Burgstall Mörlenbach

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Mörlenbach Castle
Remnants of the city wall with loopholes

Remnants of the city wall with loopholes

Alternative name (s): Mörlenbach Castle
Creation time : before 1400
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: Burgstall
Place: Moerlenbach
Geographical location 49 ° 35 '57 "  N , 8 ° 44' 4.7"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 35 '57 "  N , 8 ° 44' 4.7"  E
Height: 170  m above sea level NHN
Burgstall Mörlenbach (Hesse)
Burgstall Mörlenbach

The Burgstall Mörlenbach is a lost moated castle on the outskirts of the center of the municipality of Mörlenbach in the Bergstrasse district in Hesse .

Geographical location

The former moated castle, fed to the north by the Weschnitz , was located west of the old town center of Mörlenbach, which was surrounded by a city wall in the Middle Ages . This included half of the moated castle. The so-called castle courtyard in an arch of the Weschnitz no longer shows any remains, the "castle courtyard school" Mörlenbach is located on the site.

history

Mörlenbach Castle was built by the Archbishopric of Mainz before 1400 . In 1426 the castle was mentioned for the first time with the appointment of the bailiff Hartmann Ulner von Dieburg . The castle was a Kurmainzische border and state castle and in the 15th century mostly occupied by officials. Archbishop Dietrich fortified Mörlenbach in the middle of the 15th century . After Mörlenbach lost its strategic importance in connection with the Mainz collegiate feud in 1461 through the pledging of the Starkenburg Oberamt to the Electoral Palatinate , the castle was demolished, leveled and later modernized over the following centuries.

Location of Mörlenbach Castle on the outskirts on a map from 1860
Plaque for the city wall with the location of the castle

description

The description of the castle is only known to us from tradition and according to J. Seifriedt's site plan from 1789: The castle only served as an estate and had almost lost its defensive character. The moated castle, surrounded by moats and an earth wall in front of it, had a polygonal floor plan framed by a circular wall with a gate and a narrow kennel with a semicircular and a square tower ( keep or residential tower ) on the east side and two buildings inside. It is assumed that the manor house standing at that time was built on the foundation walls of the old palace behind the side of the kennel. Remains of the irregular wall (with loopholes) can still be found behind today's castle courtyard school towards Wessnitz.

Under the Electoral Palatinate pledge, Mörlenbach Castle lost its strategic importance and the castle complex fell into disrepair. The Schlosshofgut was only demolished in the 19th century and the moat was leveled in the process.

Remains of the city wall, which half enclosed the castle, with a small bastion and key notches can still be found in the fortification.

  • Mörlenbach 2014

  • City wall with a walled-up gate

  • The courtyard school, location of the old castle

  • Sandstone gate

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 2nd Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1995, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 566 f.
  • Otto Wagner (arrangement): Heimatbuch Mörlenbach. Mörlenbach 1983.
  • Wolfgang Einsingbach: The art monuments of the state of Hesse . Bergstrasse district, 2 volumes, 1969, p. 386.
  • Festschrift with chronicle for the 1100 anniversary from July 29th - 31st, 1977. Ober-Liebersbach, Mörlenbach community 877–1977. 1977, pp. 67-77.

Web links