Burgstall Ödes Castle (Engelthal)

Burgstall Barren castle
Burgstall Ödes Schloss - View of the core castle and the trench from the area of ​​the outer castle
Alternative name (s):	Burgstall Ödes Schloss am Geierstein
Creation time :	High Middle Ages
Castle type :	Two-part hilltop castle in a spur location
Conservation status:	Burgstall
Standing position :	Unknown
Construction:	Sandstone humpback ashlar wall
Place:	Engelthal- Peuerling
Geographical location	49 ° 27 '56.4 "  N , 11 ° 21' 53.8"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '56.4 "  N , 11 ° 21' 53.8"  E
Height:	519  m above sea level NN

The presumably high medieval Burgstall Ödes Schloss is the remnant of an abandoned castle that once rose on a spur terrace of the Nonnenberg above the hamlet of Peuerling . The Burgstall is located in the municipality of Engelthal in the Middle Franconian district of Nürnberger Land in Bavaria , Germany . The castle is almost completely gone today, only very few traces, such as the two moats and the remains of the foundation wall , still bear witness to it.

Geographical location

The former castle is located in the central area of ​​the Franconian Alb on a mountain spur of the Nonnenberg protruding to the northeast . This mountain spur is also known as the Geierstein . The Burgstall is about 100  meters above the village of Peuerling at 519  m above sea level. NN height, about 1600 meters west-southwest of the parish church of St. Johannis the Baptist in Engelthal, or about 21 kilometers east of Nuremberg .

History of the castle

Nothing is known today about the history of the lost castle on the Nonnenberg. It is mentioned in a document in 1642, but neither the time of its creation, its builder nor the former name of the castle can be found. But since the Barren Castle is a relatively large and complex castle , partly built with a humpback square , this is all the more astonishing. The same applies to the former castle on the Kleiner Hansgörgel near Hersbruck, which is not too far away, or to the castle on the Hienberg near Simmelsdorf .

When the hamlet of Nonnenberg, which had already been laid waste in 1312, with goods in Gersberg and Peuerling came to the Engelthal Abbey in the immediate vicinity in the late 13th century , the complex was no longer mentioned. The castle had obviously not had a long lifespan. Schwemmer's presumption of ownership of the castle by the Lords of Prosberg must be rejected.

Today the place of the former castle is completely overgrown with forest , only two moats and remains of the foundation wall of a tower-shaped building have survived. Today a hiking trail from Peuerling leads past the freely accessible Burgstall.

The ground monument registered by the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments as "Castle Stables of the High Middle Ages" bears the monument number D-5-6534-0010.

Description of the castle stables

The place of the abandoned hill castle lies on a spur that juts out from the northern slope of the Nonnenberg. On the north-west, east and south-east sides the spur falls very steeply and deeply, so that the system was excellently protected from an attack on three sides. On the fourth, the southwest side, however, the Nonnenberg rises to its highest point at 579.2  m above sea level. NN height increased so that a wide and deep trench had to be dug here to protect it.

The area of ​​this large former spur castle is triangular in shape with a length of around 75 meters and a maximum width of around 50 meters, and is divided into a larger outer castle and a relatively small main castle .

The outer bailey was on the attack side facing the enemy and was separated from the rising mountain by a slightly curved neck ditch about 70 meters long . This trench is still around eight meters deep today and 18 to 20 meters at the ridge and around ten meters wide at the bottom. He was removed from the pending here Dogger - sandstone carved, as can be seen even in several places on vertically processed surfaces. Overburden mounds have been formed at both ends of the trench, the southeastern one is barely noticeable, while the one at the northwestern end is very large and forms a small terrace that extends the bottom of the trench by about ten meters.

The outer bailey has a roughly rectangular shape, on the east side and on the side facing the outer moat there are still flattened wall remnants, which presumably go back to the defunct curtain wall . The foundation walls of a larger, presumably tower-shaped building are remarkable. This tower stood in the outer bailey about in the middle of the attack side only a few meters behind the curtain wall and the outer moat, so that the moat, the outer bailey and the access to the main castle could be protected from it. The tower had a square floor plan and was about ten by ten meters. Inside you can see a funnel that is 1.50 meters deep. The masonry of the tower consisted of carefully cut sandstone blocks, several of which have been preserved on site. The infill masonry, on the other hand, consisted of non-local lime quarry stone, which presumably came from the summit area of ​​the Nonnenberg. Whether it is in the tower by a residential tower or a keep acting, is not known. There are no more traces of construction in the outer bailey.

A second ditch separates the main castle at the top of the mountain spur from the outer castle. This trench is crescent-shaped around the main castle and is still around 2.50 to three meters deep and 6.50 to eight meters wide. At the northern end of the trench, a small overburden hill on the steep north slope can still be seen.

The area of ​​the main castle is oval in shape and has a largest diameter of about 20 meters. There was probably only a larger building in it, as a depression indicates. This pit is still about two meters deep and a few meters in diameter, it was probably created by stone robbery when the foundations of the building were removed (large picture). This building was another rectangular tower with small external dimensions. To the southwest of the pit there is a shallow depression, possibly the place of a cistern. To the northeast of the main castle was a 2 meter lower ledge, which probably served as a bench . Then the spur drops off steeply.

The castle path crossed the outer ditch briefly from its southeastern end, then ran diagonally through the outer bailey, which protrudes slightly to the north at its northern corner, crossed the second ditch here and then ended in a presumed courtyard of the main castle.

and display information about the image

Place of a building in the main castle

literature

• Robert Giersch, Andreas Schlunk, Berthold Frhr. von Haller: Castles and mansions in the Nuremberg countryside . Published by Altnürnberger Landschaft eV, Lauf an der Pegnitz 2006, ISBN 978-3-00-020677-1 , p. 327.
• Walter Heinz: Former castles in the vicinity of the Rothenberg, part 2 (Vom Rothenberg and its vicinity, issue 15/2) . Published by the Heimatverein Schnaittach e. V., Schnaittach 1992, pp. 119-122.
• Wilhelm Schwemmer: The art monuments of Middle Franconia, series Bavarian art monuments, Volume X: District of Hersbruck . R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1959, pp. 72-73.

Web links

Commons : Burgstall Ödes Schloss  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Burgstall Ödes castle on the page "Castles and manors in the Nuremberg countryside"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Location of the Burgstall in the Bavaria Atlas
2. ^ Topographic map 1: 25000, sheet 6534 Happurg
3. ^ Leonhard Wittmann: Landmarks of the city and district of Nuremberg. Frankenverlag Lorenz Spindler, Nuremberg 1963, p. 44.
4. ^ ^{A b} Robert Giersch, Andreas Schlunk, Berthold Frhr. von Haller: Castles and mansions in the Nuremberg countryside, p. 327.
5. ↑ Wilhelm Schwemmer: Die Kunstdenkmäler von Mittelfranken, Bayerische Kunstdenkmale series, Volume X: Landkreis Hersbruck, p. 72
6. ^ Burgstall Ödes Schloss on the side of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Walter Heinz: Former castles in the vicinity of Rothenberg, Part 2, p. 119