Drachenfels castle ruins (Chursdorf)

Drachenfels castle ruins
Creation time :	First mentioned in 1212
Castle type :	Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status:	Castle stable, neck ditch, small remains of the wall
Standing position :	Reichsministeriale
Place:	Penig OT Chursdorf
Geographical location	50 ° 55 '34.9 " N , 12 ° 43' 14.3" E Coordinates: 50 ° 55 '34.9 " N , 12 ° 43' 14.3" E

The Drachenfels castle ruins is an Outbound Spur castle on the mountain spur "Drachenfels" about 3 km west of the Peniger local part Chursdorf in mittelsachsen in Saxony . Drachenfels Castle (and a former associated settlement?) Represent a desert in Saxony.

Probably the foundation of the place Chursdorf ("Conradisdorf") in the valley of the Chursdorfer Bach originated from the castle first mentioned in 1212 as the seat of the Lords of Drachenfels. Nothing certain is known about the historical development of the castle. In ancient times , robber barons are said to have lived on the Drachenfelsen.

In 1212 a Heinrich von Drachenfels, together with the Burgraves of Altenburg and those of Leisnig, the Vogt of Weida, the Lords of Colditz, those of Crimmitschau and Hermann von Schönburg acted as guarantor for a contract between Otto IV and Margrave Dietrich von Meißen. After the apparently early extinction of the Drachenfels dynasty, the Drachenfels reign encompassed the later dominions of Penig and Wolkenburg .

In the 14th century the castle is said to have been destroyed (according to legend) by the burgrave of Leisnig and the knight "Heimburg von Waldenburg". According to other sources, such as the Schumann's Saxon newspaper lexicon, the castle was said to have burned down in 1488.

It is unclear whether it was a robber baron's castle. The reasons for the sinking of Drachenfels Castle are unclear.

Strategically unfavorable location

Since the "hinterland" rises directly in front of the neck ditch of the castle as the right / eastern slope of the Zwickau Muldental and this upper edge of the valley clearly towers above the castle area, the castle had an unfavorable strategic location as a spur castle - at least after the emergence of better siege weapons. It could therefore possibly have been abandoned. Since the castle rock (today) almost reaches the Zwickauer Mulde, the transport of goods on the river and possibly also on a wide path - which still exists today - directly under the rock along the bank of the Mulden could be controlled very easily here. The former Drachenfels Castle therefore fulfills the criteria of a - conveniently located - toll castle . The castle rock rises estimated only about 20 meters above the level of the Zwickauer Mulde .

Rediscovery of the castle

Until the 19th or early 20th century, the existence of the castle was only known because of the existing documents. Their situation was unclear. Only after excavations could this rock be identified as the former location of the castle.

Current state

Today's Burgstall (castle site) shows only the slightest remnants of the wall: The castle was located on a rock that protruded like a spur to the Zwickau Mulde , which is apparently also called the Drachenfels (since the castle site was rediscovered). The slightly rising rock lies deeper than the hinterland (right slope of the Muldentalrand) and is separated from the hinterland by a wide neck ditch dug and / or carved into the rock . At the edge of the neck ditch on the castle side, remains of the masonry are still visible (supporting wall of the slope), and there are apparently small remains (loose foundation remains) of a round tower (donjon?) Directly on the castle plateau behind the supporting wall (status 2010).

Excavation finds

Ceramic shards and a decorated bronze bowl were found on Drachenfels - possibly a so-called "Hanse bowl".

The book Penig von A - Z, Ein Stadtlexikon (2002) quotes the historical find situation as follows: "From the desert of Drachenfels one salvaged a huge amount of pottery shards from all sorts of vessels. These are so-called gray-blue goods, the time of origin being from the middle of the 12th to Dated to the beginning of the 13th century. They show that the vessels were made on the turntable and lightly fired . They are decorated with incised wavy lines, parallel circles and rows of dots. Often a mark in the form of a wheel cross is affixed to the base. Made of iron There was a door lock, a knife with a tongue, an awl , two horseshoes, a spur and nails, the heads of which were widened by the bite of a pincer . Furthermore, a bronze bowl with a dug hunting scene came to light in the center medallion a man armed with a shield and sword and an animal. This scene is framed by an egg an inner geometric band and an outer animal frieze. Because of its decoration, the bowl dates back to the 12th century (" Hanseschalen ") ".

Accordingly, finds from the Drachenfels, including the so-called bronze bowl, came to the State Museum for Prehistory Dresden .

