Helmishofen castle ruins

Helmishofen castle ruins
The High Medieval Keep from the North (2017)
Alternative name (s):	Roman tower, watch tower
Creation time :	12th Century
Castle type :	Höhenburg, hillside location
Conservation status:	Keep, remains of the wall
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Construction:	Nagelfluh ( conglomerate rock )
Place:	Kaltental -Helmishofen
Geographical location	47 ° 54 '3 "  N , 10 ° 45' 8"  O Coordinates: 47 ° 54 '3 "  N , 10 ° 45' 8"  E
Height:	700  m above sea level NN

The Helmishofen castle ruins are the ruins of a 12th century castle near Helmishofen in the Ostallgäu district . The keep and some small remains of the wall are still preserved. The tower has been incorrectly referred to as the Roman Tower since the early 19th century.

Geographical location

The ruin of the hilltop castle lies above the northeastern outskirts of Helmishofen in the Ostallgäu district on a hillside above the Kaltental. To the north and south of the fortress, two outer works, preserved as ground monuments , flank Burgplatz.

history

The builders of the castle were the lords of Helmishofen. They were stiftkemptischen service men and had the Vogt and judicial rights in Helmishofen, Aufkirch , Blonhofen, Gerbishofen and Altensberg. From 1190 to 1335 the lords of the castle are known as members of the von Helmishofen family. Adelgolz was followed by his son Heinrich in 1257, his son Heinrich in 1262, his son Adelgolz in 1287 and again by Heinrich von Helmishofen in 1332, who is presumably the son of the aforementioned Heinrich.

The castle was besieged by the Bavarians in 1269, 1270 and 1315 without success. It burned down almost completely after a thunderstorm in 1312, but was immediately rebuilt. From 1335 to 1380 the castle was occupied by a donor bailiff. The Knight Swigger of Mindelberg attacked the castle Helmi Hofen 1348. It came to plunder and pillage the building yard. The attacker then had to flee because the abbot of Kempten was on his way to reinforce the lords of the castle.

From 1380 to 1437 the castle was owned by the Lords of Schmiechen. Heinrich ruled from 1387, then Elisabeth from 1398 and Stephan in the same year, Jörg from 1412, Heinrich from 1423 and Veit von Schmiechen from 1437. The castle became the property of the Augsburg bishopric in 1437 and was subsequently occupied by carers. The first caretaker was Stephan von Schwangau in 1444, followed by Konrad von Schellenberg in 1447, Ulrich Burggraf in 1457, Jörg von Villenbach from 1461 to 1464, Lutz von Freyberg from 1467 to 1487, Wolfhart von Knöringen from 1488 to 1508 and Hans von Hirnheim from 1512 to 1518 .

The northern moat in front of the main castle cone

During the time of Philipp von Landeck, who was lord of the castle from 1521 to 1540, the German Peasants' War took place . The castle is looted by farmers and partially destroyed by fire. After that, the farmers had to pay compensation and help rebuild the castle. From 1551 to 1569 Christoph von Bollstadt was employed as a nurse. He was followed by Josef Stor von Ostrach from 1574 to 1581, Sebastian Reiter in 1585, Philipp Renner von Allmendingen in 1587 and Christoph Friedrich von Hohenberg from 1596 to 1609. Edmund Scheler, who was appointed from 1610 to 1612, moved his seat to Altensberg Castle .

The west side of the keep consists of regular Nagenfluh cuboids

... and the north side with the former high entrance

The few remains of the wall north of the keep

During the Thirty Years War , the castle was destroyed again and then rebuilt. After another fire in 1792, Helmishofen Castle was not rebuilt. The stones of the buildings were used by the farmers in the area to build houses. Only the keep remained. The castle was especially important during the time it was owned by the Bishop of Augsburg. It mainly served to secure the trade routes from the south to the Swabian region.

From 1803 the remains of the castle were Bavarian. The keep was renovated in the middle of the 19th century by the Historical Association of Swabia and Neuburg. After that, the tower was a popular destination. At that time Helmishofen was on the Kaufbeuren – Schongau railway line, which was closed in 1972 . We hiked from the Aufkirch stop to the tower and then had a snack in the inn in Helmishofen.

The renovation of the keep by the historical association and, above all, the renovation by the Kempten State Building Authority from 1975 to 1976 did not meet today's standards. Nevertheless, the tower used as a lookout tower is still a popular destination today. It is right next to the Kaufbeuren – Schongau cycle path. Inside you can climb a staircase that is sometimes very steep and from there you have a view of the entire Kaltental.

In 2011 the municipality of Markt Kaltental bought the keep with the surrounding land from the Free State of Bavaria for the symbolic value of one euro. Another renovation began in 2014, with the tower being given a roof.

The term "Römerturm", which is still used today, of the large keep goes back to the early 19th century. At that time, all of the great high-medieval humpback square towers were dated to Roman times . This misinterpretation saved many such monuments from demolition. The historical value of medieval architectural witnesses was rarely recognized at that time.

description

The castle ruins

The fortress lies between Aufkirch and Helmishofen on the eastern edge of the valley. The two-part system consists of the steep, almost square main castle cone (approx. 20 × 20 meters) and a spacious outer castle plateau (approx. 30 × 50 meters) in the south.

