Burgrest Ravenstein (Böhmenkirch)

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Burgrest Ravenstein
Ravenstein Castle stood on the rock tower above the Roggental

Ravenstein Castle stood on the rock tower above the Roggental

Creation time : 1090
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Castle rest
Place: Böhmenkirch- Steinenkirch
Geographical location 48 ° 40 '19 "  N , 9 ° 53' 57.1"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 40 '19 "  N , 9 ° 53' 57.1"  E
Height: 610  m above sea level NN
Burgrest Ravenstein (Baden-Wuerttemberg)
Burgrest Ravenstein

The Burgrest Ravenstein is the castle stable of a spur castle at 610  m above sea level. NHN high rock plateau northwest of Steinenkirch, a district of the municipality of Böhmenkirch in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg .

history

In the case of the high aristocratic castles, which were built in the second half of the 11th century, the builder is rarely known. When a castle was built, the noble builders named themselves after this place. Based on notifications in which the new names were mentioned, conclusions can be drawn about the approximate date of construction.

The homiliary of Wettenhausen Monastery (in Bavaria) lists a Herbort von Ravenstein on page 258, which is said to have been documented as early as 1091. He exchanged a bet bergische with the permission of his master Adelbert and his brother undisclosed Hube in Stotzingen one against Hube in Seebach. The phrase "with the permission of his master" can only mean that Adelbert (von Ravenstein) was the head of the noble family von Ravenstein / Stubersheim . Adalbert von Ravenstein and Adalbert von Stubersheim were therefore one and the same person. Furthermore, from the document dating from 1091, it can be concluded that a Ravenstein Castle already existed at that time or was still under construction. The use of two different family names can be explained if the manor house in Stubersheim was retained as the residence of a branch of the noble family. In 1092 Adalbert and his brother Beringer von Stubersheim appeared as witnesses in the Allerheiligen monastery in Schaffhausen . The noble family von Stubersheim / Ravenstein owned the castle Ravenstein, which may still be under construction, as well as manor houses in Stubersheim and Neckartenzlingen. Since Herbort von Ravenstein registered this name in 1091, it can be assumed that he also lived at Ravenstein Castle.

Ravenstein is one of ten castles between the Alb and the Middle Neckar that were built in the 11th century. Only the high nobility, to which noble families like the Ravenstein family belonged, had the ability to build castles in the 11th century. The following systems were built between the Swabian Alb and the middle Neckar at this time:

In the Bempflingen Treaty of 1090 the two brothers Eberhard and Trutwin von Metzingen are named as witnesses. It is not yet clear whether they owned a castle on the vineyard above Metzingen in the 11th century. The castle on the vineyard was demolished in 1317. Since the Ravensteiners were also wealthy in Metzingen, a relationship to the nobles of Metzingen is likely. All of these castles were built in stone.

A wooden castle on the Ravensteinen would have been neither representative nor sufficiently defensive in comparison to the other high aristocratic castles. Following the trend of the times, the Ravensteiners moved from a manor in Stubersheim that was probably only slightly or not at all fortified to a hilltop castle. The Ravenstein rocks lie below the Alb plateau. Therefore, the castle had to be protected with moats and walls on the threatened side. The erection of a wooden castle, often mentioned in recent literature, is improbable under these circumstances. The considerable amount of stones that inevitably arose when the two neck trenches, which are still impressive today, should have been sufficient to erect a high wall (possibly a shield wall ) and other buildings.

The following episode is described in a few words in the Zwiefalter Chronicles of Ortlieb and Berthold in Volume 2, page 213: "Some knights ..... leaned on a wooden railing over an abyss at Ravenstein Castle and fell headlong when the support broke . With a broken neck and serious injuries, they all died. " The existence of a wooden castle cannot be derived from this. Nothing is known about the appearance of the first Ravenstein Castle, but it is certain that the valley side of the castle could not be stormed and therefore did not have to be protected by a wall. Consequently, it was sufficient to secure the valley side with wooden railings.

