Botenlauben castle ruins

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Botenlauben castle ruins
Botenlauben castle ruins (2007)

Botenlauben castle ruins (2007)

Alternative name (s): Arbor
Creation time : around 1180
Castle type : Höhenburg, location
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Bad Kissingen - Reiterswiesen
Geographical location 50 ° 11 '18.6 "  N , 10 ° 5' 14.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 11 '18.6 "  N , 10 ° 5' 14.6"  E
Height: 340  m above sea level NN
Botenlauben castle ruins (Bavaria)
Botenlauben castle ruins

The Botenlauben Castle or Bodenlaube Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle at 340  m above sea level. NN in the Reiterswiesen district of the Bavarian spa town Bad Kissingen . It belongs to the Bad Kissingen architectural monuments and is registered under the number D-6-72-114-119 in the Bavarian list of monuments .

history

Beginnings

The exact year of creation of the messenger arbor is unknown, but it is believed that it was built around 1180. The Henneberg burgrave Berthold I may have initiated its construction. The first known documentary mention of the castle comes from the year 1206, when its future resident Otto von Botenlauben is mentioned in a Würzburg document as "Otto de Bodenlouben".

The name of the castle was possibly derived from the name Boto and the word arbor (term for residence); Boto refers to Count Boto of Carinthia, who is considered to be the link between the two groups at a time when power was passed from the Imperial Abbey of Fulda to the Margraves of Schweinfurt and later to the Hennebergers.

According to a theory by Reinhard von Bibra, the origin of the name is related to the Hofgut Botenlauben located below the castle (which later became the hamlet Unterbotenlauben , which then grew together with Reiterswiesen): As a result, this Hofgut would have existed and would have existed before the castle was built was inhabited by a landowner named Boto, who gave it to the Fulda monastery in 797 . Boto's name is mentioned eight times between 803 and 859 and two more times in 943, but none of these mentions allow the conclusion whether Boto's residence was called “Bodenlauben”.

Over the decades, the spelling of the name of the castle changed several times: "Bodenlouben" (1206), "Bodenlovben" (1221), "Botenlovbe" (1225), "Bothinloibin" (1226), "Botenloben" (1230), "Botenlouben" " (1234), " Botenlauben " (1242) as well as " Bottenlauben " , " Botenlauben " , " Botenlauben " (1303).

Otto von Botenlauben

Count Otto and Countess Beatrix von Botenlauben (wooden statues, Cathedral and Diocesan Museum Mainz )

The castle was the residence of Henneberger Otto von Botenlauben and his wife Beatrix von Courtenay from 1220 to 1242 . Otto had after the crusade of Henry VI. spent some time in the Orient and met his wife Beatrix there. After Otto's several temporary stays in Germany, they both finally settled at the castle in 1220. The veil saga tells us that while Beatrix was walking on the messenger arbor, her veil was blown away by the wind, whereupon she asked for the veil and vowed to build a monastery where it was found. In this way the couple founded the Frauenroth monastery .

In view of the origins of his wife, whom Otto liked to refer to in his minstrelsong as the "gem of the Orient" and "gold from India", the minstrel designed the chambers and the knight's hall possibly even more splendid than was customary in his time. Visits from the Hildenburgers and Trimbergers , his Henneberg cousins ​​as well as from traders jugglers and minstrels brought variety and provided the castle residents with the latest news. In the north tower of the Botenlaube there was a house chapel whose services were probably also attended by the residents of the "Hofgut Bodenlauben" ; the only known chaplain from this time was Otto's clerk Berthold. According to a legend, the bell of the house chapel is today in the chapel of the Terzenbrunn sanctuary , which is located in what is now the Bad Kissingen district of Arnshausen .

In 1234, under Bishop Hermann I of Lobdeburg , the castle became the property of the Würzburg Monastery. Otto and Beatrix felt compelled to sell the castle because their son, Otto II., Had joined the Teutonic Order with his wife Adelheid in 1230/1231 . Furthermore, Otto and Beatrix had the financial means to maintain the Frauenroth monastery available through the sale. Otto and Beatrix had a right of residence in the castle until 1242 and then retired to Würzburg.

Office messenger booth

Coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Hermann I of Lobdeburg and his uncle Otto I of Lobdeburg

Bishop Hermann I von Lobdeburg created the office of messenger arbor in 1244 to limit the dominance of the Henneberg family . This office was one of 40 offices within the Diocese of Würzburg .

