Dürrnhof (Pfarrweisach)

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Dürrnhof
Parish Pfarrweisach
Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 31 ″  N , 10 ° 46 ′ 14 ″  E
Height : 320-340 m above sea level NHN
Residents : 39  (2009)
Postal code : 96176
Area code : 09535

The village of Dürrnhof is located on the edge of the forest under the large double castle Lichtenstein and is a district of the municipality of Pfarrweisach in the Haßberge district in Lower Franconia . In the 19th century there was a small round tower on a small island in the middle of a pond, which is interpreted by castle lore as a weir .

history

Ludwig Richter's drawing (1837)

Dürrnhof was the seat of a line of the von Lichtenstein family, which was first mentioned in 1388 with "Apel von Lichtenstein zu Dörnhof". The name indicates a slightly fortified courtyard, a tower courtyard. In 1993, the medieval archaeologist Joachim Zeune was presented with a drawing by Ludwig Richter (1837), which is considered one of the few evidence of a Franconian military storage facility. The sheet shows Lichtenstein Castle in the background, and in the valley there is a low round tower diagonally in front of a one-story building that is still unchanged today . The tower is already beginning to crumble, the lower part of the cladding made of regular sandstone blocks is already missing. On the right-hand side there is a high entrance, the tower crown protrudes slightly. Two discharge openings ( Maschikulis ) break through the three staggered wall bulges of the protrusion. Remnants of masonry are attached to the building on the left.

The tower probably stood on a small island in the pond. In the drawing, a narrow wooden bridge allows access. The tower and island have disappeared, but the building in the background is clearly identifiable. The tower is reminiscent of the pond houses of the Franconian nobility and city patricians as well as of Lower Saxony and Westphalian military warehouses.

The round floor plan and the small size speak against the interpretation as a pond house. Such pond seats usually had square plinths with protruding upper floors, like the Topplerschlösschen below Rothenburg ob der Tauber . Even Albrecht Dürer surviving examples on some of its graphics. The weir storage facilities in Westphalia and Lower Saxony are also all built on square floor plans. The round shape would be a regional specialty here. Similar systems were excavated in the Upper Franconian towns of Seubersdorf and Schwand . Such a reinforced storage building offered a certain protection against the attacks of smaller marauding gangs. Rats and mice were also kept away from the stored supplies. In the event of a fire, the isolated island location was another advantage that the stone architecture reinforced.

In addition to the small moated castle Dippach , the alleged weir storage facility at the Dürrnhof farm is a good example of the numerous small residences of the local nobility in the Haßberg Mountains in the late Middle Ages . Such structures formed the lowest level of the medieval castle hierarchy, the central structure of which is represented in this hill country by the surrounding castles Altenstein , Lichtenstein , Raueneck and Rotenhan .

The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments lists the ground monument as a medieval to modern castle stable under the monument number D 6-5830-0022.

Dürrnhof is a stop on the castle history trail in the Haßberge district.

literature

  • Joachim Zeune: Castles in the Eberner Land, part 2 . (Eberner Heimatblätter, 9). Boars 2003
  • Joachim Zeune: “Dörnhöfe and Dürnhöfe” were tower yards! Thoughts on Franconian military storage facilities . In: Report of the Historisches Verein Bamberg, 131. Bamberg 1995

proof

  1. ↑ History of Dürrnhof on pfarrweisach.de , accessed on June 26, 2020
  2. ^ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry

Web links