The farmyard of the castle, which was located on the site of today's hunter's house , was probably executed in timber or half-timbered construction. The castle was renovated and rebuilt several times in the 16th and 17th centuries and almost completely demolished in 1765. All that is known about the farmyard is that this building was rebuilt in the 19th century, presumably on the foundations of the previous building.

investment

The former Ravenstein Castle was enthroned on the Ravensteinen above the Roggental. These imposing tower rocks are used by climbers today. Two u-shaped neck trenches , one behind the other, carved deep into the rock, secured the castle on the south and east sides against attackers from the Alb plateau. A cistern carved into the rock is still visible today in the north corner .

On the map of Ravenstein Castle by Günter Schmitt, in "Burgenführer Schwäbische Alb Volume 1 Nordost-Alb Page 205", it can be seen that the former castle extended over three levels. The appearance of the Ravensteine ​​before the castle was built can no longer be determined today. One of the two neck trenches was probably formed in part by natural geological processes. Where the castle's walls and buildings later stood, the rock was certainly not level and probably overgrown with trees, similar to what is the case today. Disturbing pieces of rock had to be removed or "sharpened" in order to create flat surfaces.

Through this work and the excavation of the neck trenches, the stone material with which the castle was built was created.

Ravenstein Castle is overgrown with beech trees that are more than 200 years old and only overgrown wall rubble remains of the former buildings. Whether there are still remains of the core wall in the rubble can only be determined through an archaeological investigation. The small remains of the wall still visible in several places do not allow the appearance of the castle to be reconstructed. Ceramic shards picked up from the rubble slope under the highest point of the Ravenstein cliffs, which are believed to date from the end of the 11th century, suggest that the first Ravenstein Castle stood at this point. A residential tower that was typical of the Salier period is conceivable there (Schmitt, plan of Ravenstein Castle, area south of lookout point 8).

gallery

  • One of the tower rocks

  • Outer neck ditch

  • Remnants of the wall on the outer neck ditch

  • Inner neck ditch

  • cistern

  • View into the Roggental

  • Ravenstein castle area, view of the upper level

literature

  • Günter Schmitt : Castle Guide Swabian Alb. Volume 1: Northeast Alb - hiking and discovering between Aalen and Aichelberg . Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach 1988, ISBN 3-924489-39-4 , pp. 201-206.
  • Isidor Fischer: Castles and noble families in the Geislingen district. In: Festschrift for the 100th anniversary of the Reform Realgymnasium Geislingen. Maurer, Geislingen 1929, DNB 57333367X , p. 121 ff.
  • Christoph Friedrich von Stälin : Description of the Oberamt Geislingen. 1842, DNB 760365857 , p. 231ff.
  • Hans-Martin Maurer : Historical Atlas of Baden-Württemberg. Explanations, epithet to map V, 6 castles between the Alb and the middle Neckar. 1979.
  • Johannes Illig (Ed.): History of Göppingen and the surrounding area. Goeppingen 1924.
  • The district of Göppingen. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart / Aalen 1973, ISBN 3-8062-0115-3 , p. 200.
  • "Hans Schwenkel, Heimatbuch des Bezirks Urach 2nd unchanged reprint edition on behalf of the city of Urach 1979", pages 448 and 449

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Friedrich von Stälin: Description of the Oberamt Geislingen. 1842, p. 231ff.
  2. ^ A b Isidor Fischer: Castles and noble families in the Geislingen district. In: Festschrift for the 100th anniversary of the Reform Realgymnasium Geislingen. Maurer, Geislingen 1929, p. 121 ff.
  3. ↑ Home book of the Urach district . S. 448 u. 449 .
  4. ^ Hans-Martin Maurer: Historical Atlas of Baden-Württemberg. Explanations, epithet to map V, 6 castles between the Alb and the middle Neckar, 1979
  5. ↑ Johannes Illig (Ed.): History of Göppingen and the surrounding area. Göppingen 1924 page 263.
  6. ↑ The Göppingen district. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart / Aalen 1973, p. 200.