Densberg castle ruins

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Densberg castle ruins
Castle hill

Castle hill

Alternative name (s): Denisburc
Creation time : before 1190
Castle type : Spurburg
Conservation status: Ruin, castle hill, remains of walls
Place: Jesberg - Densberg
Geographical location 50 ° 59 '30 "  N , 9 ° 5' 22"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 59 '30 "  N , 9 ° 5' 22"  E
Height: 295  m above sea level NHN
Densberg castle ruins (Hesse)
Densberg castle ruins
Moat carved out of the stone, the castle hill on the right

The Densberg castle ruins are located on the south-western outskirts of Densberg , a current part of the Jesberg community in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse . From the small castle complex built on a mountain spur protruding to the west near the village church , only a few remains of the wall are preserved today. The castle site is separated from the eastern part of the bailey by a mighty neck ditch . In the former moat there is now an open-air stage, where theatrical performances take place every summer.

history

Electoral Mainz property

The place Densberg (Denisburc) is mentioned for the first time in 1085 in a document of the Archbishop of Mainz Wezilo as a Mainz property. The castle, which was probably just a small complex with a tower and a residential building, was first mentioned around 1190 as the seat of Mainz and Ziegenhainischer Burgmannen ("castellani"), and around 1230–1240 is a villicus (administrator) Ortmarus called by Densberg.

Because of its strategically important location, there were repeated armed conflicts between the Archbishopric Mainz and the Landgraves of Hesse over their property, as well as those of the neighboring castles of Jesberg and Schönstein , in the 13th and 14th centuries . The castle was destroyed for the first time in 1232 by Landgrave Konrad von Thuringia during his campaign of devastation against Mainz possessions in Lower Hesse. After that, securing the streets and protecting the Mainz property became the task of the Jesberg castle.

Densberg was not mentioned again until 1346, when Archbishop Gerlach took the Mainz castle and accessories (except for the towns of Densberg and Rommershausen ) from the pledge of the knight Johann von Falkenberg called Gruszing (or Grüßing), from the Densberg branch of the von Falkenberg family , solved. Densberg remained the Falkenberger's pledge. Soon after, probably in 1349, Johann Gruszing received permission from the Mainz monastery administrator Kuno von Falkenstein (with the consent of the archbishop) to build a new castle in Densberg and to officiate there as a castle man. Already in 1350 the castle was destroyed again by Hessian troops due to a border dispute, but it was soon renewed again despite the feud that lasted until 1353.

In 1354 the castle was supposed to be broken off due to an atonement agreement concluded on May 10, 1354 between Mainz and Hesse, but it did not come to a complete demolition. In order to get back Haldessen Castle , which had been lost to Landgrave Heinrich II in 1350 , Archbishop Gerlach von Nassau had undertaken to hand over the Sababurg to the Landgrave and to besiege Densberg Castle and not to withdraw it until it was broken. Gerlach's people took the castle without causing too much damage.

In 1354 Johann Gruszing von Falkenberg pledged half of Jesberg Castle, which he held in pledge possession from Mainz, to his relative Tile von Falkenberg. Archbishop Gerlach then ordered Johann again to Densberg, where he rebuilt the castle in 1355. This aroused considerable displeasure on the part of Landgrave Heinrich II, who insisted on its demolition, and the archbishop had to undertake a second time in 1355 to demolish the castle. Again, this only happened partially and the damage was repaired almost immediately.

Jesberg Castle, pledged to Johann Gruszing von Falkenberg, was released by Archbishop Gerlach in 1359, but Densberg Castle remained Johann Gruszing's lien and was further expanded by Tile von Falkenberg, who was possibly part of the pledge. In December 1359, Johann Gruszing received another castle building permit from Archbishop Gerlach, which, as in 1349, made him and his descendants hereditary castle men of the castle; It is not clear whether the castle was destroyed again or whether the building permit was related to an attack by Hessian people under Johann Doring, who set the Densberg church on fire (Doring was sentenced to compensation to the archbishop for this act in 1362). Johann Gruszing's descendants now called themselves "from Falkenberg to Densburg".

The dispute between Mainz and Hesse continued, and around 1365/67 the castle seems to have been damaged again, because in 1367 Johann Gruszing and his sons began a new reconstruction. In 1380 troops of Landgrave Hermann II besieged the castle during a renewed feud with Mainz , albeit in vain; they devastated the village.

One of the last remains of the wall on the castle hill

Through the marriage of one of Johann Gruszing's daughters, half of the castle came to the von Dernbach family, who held their part until 1427. The last male descendant of Johann Gruszing was Hans von Falkenberg zur Densburg. His daughter Elisabeth was married to Henne von Linsingen. However, Hans, who had no male heirs, bequeathed his share of the castle to his cousin Hermann von Falkenberg in 1426, so that there was a long dispute over inheritance. This was only settled when Elisabeth ceded her rights to Hermann's son, Hans von Falkenberg, against payment of 160 guilders.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Konrad III. von Mainz probably enfeoffed Ebert von Dernbach with the castle (and there was still a dispute between Ebert von Dernbach and Hans von Falkenberg about it in 1455), but it came into the possession of the von Urff family in 1426, at least temporarily as a pledge .

After the Mainz defeat in the Mainz-Hessian War of 1427 in the battles near Fritzlar and Fulda, which finally secured Hessian supremacy in Lower and Upper Hesse, Mainz had to cede most of its possessions in northern Hesse to Landgrave Ludwig I. With this, Densberg Castle also came nominally to the Landgraviate, but remained pledged to the von Urff. Hans von Urff gave it to the Landgrave as a fief in 1458, but he and his son Heinrich held it as a pledge until 1483.

In the Hessian fratricidal war of 1469 between Landgrave Ludwig II of Hessen-Kassel and Heinrich the Rich of Hessen-Marburg , Densberg Castle was destroyed by Bohemian mercenaries of Landgrave Ludwig II, as were Schönstein Castle and Jesberg Castle .

Landgrave Hessian property

In 1483 Landgrave Wilhelm I redeemed the pledge on the ruins of Densberg Castle for 600 Rhenish guilders. After partial reconstruction, he gave it in 1489 for life to his bailiff at Schönstein, Hermann Huhn von Elkershausen, to whom he owed 400 guilders and 50 guilders annual service fee.

The last mention of Densberg Castle dates back to 1506. Hermann Huhn had died and the Landgrave sold the Densberg and Schönstein castles, which had fallen back to him, to Otto Hund for 400 guilders . After that the castle fell into disrepair and was used as a quarry.

reconstruction

Around the year 2014, around 30 citizens of Densberg formed the Densberg Archaeological Working Group , which, supported by professional preservationists, carries out excavations on the castle grounds. At the end of 2014, around 50 m³ of area had been exposed and a two-meter stone wall was partially reconstructed.

literature

  • Werner Ide, From Adorf to Zwesten: Local history paperback for the Fritzlar-Homberg district, Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen, 1972
  • Gerhard Bätzing: Three castle ruins in the basement forest . In: Yearbook Schwalm-Eder-Kreis 10 . 1984
  • Village chronicle 900 years of Densberg . 1985
  • Jesberg. Past and present . 1991
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 88f.

Web links

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

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ "Densberg Castle, Schwalm-Eder District". Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ↑ Heinrich von Albshausen, Ludwig von Schweinfe, Werner von Römershausen and Heinrich von Lindenborn are mentioned in a document from 1197–1200 as Burgmannen zu Densberg. ( Document about the first mention of Dainrode in the years 1197 - 1200 )
  3. ↑ Now the castle appears on hna.de from November 17, 2014