Lichtenstein castle ruins (Pommelsbrunn)

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Lichtenstein castle ruins
Lichtenstein castle ruins - view of the castle rock near the summit

Lichtenstein castle ruins - view of the castle rock near the summit

Creation time : before 1270
Castle type : Höhenburg in slope spur location
Conservation status: Unrestored ruin that was partially remodeled in the late 19th century
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Quarry stone masonry
Place: Pommelsbrunn
Geographical location 49 ° 30 '28.7 "  N , 11 ° 29' 58"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 30 '28.7 "  N , 11 ° 29' 58"  E
Height: 507  m above sea level NN
Lichtenstein castle ruins (Bavaria)
Lichtenstein castle ruins

The Lichtenstein castle ruin was a high medieval aristocratic castle above the town of Pommelsbrunn in the municipality of the same name in the Middle Franconian district of Nürnberger Land in Bavaria .

The ruin of the hilltop castle is freely accessible and serves as a lookout point .

Geographical location

The ruins of the Höhenburg are located in the southern part of the Hersbrucker Alb , about 1080 meters northwest of the Protestant parish church of St. Lorenz above the village of Pommelsbrunn at 507  m above sea level. NN height on a slope spur of the Schleußberg . The slope spur jumps to the southwest and is bordered on its south side by the valley of the Högenbach and on its west side by the valley of the Pegnitz .

There was also a medieval castle on the opposite side of the Högenbach, on the so-called Mühlkoppe, of which the Altes Haus is the rest. Nearby are the Lichtenegg castle ruins and, to the south, the Reicheneck castle ruins above Lake Happurg . Also near Happurg is the Burgstall Hacburg and to the east the Burgstall Breitenthal near the village of Oed, and northeast the castle ruins Hauseck .

History of the castle

There are still no archaeologically secured findings about the building of Lichtenstein Castle , but because of its name it could have been connected to the Staufer Reichsburg Lichtenegg , which existed at the latest since the early 13th century. There was also a direct line of sight between the two castles. Also pottery have to back to the time of the early 13th century.

Lichtenstein Castle appeared for the first time in 1270 in the name of Ministerial Heinrich von Lichtenstein, and in 1297 an "Agnes Lichtensteinerin" was mentioned. The ministerial family of the Lichtensteiners was probably originally in Reich service and had connections to the powerful taverns of Reicheneck. In a note from the 16th century it is reported that the Lichtensteiners were once feuded, and the castle is said to have been destroyed. Gustav Voit suspects this destruction in 1325, when the Reicheneck castle "Turm im Weidental" was destroyed in a feud between the taverns of Reicheneck and the imperial city of Nuremberg due to road robberies, and the castle Hartenstein was besieged by the Nuremberg people. Lichtenstein Castle could also have been affected, as the Lichtensteiners were close to the Reicheneckern. However, there is no evidence of this.

Newer building on the foundation walls of a tower by Paul Willhelm Freiherr Ebner von Eschenbach
Overview plan of the Lichtenstein castle ruins

In 1349 Lichtenstein Castle became sovereign when it came into the possession of the Count Palatine , Ludwig Schenk von Reicheneck was the keeper of the Palatine castle, to which the Lichtensteiners no longer had rights. The Lichtenstein was pledged by the Count Palatine in 1353 to the German and Bohemian King Charles IV , who set up a New Bohemian nursing office at the castle. The castle crew consisted of the keeper, two mounted soldiers, four guards, six soldiers on foot, a tower keeper and a gatekeeper.

The Bohemian rule did not last too long, because with the Treaty of Fürstenwalde of August 18, 1373, with which Emperor Karl IV wanted to acquire the Mark Brandenburg, Karl had to sell part of his New Bohemian Empire and thus the office and Lichtenstein Castle to the Bavarian dukes, to be able to raise the purchase price.

In 1391 the castle was pledged by the Wittelsbach dukes to Linhard von Henfenfeld, after which other pledges and keepers appeared. In 1419 it was ceded to the brothers Hans, Eberhart and Wilhelm von Mistelbeck, who had claims against Duke Ludwig von Bayern-Ingolstadt . Due to the Bavarian War , it was no longer handed over.

During the Bavarian War between Duke Ludwig von Bayern-Ingolstadt and his cousins, the Bavarian Dukes of Landshut and Munich , Lichtenstein Castle was conquered and destroyed in June 1421 by Count Palatine Johann von Neumarkt-Neunburg , who was allied with Ludwig's opponents. In the area exploration of the imperial city of Nuremberg from 1503 to 1504, in which all castles and fortifications are listed in relation to the Landshut War of Succession that soon followed , the Lichtenstein is referred to as "an old, splendid castle". An entry in the Salbuch from 1516 also states that Lichtenstein was only a castle stable . The Sulzbach district court promised the Mistelbeck brothers in 1421 and again in 1422 the right to compensation.

The castle ruins fell into disrepair; In 1851 the Bavarian state sold it to Paul Willhelm Freiherr Ebner von Eschenbach . Around the year 1855 he had the pseudo ruin built on the upper castle in the sense of the awakening castle romanticism using rising masonry and an English landscape garden set up in the area of ​​the lower castle , which has also fallen into disrepair.

Today there is a forest around the castle ruin and it is partly overgrown with bushes. Several hiking trails from Pommelsbrunn and the surrounding area lead to the ruins. The medieval remains of Lichtenstein Castle, especially those of the lower castle, are in great danger of decay.

The castle ruin has been designated as an architectural monument (D-5-74-147-11) and a ground monument (D-5-6435-0009) by the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments .

Picture gallery

  • Lichtenstein castle ruins - view of the castle rock over Pommelsbrunn from the south

  • New building

  • Memorial stone

  • Information board

  • Looking west

literature

  • Robert Giersch: Pommelsbrunn: The Lichtenstein castle ruins . In: Alfried Wieczorek (Hrsg.): Excursions to archeology, history and culture in Germany. Volume 52: Nuremberg and Nürnberger Land - excursion destinations between Pegnitz and Franconian Alb . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2368-2 , pp. 201-203.
  • Robert Giersch, Andreas Schlunk, Berthold Frhr. von Haller: Castles and mansions in the Nuremberg countryside . Published by the Altnürnberger Landschaft, Lauf an der Pegnitz 2006, ISBN 3-00-020677-9 , pp. 261-263.
  • Walter Heinz: Former castles in the Rothenberg area. 3rd part: From the Hacburg to the Grünreuther Schlößl. Schnaittach 1992, OCLC 164890756 , pp. 150-157. (From Rothenberg and its surroundings, issue 15/3)
  • Ruth Bach-Damaskinos, Jürgen Schnabel, Sabine Kothes: Palaces and castles in Middle Franconia . Verlag A. Hoffmann, Nuremberg 1993, ISBN 3-87191-186-0 , p. 138.
  • Wilhelm Schwemmer: The art monuments of Middle Franconia. Volume X: District of Hersbruck . R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1959, DNB 457322497 , pp. 215-217.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Topographic map 1: 25000, sheet 6453 Pommelsbrunn
  2. ↑ Location of the castle ruins in the Bavaria Atlas
  3. ^ Burgstall Oed on the website of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation
  4. ↑ Robert Giersch, Andreas Schlunk, Berthold Frhr. von Haller: Castles and mansions in the Nuremberg countryside . 2006, p. 261 ff.