Castle ruins of the old castle

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Berneck castle ruins
Part of the ring with keep

Part of the ring with keep

Alternative name (s): wrongly: Walpotenburg, lower castle
Creation time : 1st half of the 13th century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Diabase rubble masonry
Place: Bad Berneck
Geographical location 50 ° 3 '2.6 "  N , 11 ° 40' 29.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 3 '2.6 "  N , 11 ° 40' 29.9"  E
Height: 442  m above sea level NN
Castle ruins Altes Schloss (Bavaria)
Castle ruins of the old castle

The Altes Schloss castle ruin was an official castle from the late Middle Ages that was later expanded in Gothic style on the Schlossberg of Bad Berneck in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth in Bavaria . The towering keep is the landmark of the health resort. The ruin of the hilltop castle is freely accessible.

Geographical location

Above the market square in the upper town of the Kneipp spa Bad Berneck towering over at 442  m above sea level. NN the keep of the old castle the surrounding houses. In the west, at the foot of the castle, the route of the old Via Imperii rises to the plateau. A free car park is located at the entrance to Berneck on the B 2 (car park at Anger, 15 minutes' walk from there). The city's natural stage is to the north, directly below the castle ruins.

A visit to the ruins can be combined with a tour of the Hohenberneck castle ruins a few meters above the old castle and the Alt-Berneck castle tower at the exit of the spa gardens.

History of the castle

Inner castle gate - east side
Firing chamber on the north side of the hall
The Gothic window on the north side of the Palas

The Walpoten Foreplay

In 1168, with the whale pots Uodalrich II, a noble-free family named itself after Berneck for the first time. A noble residence can already be expected at this time. However, this Walpotenburg is not, as is often assumed, identical to the Old Castle, but can be located above the Old Castle on the site of the later Hohenberneck Castle (see Kunstmann). The founding of the castle was a bit unfortunate for the Walpoten, as it was illegally built on the grounds of the Bamberg Abbey of St. Jakob. In 1177, the year the first Andechs-Meran prince-bishop Poppo I was appointed , the Walpotenburg had to be taken as a fief by Uodalrich II from the Bamberg diocese . The last mention of a whale pots in Berneck is dated to the year 1203.

The Andechs-Meranier

Since the castle was part of the inheritance of the Andechs-Meranians, who died out in 1248 with Duke Otto VIII of Merania , a transfer of Walpotic ownership to the Andechs-Meranians in the years between 1203 and 1248 must be expected. However, the Andechs-Meranian property was not administered from the old Walpotenburg, because in 1251 the castle stables , i.e. the location of the abandoned Walpotenburg, were given to the Nuremberg burgraves by the Bamberg bishopric as a fief. The old Walpotenburg had already gone by then.

The Orlamünder

In 1260 the Orlamünder received Berneck in addition to the Plassenburg , Trebgast, Wirsberg and Goldkronach through the Langenstadt verdict, which finally settled the inheritance disputes regarding the Meranian heritage . In 1338 the Orlamündische property was divided between Kunigunde von Orlamünde on the Kulmbacher Plassenburg and their sister Podika in Berneck. In that year Kunigunde bequeathed the property to the Burgrave of Nuremberg , and in 1341 Podika also renounced her rights to the Orlamündischen property.

The Burgraves of Nuremberg

In 1357 the castle and the town were declared a widow's seat for Elisabeth, wife of the burgrave Johann . In 1430 the city of Berneck was devastated by the Hussites ; destruction of the castle is not documented, but it is likely. In 1431 the castle was expanded with a kitchen, chamber, room and a kennel. This emerges from the only document relating to the building stock of the castle. Between 1406 and 1477, among other things, the castle and office were pledged to Arnold and Johann von Wallenrode "officially". In 1501 the official seat was moved to the newly built Neuwallenrode Castle, which later became Hohenberneck. The old castle fell into disrepair. In 1536 it was mentioned in the land register of the Berneck office that the old castle had suffered great damage due to the damaged roof. The castle's departure is likely soon thereafter.

Building stock

Floor plan of the ruin

The relatively small castle complex at around 28 × 22 meters was secured with a surrounding ditch and a neck ditch . The ditch was filled in and redesigned as a green area. The old neck moat of the castle serves as an orchestra pit for the natural stage. The entrance to the castle was previously elevated on the northwest corner of the Zwinger , built in 1431, facing the Altstrasse . The entrance was also secured by a structure that Helfrecht called "Burghut". It should have been a tower. Remnants of the wall from this building are still in the extension of the modern backdrop of the romantic stage. In the backdrop itself is despite the diabase - dry stone masonry not originary masonry of the castle.

The entrance to the inner courtyard is also elevated on the east side next to the keep. This is externally well preserved, but was increased in 1818 and provided with the bell work of the old town hall. The entrance to the tower is also raised on the west side of the tower. The current entrance was only created in 1818. Inside, two vaulted floors can still be clearly seen .

The Palas on the north side has two firing chambers, the left, western is particularly well preserved. The former castle chapel adjoins the shooting chamber, as indicated by the Gothic window. According to Helfrecht, there was another building on the southwest side of the structure, of which only the east side has been preserved. It could be the kitchen built in 1431.

The cartographer Johann Christoph Stierlein completed a very precise map of the castle area for the first time in 1816 with the existing inventory.

Preservation of the castle

The castle is still badly ruined. In 2011, part of the masonry went off at the western entrance. In 2012, building research was carried out to determine the further measures. In 2018, the north-western part of the castle, which was in danger of collapsing, was renovated with the help of the local development association. Further measures have been postponed for the time being, as urgent renovation tasks are pending on the castle ruin Hohenberneck above .

literature

  • Johann Theodor Benjamin Helfrecht : ruins, antiquities and still standing castles on and on the Fichtelgebirge . Gottfried Adolph Grau, Hof 1795 ( online ).
  • Johann Gottlieb Hentze: Berneck, a historical attempt . Johann Andreas Lüneck's heirs, Bayreuth 1790 ( online ).
  • Hellmut Kunstmann : Castles in Upper Franconia, Part II. The castles of the noble families in the Obermaing area . EC Baumann, Kulmbach 1955.
  • Gustav Schmidt: Former castles around Bad Berneck . In: Local supplement to the Upper Franconian school gazette . Government of Upper Franconia, Bayreuth 2002.
  • Otto Schoerrig: Bad Berneck and its surroundings . R. Teichmann, Bad Berneck 1983.
  • Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archaeological Forays in Meranierland. Writings on home care in Upper Franconia. District of Upper Franconia . Bayreuth 1999, ISBN 3-9804971-4-3 .
  • Hans Vollet and Kathrin Heckel: The ruins drawings by the Plassenburg cartographer Johann Christoph Stierlein . 1987.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Kunstmann. Bernhart Jähnig, on the other hand, sees another, unknown process as the cause of the repayment of the amount of money. See Jähnig, Johann von Wallenrode OT

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