With the transfer of ownership of the castle to the bishop, the bishop began to enfeoff the property to nobles . The first known loan was that to Konrad III. von Schwanfeld in the form of a castle arm . As a castle property (in contrast to the castle lean, a right of residence was added to the castle grounds), the messenger arbor was given to Konrad Hurnig in 1317, again in 1319 to Wolfrom Hurnig and in 1333 to Konrad IV. Von Schwanfeld. In the following centuries, more and more fiefs were added, including the taverns from Kissingen and the lords of Riet and von Abersfeld (1317), the lords of Erthal, von Heustreu and von Eltingshausen (1322), the lords of Maßbach (1354), the Lords of Bibra (1368), the Lords of Schlitz (1374), the Lords of Arnstein, von Schletten and von Witzleben (1401), the Lords of Gerungen, von Grumbach and Peter von Kissingen (1412), the Counts of Henneberg (1435 ), the lords of Herbilstadt (1456), the lords of Thüngen (1550) and the Heusslein von Eußenheim (1609). Overall, the lendings reached into the 19th century.

In 1244, a distinction was made between the Hofgut Botenlauben , located on the northern slope below the castle (which later became the hamlet of Unterbotenlauben , which grew together with Reiterswiesen) and the Botenlauben Castle . In contrast to the Hofgut , the Schlossgut , which extended around the entire castle, also consisted of the Breitenloh , a forest area of ​​380 acres.

The bishop's first official was Lambert Marschall von Botenlauben, who had previously served Count Otto von Henneberg. His successor was Konrad von Schwanfeld in 1259, who is attested as a bailiff until 1288. As far as is known, his successor was knight Konrad Hurnig. It is attested by a contract signed on May 11, 1308 at the castle. Eberhard von Erthal is documented as a bailiff for the period from 1321 to 1356.

During this time, the castle was often pledged to aristocrats, who advanced money for the castle and were given the post of bailiff at the castle until repayment. The first such pledge came in 1356 when Bishop Albert II of Hohenlohe zu Würzburg borrowed 2550 pounds of Heller from Knight Lutz von Thüngen, pledging the castle.

In 1395, under knight Anton von Bibra and his brother-in-law von Schwanfeld as castle men at the time of the grape harvest, Count Friedrich von Henneberg-Hartenberg attacked the castle. Anton von Bibra filed a lawsuit against Count Friedrich at the Nuremberg Regional Court; the outcome is unknown.

Around 1400 the brothers Frohwein, Hartmund, Heinrich and Ludwig von Hutten were the lords of the castle on the floor arbor. They divided the administrative powers among themselves and suppressed their subjects to such an extent that in early 1402 the office of the Würzburg bishop was withdrawn. On May 29, 1402 the office passed to Count Friedrich I. von Henneberg; in this context, the bishop was given the right to appoint the bailiff. Thereupon the von Hutten brothers undertook several raids within the office of Bodenlauben, whereupon their home castle Werberg near Brückenau was besieged by Bishop Johann I von Würzburg , Abbot Johann von Fulda and Count Heinrich and Friedrich I von Henneberg on the orders of King Ruprecht . In the context of the settlement achieved by the siege (which lasted until November 13, 1403), the brothers presented themselves to the regional peace court, where they were sentenced to compensation.

In the period that followed, the castle remained in a lien between the diocese of Würzburg and the Hennebergers for several decades; neither Count Friedrich I. von Henneberg († 1422), nor his son Georg I († 1465) nor his son Otto IV succeeded in returning the castle completely to the possession of the Hennebergers. Finally, in 1474, the castle and the floor gazebo were redeemed by Bishop Rudolf II von Scherenberg . The officials appointed by the Hennebergers were: Hermann von Eberstein (1402–1436), Heinrich von Erthal Junior (1436–1456) and Peter senior von Herbilstadt (1456–1474). Heinrich von Steinau, who lent the Bishop of Scherenberg the 3,000 guilders necessary for redemption, was the “bailiff of messenger arbors” until 1500. His son Reinhard was his successor until Prince-Bishop Konrad II von Thüngen redeemed the office of Botenlauben in 1521. The office was now administered by the office cellar.

During the peasant uprising of 1525 , the castle fell victim to farmers from Aura an der Saale . According to legend, the treacherous castle cook allowed the peasants to enter, but was not rewarded with the promised gold, but blinded and killed; since then his restless mind has been said to wander around the castle on stormy nights and chop on his kitchen board. After the suppressed peasant uprising, the peasants were forcibly used to rebuild the destroyed castle; the financial contribution of the farmers living in the Botenlauben office to the compensation (total amount: 269,659 guilders) amounted to 647 guilders.

After the peasant uprising, the Ebenhausen office became the new administrative seat and the local magistrate Engelhard jun. von Munster was the new administrator of the Botenlaube office (he held this position until his death in 1528).

In the Second Markgräflerkrieg (1552–1555) the castle was finally destroyed in 1553, the office of Ebenhausen-Botenlaube was pledged by the prince-bishop for 13,900 guilders to Lorenz von Münster, Engelhard's son and successor. Since the 17th century, the castle served as a quarry for the residents of Reiterswiesen.