Reichsministeriale von Drachenfels

Because of the apparently early establishment of the Drachenfels castle and rule, it is assumed that the knights of Drachenfels were imperial ministerials (Reichsministeriale) who, together with the Reich ministerials of Crimmitschau and those of Schönburg, settled the valley of the Zwickauer Mulde in the 12th century. It is no coincidence that they appear in documents from the Reichsministeriale von Altenburg ( Burgraves of Altenburg ). Together with other ministerials / Reich ministerials, such as Lords from Wartha / Waldenburg, von Colditz, von Leisnig, von Schellenberg, von Crimmitschau, von Schönburg, von Rechenberg and others, they settled parts of Saxony.

legend

When the castles Drachenfels and Zinnberg fell , the legend "The Liebchenstein" exists. This also includes a knight "Haimburg von Waldenburg". In the 14th century the castle is said to have been destroyed (according to legend) by the burgrave of Leisnig and the knight Heimburg von Waldenburg. After it was destroyed, the chickens are said to have flown over the hollow and thus given the name of the “Hühnerberg” opposite.

literature

Friedrich Adolph Schumann: Complete state, postal and newspaper encyclopedia of Saxony . Schumann Brothers, Zwickau 1821.
Steffen Winkler : The Liebchenstein . Ed .: Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau (= legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area . Special issue). Glauchau 1981, history and excavation finds of the castles Zinnberg and Drachenfels, p. 4–5 (legend of the sinking of the Drachenfels and Zinnberg castles near Penig, notes on their history and excavation finds, chapter "Photo section": Fig. 1 Bergsporn plateau of Drachenfels Castle).
Castles and castle districts. Observations in the Central German East . In: Werner Emmerich (Ed.): From land and culture. Contributions to the history of the Central German East . For Rudolf Kötzschke's 70th birthday. Leipzig 1937, p. 77–105 (with a map “Burgward center points and early castles in the Central German East”, edited by Heinz Quirin).
Horst Schwabe: My Burgstädt (= impressions and information, hiking routes, city descriptions, history ). Riedel, Röhrsdorf 1993, p. 9 (Reconstructed map of the Dominions of Penig with Rochsburg and Zinnberg Castle in 1436 when the rule was transferred from the Altenburg Burgraves to the Burgraves of Leisnig due to marriage (this dual rule corresponds to the older Drachenfels rule and, after the Burgraves of Leisnig, ultimately passed to the lords of Schönburg)).

Web links

Castles main mask
Drachenfels Castle on Sachsens-Schlösser.de

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Steffen Winkler: The Liebchenstein . Ed .: Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau (= legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area . Special issue). Glauchau 1981, history and excavation finds of the castles Zinnberg and Drachenfels, p. 5 .
↑ Klaus Oehmig, Margret Neumann, Anett Tomoscheit: "Penig von A - Z, Ein Stadtlexikon", 2002, ISBN 3-9808333-2-1 , keyword "Excavation finds", p. 12
↑ Marina Palm: Aspects of the founding of the city of Glauchau and its development up to 1493 . Ed .: Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau (= legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area . No. 4 ). Glauchau 1982, history and excavation finds of the castles Zinnberg and Drachenfels, p. 45 (mention of the Reichsministerial von Drachenfels).
^ Walter Schlesinger , Thomas Lang: Contributions to the history of the city of Glauchau . Ed .: Enno Bünz. Thelem, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-939888-59-8 , p. 45 (Heinrich von Drachenfels as a documentary witness in 1240).

[Winkler5-1] Steffen Winkler: The Liebchenstein . Ed .: Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau (= legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area . Special issue). Glauchau 1981, history and excavation finds of the castles Zinnberg and Drachenfels, p. 5 .

[2] Klaus Oehmig, Margret Neumann, Anett Tomoscheit: "Penig von A - Z, Ein Stadtlexikon", 2002, ISBN 3-9808333-2-1 , keyword "Excavation finds", p. 12

[3] Marina Palm: Aspects of the founding of the city of Glauchau and its development up to 1493 . Ed .: Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau (= legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area . No. 4 ). Glauchau 1982, history and excavation finds of the castles Zinnberg and Drachenfels, p. 45 (mention of the Reichsministerial von Drachenfels).

[4] Walter Schlesinger , Thomas Lang: Contributions to the history of the city of Glauchau . Ed .: Enno Bünz. Thelem, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-939888-59-8 , p. 45 (Heinrich von Drachenfels as a documentary witness in 1240).