Castle ruins Löwenstein (Hesse)

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Löwenstein castle ruins
Oberurff-Schiffelborn with the tower of Löwenstein Castle

Oberurff-Schiffelborn with the tower of Löwenstein Castle

Creation time : around 1236
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Nobles
Place: Bad Zwesten - Oberurff-Schiffelborn
Geographical location 51 ° 2 '24 "  N , 9 ° 8' 58.2"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 2 '24 "  N , 9 ° 8' 58.2"  E
Height: 341.2  m above sea level NHN
Castle ruins Löwenstein (Hesse)
Löwenstein castle ruins

The former Löwenstein Castle in the Oberurff-Schiffelborn district of Bad Zwesten in northern Hesse exists today as a partially reconstructed ruin of a hilltop castle at 341.2  m above sea level. NHN from the beginning of the 13th century, which has fallen into disrepair since the 17th century.

Construction and shape

The castle, first documented in 1253, was completed in 1236 by Werner II. Von Bischoffshausen , who held it as a fiefdom of the Landgraves of Thuringia, and around 1250 by Heinrich III. von Meißen , the new Wettin Landgrave of Thuringia, was appointed district judge in Niederhessen, and then, together with Konrad von Elben, one of the most important supporters of Duchess Sophie von Brabant in whose fight for the Landgraviate of Hesse was for her son Heinrich . Werner was married to Gertrud von Itter , a daughter of Heinrich von Itter, called Pampis. In her honor he named the castle "Löwenstein", as Gertrud had the itterian lion in her coat of arms . Their descendants named themselves after the castle.

Castle with the houses of Schiffelborn, including the village of Oberurff around 1632

In its final form in the 14th century, the plant consists of a spacious consisted Vorburg the slightly higher and the main castle with five mansions, a 1300 chapel was first mentioned and a 26-meter high castle keep . The high entrance to the keep was possible at a height of 7 m via a drawbridge from a neighboring residential building that no longer exists today. The guard room was located in the access area. In the tower area below was a windowless dungeon . Above the guard room, two residential floors in a rectangular construction were connected upwards. In the outer bailey there were forge, bakery and brewery as well as stables and other farm buildings. A 450 m long and strongly fortified circular wall enclosed the entire complex. A moat ran around the entire castle and in front of it another earth wall. Process water was brought to the castle in pack animals via the so-called donkey path from the nearby Urff .

The Schiffelborn settlement was at the foot of the castle.

history

Keep
Spiral passage inside the keep

The founding family was first mentioned in 1160 when they were still living in "Biscopehusen" (today's Bischhausen ). They then moved to the strategically favorable Ortberg, above the Löwensteiner Grund , through which the old trade route from Kassel to Frankfurt ran. During the Thuringian-Hessian War of Succession , which began in 1247, Wernher II von Bischofhausen was able to gain considerable influence in North Hesse through early partisanship for Duchess Sophie von Brabant and her underage son Heinrich , because Sophie appointed him temporary governor of the region. This made it necessary to expand the family seat on the Ortberg appropriately.

With the sons of Wernher and Gertrud, the family was divided into three lines. Heinrich called himself "von Löwenstein-Schweinsberg" after his marriage to Giesela von Schweinsberg, Werner after his marriage to Guda von Westerburg , "von Löwenstein-Westerburg", and Hermann after his marriage to Hedwig von Romrod "von Löwenstein-Romrod". Bruno, the fourth son, became a canon in the Fritzlar monastery of St. Petri . However, the three lines remained jointly owned by the castle as gan heirs , lived in it well into the 14th century, and expanded it extensively. The Löwenstein-Westerburg line died out in 1492, the Löwenstein-Schweinsberg line in 1660.

In the disputes of that time between the Archdiocese of Mainz and the Hessian landgraves, the Löwensteiners tacted very flexibly. They opened their castle to each of the two parties as well as the Count of Waldeck at different times and were on good terms with all sides. Despite its excellent defensive capabilities, the castle was more of an administrative castle. It was here that contracts were signed and decrees and laws passed.

The location of the castle was ideal for monitoring the trade route from Kassel to Frankfurt, the salt route . Later lords of the castle used the location for highway robbery and robber barracks . For example, Johann von Löwenstein is attested with his raids in 1439. This was a clear decline compared to the ancestor generation of the burger maker Wernher. However, it may be that robber barons Johann saw himself driven to his crimes, since the Löwensteiner in the mainzisch-Hessischen war in the decisive battle near the nearby Kalbsburg in 1427 stood on the defeated Mainz side, he had largely lost his legitimate sources of income and himself had to supply otherwise.

Decline

With the advent of firearms, the castle lost its strategic value. Towards the end of the 16th century, the lords of the castle moved to their estates in the area and the castle began to deteriorate. The walls were partially collapsed as early as 1579. Hieronymus von Löwenstein renewed the curtain wall in the years 1596–1600, but by 1602 the castle was already partially in ruins. After further destruction in 1635 by imperial troops in the Thirty Years War , it was only used as a quarry for building buildings in the surrounding villages. The castle residents settled on surrounding farms. In 1710 the last service was held in the castle chapel, the village of Schiffelborn at the foot of the castle had around 20 households at that time.

Current condition

Inner courtyard of the castle with remains of walls
Excavations, 2007

The keep was largely preserved and was renovated in the 1930s and again in 2002 and has since been open to the public as an observation tower . It offers a remarkable view of the Löwensteiner Grund, the Schwalmpforte and the Kellerwald-Edersee national park region . The building and the surrounding wall are partially preserved as walls around one meter high. The moat still surrounds almost the entire complex today. Excavation work is carried out depending on the availability of funds.

literature

  • Friedrich Schunder: From Loewenstein to Loewenstein, story of a Hessian family . 3 volumes, Lübeck 1955.
  • 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. 96.

Web links

Commons : Burg Löwenstein (Hessen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
  2. ↑ Heinrich von Itter is mentioned in a Soest document from 1232 as the noble knight Heinrico Pampis , Burgmann of the Counts of Ziegenhain . Cf. also called Pampus in Von der Hoven