The following officials were: Konrad von Steinau (1567–1571) and Theobald Julius von Thüngen (1571–1594). Ernst Zobel von Giebelstadt, who held this post until 1631, is attested for the first time as a bailiff in 1605.

The Thirty Years' War only made itself felt in 1631, when the Bodenlauben-Ebenhausen office had to pay an annual fee of 472 guilders to the Swedes. On March 2, 1632, they gave away the towns of Kronungen and Oberwerrn, which were part of the Bodenlauben office, to the imperial city of Schweinfurt. By the end of Swedish rule in 1635, the population of the offices of Bodenlauben-Ebenhausen fell to 634 men; For the year 1637 the Kissingen pastor Pistorius reports an immeasurable famine. From 1641 Kronungen and Oberwerrn again belonged to the office of Bodenlauben under the newly established princely government. The last Swedes march through the region took place in 1647.

In 1670 the Botenlauben office was completely dissolved; its places passed into the office of Ebenhausen.

The messenger arbor after 1670

In the 19th century, the enfeoffment of the messenger arbor came to an end. The last Würzburg prince-bishop enfeoffed the castle in 1796 to the von Bibra and von Erthal families, whose liege lord became the Elector of Bavaria in the course of secularization in 1803. When the von Erthal family went out two years later, the castle came into government hands and was enfeoffed for the last time on April 15, 1830, by King Ludwig I to Ernst Freiherr von Bibra. This feudal relationship ended with the Allodifications Act, through which the Botenlaube became state property on June 13, 1848. Ludwig I took measures to preserve the messenger arbor, which had fallen into ruins.

After the ruins of the castle were used as a quarry as a result of the Second Markgräfler War , the overexploitation of the building fabric came to an end around 1830 when the interest in Romanticism and the Middle Ages returned. This found expression, for example, in the establishment of the Botenlauben-Verein in 1881 by the spa doctor Ignaz Ising . The main focus of the association was initially on making the castle a tourist attraction - also due to the increasing number of visitors to the ruins in the course of the growing Kissingen spa business. However, this changed in favor of a historical interest in the early 20th century.

Restoration work was carried out on the castle in the second half of the 20th century. The first since 1984 every year in September from the home club Reiterswiesen hosted Castle Festival commemorates the life at the castle in the Middle Ages. After the castle festival had already paused in 2011, it was decided in August 2012 to hold the festival, which has now become even more authentic, every two years. After Otto von Botenlauben and Beatrix had previously been portrayed by Werner Vogel, the chairman of the Heimatverein Botenlauben , and his wife Doris Vogel, Knud Seckel and Catherine Vogel, daughter of the previous actors, now take on these roles. As part of increased historical authenticity, Seckel, who has performed nationwide as a minstrel, has now revised the presentation of the medieval songs.

After it was not possible to hoist a flag on the messenger arbor for a year due to wear and tear and incidents of vandalism, the purchase of new copies was financed in April 2012 through donations. The Heimatverein honored the donors with a ceremony, during which a plaque with the names of the donors was placed on the north tower.

Hamlet under bailout

The hamlet Unterbotenlauben emerged from the Hofgut Botenlauben , which was located on the northern slope below the castle. According to Reinhard von Bibra, the manor was built before the castle and is related to the origin of its name, as it was, according to Bibra, inhabited by a bot who donated it to the Fulda monastery in 797 .

At the time of the Henneberger the Hofgut served as the economic courtyard of the messenger arbor ; the chapel in the northern tower of the messenger arbor was probably also used by the residents of the hamlet for worship. The Hofgut learned in the documents of the time a change in the designation as "suburbium" (1234), the "Court" (1333), "bailey" (1445), "court under the castle", "yard" and "the two Freyenhöfe "(1493) and" Unterotenlauben "(1532).

Since episcopal times, the property was divided into two "Freyhöfe", one of which belonged to a castle estate and went to Aplo Hurnig (1353-1366) and Conrad von Coburg (1366-1373). Then one court came under the permanent administration of the Würzburg bishopric, while the other was lent together with the castle property to Dietrich von Witzleben (1402), Diez von Albersfeld (1443), Philipp von Milz (1472) and Valentin von Münster ( 1544). The last known fiefdoms in connection with the year 1623 are the brothers Lorenz and Ernst von Münster (until their death in 1655).

The court administered by the bishopric went to the Hennebergers from 1402 to 1474. After that, half of it was administered by the bishopric and half by the Hennebergers, and in 1559, when the Henneberger died out, it went back entirely to the bishopric.

From now on the property was leased by the bishopric until the 18th century. In the decades after the Botenlauben office was dissolved, the hamlet of Unterbotenlauben was divided among several “hereditary tenants” by means of “hereditary leases ”. The "Reiterswiesener measurement table on the houses and field goods, as those in the measurement in 1741 with tax and appraisal proved" at this point four houses that were arranged around an old linden tree. According to a description by Dr. Carl Boxberger, the linden tree, in the vicinity of which there were "three farmsteads and three individual houses" in 1866 , was threatened with decay. A fund was set up in 1825 to maintain the tree; the strong branches of the tree had been attached to the tree with iron bars.

