Castle region of Ostallgäu-Ausserfern
The castle region Ostallgäu-Ausserfern includes numerous castle stables , castles , palaces , city fortifications and fortifications in the southern Allgäu and the Tyrolean Ausserfern . The cross-border planning concept is intended to scientifically process the wealth of castles in the region, but also to evaluate it for tourist purposes.
The castle region
In the High Middle Ages, the area around Füssen and Reutte largely belonged to the Hohenstaufen sphere of influence. After the death of the last Hohenstaufen, Konradin , both the dukes of Bavaria and the counts of Tyrol raised claims to the inheritance. In addition to these two “great powers”, the bishops of Augsburg , the Kempten monastery , the noble lords of Hohenegg and the counts of Montfort were wealthy in this region. The Counts of Tyrol finally enlarged their territory to the north at the expense of the Hoheneggers.
These complicated rule structures resulted in the construction of numerous fortifications and aristocratic residences. For this reason you can almost completely understand the development of the fortification system from the tower hill castle to the baroque fortress. The romanticism of the 19th century added the “fairytale castles” Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau to this inventory.
The “Burgenforschung” office of medieval archaeologist Joachim Zeune played a decisive role in the conception of the cross-border castle region . Zeune was able to fall back on his experience with the construction of the castle history trail Haßberge . In the last years of the 20th century, extensive renovation measures began on the Hohenfreyberg, Hopfen and Ehrenberg castles. However, some of these measures are not without controversy. In particular, the deforestation on the Schlosskopf, a large baroque fortress above Ehrenberg Castle, has been criticized by nature lovers. However, the deforestation of the almost completely forgotten facility was an essential prerequisite for the renovation, which was completed in summer 2008 with the expansion into a "show fortress". The European Castle Museum is set up in the hermitage under the castle and the fortress . The "Ehrenberger Zeitreise" has been organized on the grounds of the hermitage every July since 2004 and is considered one of the largest historical festivals in Europe and has made the castle region widely known.
The castles and palaces were equipped with information boards and summarized in a brochure. Some of the castles are illuminated at night, and a small observation tower was built on the Schlosskopf near Reutte.
The castles and palaces
- The type of tower hill castle (Motte) is represented by the Burgstall Burk bei Seeg , on whose summit plateau a holiday home has been enthroned for several decades.
- Hopfen Castle is the oldest stone castle in the Allgäu , the foundations of which were cleared of rubble and thoroughly renovated after 2000.
- The small cave castle Loch lies above Unterpinswang in Tyrol , here too the few remains of the wall have been properly preserved.
- One of the few high medieval mantle wall castles is the large Eisenberg castle ruins near Pfronten , which was renovated by the municipality and the castle association in the 1980s.
- The neighboring Hohenfreyberg Castle is only a five-minute walk away on the ridge, one of the last large new castle buildings of the German Middle Ages. The internationally recognized sample restoration of the late medieval summit castle is already well advanced.
- The late Gothic castle in Hopferau was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style around 1840 and has served as a hotel and restaurant since 2005.
- Opposite the Falkenstein ruins watches over the state border. According to the will of the “fairy tale king” Ludwig II . a romantic castle in the style of Neuschwanstein will be built. However, the project was thwarted by the death of the monarch.
- Above the Tyrolean town of Vils with which has keep the Vilsegg Castle one of the greatest examples get Staufer architecture in Tyrol. After 2000, the foundations of the other buildings were exposed and renovated.
- In addition to the Gothic " High Castle " of the bishops of Augsburg, the border town of Füssen preserved extensive remains of its city fortifications . Today the castle houses a branch gallery of the Bavarian State Painting Collections .
- The ruins of the Nesselburg (private property) are located above Nesselwang . The rectangular Palas small Veste is a brief curtain wall presented.
- The Reutte market is dominated by one of the most important fortress ensembles in Central Europe. The Ehrenberg Castle and the hermitage of the group Fort Claudia (Hochschanz) and the fortress castle head . The facilities together form the Ehrenberg Castle Worlds . The head of the castle was expanded into a "show fortress". Numerous information boards provide information on the history of the fortress and the baroque fortress construction. As part of a guided tour, visitors can operate a wooden crane.
- The Fern Pass monitors the castle Fernstein with the associated Klause than dam. Nearby are the castle ruins of Sigmundsburg on an island in the Fernsteinsee .
- The two "fairy tale castles" of Ludwig II. Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau under the triangle on the Säuling , the border mountain between Upper Bavaria, Swabia and Tyrol, are world-famous .
Allgäu castle region
From 2005/05 Joachim Zeune began working with the designer Andreas Koop to develop the castle complexes and city fortifications in the Bavarian Allgäu even more closely . As part of a “ LEADER +” project of the European Union , the concept of the “ Allgäu Castle Region ” was developed. A total of 38 objects could be included in the conception. However, the "Allgäu Castle Region" comprises a total of around 300 castle sites, 60 of which have been preserved as castles or ruins. Some of the most important castles in the Allgäu could not be included in the planning concept, mainly for reasons of ownership. So are missing u. a. the ruins of Rettenberg Castle , the high medieval Motte in Dietmannsried and also the castle ruins above Helmishofen in the catalog of the extended castle region.
literature
- Toni Nessler: Castles in the Allgäu . 2 vols. Kempten, Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag, 1985
- 1: Castle ruins in the Altlandkreis Kempten and Altlandkreis Sonthofen . ISBN 3-88006-102-5
- 2: Castle ruins in the West Allgäu and bordering Vorarlberg, in the Württemberg Allgäu, in the northern Allgäu around Memmingen, in the northeast Allgäu around Kaufbeuren and Obergünzburg as well as in the eastern Allgäu and in the adjacent Tyrol . ISBN 3-88006-115-7
- Oswald Trapp: Tiroler Burgenbuch, VII, Oberinntal and Ausserfern . Athesia publishing house, Bozen 1986, ISBN 88-7014-391-0
- Joachim Zeune: Castle Guide Ostallgäu and Ausserfern, Tyrol . Marktoberdorf 1998
- Joachim Zeune: Castle renovations in the Allgäu. Part 2 of the horror balance . In: Schönere Heimat , 1992, 1, pp. 7-20
- Joachim Zeune: Allgäu Castle Region . 2008
Coordinates: 47 ° 31 ' N , 10 ° 44' E