Birkenfeld castle ruins

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Birkenfeld castle ruins
Rest of the ring wall of the Burgplatz of the upper castle with a view of the elevation behind with the remains of the foundation wall of the residential tower.

Rest of the ring wall of the Burgplatz of the upper castle with a view of the elevation behind with the remains of the foundation wall of the residential tower.

Alternative name (s): Barkefeld, Bergfeld, Bergkfelde, Bergvelt, Berichsvelde, Berkefeld, Birckenfelt, Birkefeld
Castle type : Spornburg, rocky location
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Rübeland
Geographical location 51 ° 45 '11.1 "  N , 10 ° 50' 35.4"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 45 '11.1 "  N , 10 ° 50' 35.4"  E
Height: 450  m above sea level NN
Birkenfeld castle ruins (Saxony-Anhalt)
Birkenfeld castle ruins

The Birkenfeld castle ruins are the ruins of  a small spur castle on a 450  m high rock ridge south of the Bode on the edge of the village of Rübeland in the town of Oberharz am Brocken in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt .

Building description

The building site of the former castle consists of the limestone of the Devonian des Iberges . As a result, the remaining building material consists of angular and right-angled Iberg limestone quarry stones with corner blocks . Based on finds of large hollow pans , it can be assumed that the buildings had tile roofs.

Foundation walls of the residential tower with remains of the modern construction of a rifle house.

In the southwest there was a small upper castle in an exposed position on a ridge tapering to the west, from which the 1.65 m thick foundation walls of the residential tower can still be seen today . The rectangular residential tower had a base area of ​​8.40 m × 11.55 m. The northern foundation wall of the residential tower is located on a rock ridge approx. 5 m higher than the southern foundation wall. On the original foundation walls of the residential tower are the remains of superstructures for a shooting house from more recent times. To the east of the residential tower is an approx. 7 m × 20 m large castle square, which is a few meters lower than the residential tower. Parts of the curtain wall that surrounded this castle square are still preserved today. To the north of the upper castle is the lower castle, which was designed in the manner of a kennel . The lower castle had an area of ​​approx. 15 × 30 m and had access to the castle square of the upper castle via a rock staircase. There may have been outbuildings there. On the western side, the lower castle merges into an approx. 13 m wide neck ditch , which ran along the western side of the upper and lower castle and was cut through the ridge. On the eastern side of the neck ditch, south of the bounding rock ridge, there was an outer bailey , on the east side of which there was in turn a farmyard and another ditch. The fore and the lower castle were connected by a drawbridge that led over the neck ditch. In the area of ​​the outer bailey, foundations of a large building were found, but no traces of a curtain wall. While the outer bailey was protected by the rock ridge on the north side, there were possibly bridges and palisades in the south and west . The area of ​​the lower and outer bailey has been leveled or changed significantly today and is used as a shooting range. To the west and far lower below the upper and lower castle, therefore at the foot of the ridge, there was an outer ditch.

  • Wall remains on the foundation walls of the residential tower.

  • View of the castle square of the upper castle with modern stair access to the foundation walls of the residential tower.

  • Rest of the curtain wall of the castle square of the upper castle seen from the neck ditch.

  • View from the rock ridge of the upper castle to the east of the area of ​​the lower castle (on which a building of the rifle club stands today) and the area of ​​the former outer castle and the service yard behind it.

history

The ' Eysenhütten zum Rubenland ' in an engraving by Matthäus Merian in ' Topographia Braunschweig Lüneburg ' from 1654, p. 38 , in which the 'Old Birckenfelt Castle' is already depicted as a ruin.

In terms of the building history, it is only assumed that Birkenfeld Castle was built to protect the surrounding ironworks in Rübeland (formerly called Birkenfeld) and as a border post of the Bodfeld Forest. The construction time was probably in the 12th century. From the name of the castle, the name of an ancient noble von Berckefeldt belonging to the Principality of Grubenhagen , who was mentioned in 914, is derived. A knight Werner von Berckefeldt is mentioned in the region for the year 1134, who lived in the Pipinsburg (Osterode) approx. 43 km away and was a castellan in the Windhausen Castle approx. 44 km away (at a distance between the Pipinsburg and the castle Windhausen of approx. 8.7 km). In 1260 the castle was mentioned under the name Bergvelt, in 1319 as Berichsvelde and in 1652 after its decay as Bergkfelde. Birkenfeld Castle is said to have been the seat of feared knights. It was under the suzerainty of the Halberstadt Monastery . For the period 1335 to 1443, a semi-urban ministerial family named after the castle has been handed down. On January 22nd, 1361, Bishop Ludwig appointed the "strict Heisin un de Dytherich van Barkinvelde" to be bailiffs at his nearby castle Königshof (= royal castle). The castle was destroyed at the beginning of the 14th century - like many other castles in the Harz Mountains. Both the Pipinsburg and Windhausen Castle were in 1365 as part of the feud of Landgrave Friedrich III. der Strenge (= Landgrave of Thuringia) and Duke Albrecht I of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen (called Duke zum Salze), so that probably Birkenfeld Castle was also destroyed in this context as part of the feud. In the engravings by Matthäus Merian in the Topographia Braunschweig Lüneburg from 1654, the castle as the "Old Birckenfelt Castle" is already depicted as a ruin.

Footnotes & Notes

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: New general German Adels Lexicon . tape 1 : Aa-Boyve . Voigt, 1859, p. 324 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times . 2nd Edition. Hildesheim 1983, p. 46 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Hermann Wäscher: Feudal castles in the districts of Halle and Magdeburg . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1962, p. 92 .
  4. ↑ a b Matthäus Merian: Topographia and actual description of the Vornembsten places, castles also other places and places in which Hertzogthümer [n] Braunschweig and Lüneburg . Verlag Matthäus Merians Seel. Erben, Frankfurt am Main 1654, p. 38 .
  5. ^ Hermann Wäscher in: Feudal castles in the districts of Halle and Magdeburg . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1962, on the other hand, states that barely hewn fragments of limestone in 99 cm high leveling layers were used as building material.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times . 2nd Edition. Hildesheim 1983, p. 47 .
  7. ^ According to Hermann Wäscher in: Feudal castles in the districts of Halle and Magdeburg . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1962 it is an inner courtyard measuring 15 m × 22 m.
  8. ^ Hermann Wäscher: Feudal castles in the districts of Halle and Magdeburg . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1962, p. 91 .
  9. ↑ By Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times. 2nd Edition. Hildesheim In 1983 it was written 'Werner von Berkefeld'.
  10. ^ Georg Max: History of the Principality of Grubenhagen. First part . Schmorl & v. Seefeld, Hanover 1862, p. 78 .
  11. ^ According to Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times. 2nd Edition. Hildesheim 1983 he was both castle Windhausen and on the Pipinsburg a pit hagen shear Burgmann .
  12. ↑ a b Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: New general German Adels Lexicon . tape 1 : Aa-Boyve . Voigt, 1859, p. 325 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Burgruine Birkenfeld  - Collection of images, videos and audio files