In 1832 a "restoration" was created, which, although it burned down in the winter of 1843/1844, still exists today as the "Café Botenlauben".

The hamlet of Unterbotenlauben , which consisted of ten properties in 1903, grew more and more closely with Reiterswiesen until it became part of Bad Kissingen as part of the municipal reform in 1972.

description

View from the south tower towards the north tower

With its two round Bergfrieden (obtained only as stumps) reminds them of the castle Münzenberg in the Wetterau , more comparable systems are the castles Saaleck , Hoh-Andlau and Thurant . The humpback ashlar masonry of both keep, very regular, but still without pincer holes, makes it likely that they were built around 1200/1220. The foundation walls of the residential buildings from the first half of the 13th century, including a palatium , were made visible again through excavations.

literature

  • Reinhard von Bibra: Floor arbors near Bad Kissingen - history of the castle and the office. Weinberger, Bad Kissingen 1903.
  • Denis André Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: City of Bad Kissingen (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume VI.75 / 2 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-87490-577-2 , p. 148-150 .
  • Georg Dehio , Tilmann Breuer: Handbook of German art monuments . Bavaria I: Franconia - The administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia. 2nd, revised and supplemented edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-422-03051-4 , p. 72.
  • Michelle Fiedler: Minnesang and the sound of swords. In: Rhön magazine. 6th year, winter 2018. heldenzeit, Fulda 2018, pp. 22–27.
  • Arnold Greubel: Reiterswiesener Chronik - History of Bodenlauben Castle, the hamlet of Unterbodenlauben and the Reiterswiesen village. Reiterswiesen 1975.
  • Edi Hahn: Bad Kissingen and its environs - a local history reader. Bad Kissingen 1986, ISBN 3-925722-01-7 , p. 15 ff.
  • Wolf-Dieter Raftopoulo: Rhön and Grabfeld culture guides. A complete documentation of the old cultural landscapes in terms of art and cultural history. RMd Verlag, Gerbrunn 2017, ISBN 978-3-9818603-7-5 , pp. 36-37.
  • Thomas Steinmetz: Botenlaube castle ruins. In: Thomas Ahnert, Peter Weidisch (eds.): 1200 years Bad Kissingen, 801-2001, facets of a city's history. (= Festschrift for the anniversary year and volume accompanying the exhibition of the same name / special publication from the Bad Kissingen City Archives). Verlag TA Schachenmayer, Bad Kissingen 2001, ISBN 3-929278-16-2 , pp. 61-63.
  • Peter Weidisch (ed.): Otto von Botenlauben - minnesinger, crusader, founder of a monastery. Schöningh, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-87717-703-4 , pp. 309-400.

Web links

Commons : Burgruine Botenlauben  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Heiler: Origin of the name Botenlauben. In: Peter Weidisch (Ed.): Otto von Botenlauben - minnesinger, crusader, founder of a monastery. Schöningh, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-87717-703-4 , p. 67.
  2. ^ Denis André Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: City of Bad Kissingen (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume VI.75 / 2 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-87490-577-2 , p. XXIII f .
  3. ↑ a b Reinhard von Bibra: Bodenlauben near Bad Kissingen - history of the castle and the office. Weinberger, Bad Kissingen 1903.
  4. ↑ Arnold Greubel: Reiterswiesener Chronik - History of Bodenlauben Castle, the hamlet of Unterodenlauben and the village of Reiterswiesen. Reiterswiesen 1975, p. 11 f.
  5. ^ Denis André Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: City of Bad Kissingen (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume VI.75 / 2 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-87490-577-2 , p. XXIV .
  6. ↑ Arnold Greubel: Reiterswiesener Chronik - History of Bodenlauben Castle, the hamlet of Unterodenlauben and the village of Reiterswiesen. Reiterswiesen 1975, p. 15.
  7. ↑ The restless spirit of a traitor. In: BadKissingen.de. Retrieved February 24, 2019 .
  8. ^ Bavarian State Archives Würzburg, LRA Bad Kissingen , 940
  9. ↑ Thomas Mäuser: Botenlaubenfest - The Middle Ages authentically recreated. In: Saale-Zeitung (inFranken.de). August 31, 2012, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  10. ↑ New festival director at the castle. In: Saale-Zeitung (inFranken.de). March 7, 2012, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Again flags up at the castle. In: Mainpost.de. April 9, 2012, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Michelle Fiedler: Minnesang and Sword Sound (article preview). In: Rhoen-Magazin.info. November 20, 2018, accessed July 17, 2020 .