. 1997 Windeck Castle served as the backdrop for the filming of the ghost hunter John Sinclair film version The demons wedding. In 2018, parts for the film adaptation of the series / book "The Club of Red Ribbons" were also filmed there.

literature

  • Joseph Joesten : On the history of Windeck Castle. Elberfeld 1893.
  • Joseph Joesten: From German mountains and castles. Castle Windeck on the Sieg. Cologne 1902.
  • Peter Heinz Krause: Thunder of cannons and breath of plague. Franz Schmitt, Siegburg 2006, ISBN 3-87710-328-6 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Manfred Hiebl. In: Geneology-Middle Ages . Neu Windeck Castle
  2. ↑ Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph. In: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine or the Archbishopric of Cologne, document 448 . 1840, Volume 1, 779 to 1200, p. 314.
  3. ↑ After the death of the last Ludowinger Landgrave of Thuringia , Heinrich Raspe , claimed Duke Henry and his second wife, Sophie of Brabant , the Landgraviate Thuringia for her 1244 born son Henry, in 1247 by his mother on the Mader Heide and in Marburg for Landgrave was proclaimed by Hesse.
  4. ↑ Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine and the Archbishopric of Cöln, document 312 . Volume 2, 1846, p. [200] 162.

Web links

Commons : Burg Windeck (Sieg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files