Main castle

The main castle is protected in a horseshoe shape by a moat up to eight meters deep . A ramp on the eastern edge of the trench indicates a former footbridge, which probably provided direct access to the main castle here.

Above the southeast corner of the main castle cone stands the mighty keep made of regular Nagelfluh blocks . To the north are the small remains of the surrounding wall , in the middle of which there was probably the gate accessible from the footbridge (gap in the wall). The northwest part of the plateau is very rugged. The Palas used to stand here , the masonry of which was completely removed.

The square keep is about 20 meters high. Above a mostly buried basement (depth about six meters) there are four further floors, which are sparsely illuminated through narrow light slits in the south wall. The beginnings of a vault have been preserved under the current concrete ceiling of the upper floor . A narrow staircase in the south wall enables access to the viewing platform. Originally the tower was closed with a crenellated wreath . During the renovation in 1975/76, a generous amount of mortar was applied to the edges of the hump square facing, so that the wall surfaces now appear unhistorically too smooth.

In terms of size and concept, the keep is strongly reminiscent of the main tower of Kemnat Castle near Kaufbeuren . The obligatory high entrance is about five meters above the castle courtyard in the north wall. The ground level access below was only broken into later.

Outer bailey

The south wall of the outer bailey to the east

The keep from the south

The dimensions of the 25-meter-wide neck ditch around the main castle are unusual . The rectangular outer bailey, on the other hand, is only separated from the ridge by a narrow and moderately deep ditch. In the east, an approx. 35 meter long rampart can be seen on the plateau. The wall drops outwards about two and a half to four meters to the bottom of the trench. Further unevenness in the ground indicate a likely stone interior.

To the west of the entire complex is a wide slope terrace with remnants of walls. The plateaus of the main and outer bailey are accessible from this terrace via short ascents.

Vorwerke

View into the moat area of ​​the tower hill of the southern Vorwerk

About 250 meters to the north and south of the castle, the remains of two high-medieval hill towers can be seen in the area . These could be the seats of sub-vassals of the Lords of Helmishofen. Such small "satellite castles" can often be found in the vicinity of larger medieval castles. The wealthy ministerial families often created their own followers who tried to adopt the chivalrous lifestyle of their masters.

The two small castles could originally have been built to protect the construction site. They were probably given up in the High Middle Ages.

The southern Vorwerk has been particularly well preserved. The small fortress shows the typical two-part system of high medieval castles. A semicircular neck ditch about two meters deep cuts the cone of the main castle from the slope edge. On the western steep slope, the ditch continues as a bench or a buried hillside ditch. On the plateau of the tower hill, an angular depression indicates the location of a building. Wall or brick remains are nowhere to be seen. A spacious outer bailey connects to the south. The outer wall of the outer bailey is only about one meter high, and the trench is up to half a meter deep. The State Office for Monument Preservation lists the ground monument as a section wall of an unknown period, but the typological features suggest that it is a high medieval residence. The brief inventory from 1960 still lists the property as a tower hill.

About 300 meters east of the northern Vorwerk are the earthworks of another medieval residence on the high plateau.

Monument preservation

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation lists the castle ruins as the medieval castle stables (floor monument under monument number D-7-8030-0053) and as a castle ruin (architectural monument under monument number D-7-77-141-24).

The two outworks are listed as a medieval tower hill (monument number D-7-8030-0056) or a section wall of an unknown period (monument number D-7-8130-0007).

The earthworks east of the northern Vorwerk are listed under the monument number D-7-8030-0057 as a medieval, ground-level mansion.

literature

• Tilman Breuer: Stadt- und Landkreis Kaufbeuren (short inventory) ( Bavarian art monuments 9, short inventory). German art publisher, Munich 1960.
• German Gaue. Vol. 1, 1899, ISSN  0070-4016 , p. 44, p. 53ff., P. 251 and Vol. 3, No. 2, 1901, p. 108.
• Kaufbeurer history sheets. Vol. 5, 1967, ZDB -ID 897013-0 , p. 28f. and Vol. 9, 1982, pp. 282f.
• Aegidius Kolb, Ewald Kohler (ed.): Ostallgäu, once and now. 2 volumes. Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag, Kempten-Marktoberdorf 1984 (vol. 1, p. 156f, and vol. 2, p. 1132).
• Toni Nessler: Castles in the Allgäu, Volume 2: Castle ruins in the West Allgäu and in the neighboring Vorarlberg, in the Württemberg Allgäu, in the northern Allgäu around Memmingen, in the northeast Allgäu around Kaufbeuren and Obergünzburg as well as in the eastern Allgäu and in the adjacent Tyrol . 1st edition. Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag, Kempten 1985, ISBN 3-88006-115-7 , pp. 198-207.
• Anton Steichele, Alfred Schröder: The diocese of Augsburg. Historically and statistically. Volume 6: The Land Chapter: Kaufbeuren. Schmid, Augsburg 1904, p. 30ff.
• Alois Schorer: Swabian homeland. Buchlohe 1937, ZDB -ID 1272822-6 .

Web links

Commons : Burgruine Helmishofen  - collection of pictures

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Römerturm is cleaned in the allgäu online from April 4, 2014 accessed on April 25, 2015
2. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.