Gelsterburg

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Gelsterburg
Gelsterburg.jpg
Creation time : probably in the second half, 11th century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Burgstall, section ditch, neck ditch, moat
Standing position : Nobles
Place: Großalmerode-Weißenbach
Geographical location 51 ° 15 '47.9 "  N , 9 ° 51' 7.8"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 15 '47.9 "  N , 9 ° 51' 7.8"  E
Height: 380  m above sea level NHN
Gelsterburg (Hesse)
Gelsterburg

The Gelsterburg is an Outbound Spur castle in the village of Weissenbach the city Großalmerode in Werra-Meissner in Hessen .

location

The remains of the hill fort are north of Weißenbach and southeast of Trubenhausen above the Gelster valley on a mountain spur at 380  m above sea level. NN . A few meters west below the hill, the L3239 follows the valley from Weißenbach to Trubenhausen.

history

There is no secure documentary evidence of the castle. It is not known by whom or when it was built.

In 1265 a knight named Walter von Hundelshausen was mentioned, named after the village Hundelshausen a few kilometers further north , and the castle may have been his seat. Other assumptions assume that the castle was built by the Counts of Bilstein in the second half of the 11th century to protect an old salt road and may have lost its importance with the transfer of the rule of Bilstein to the Landgraviate of Hesse around 1300.

description

The few remains of this larger castle complex on a mountain spur are separated from the slope by a neck ditch . A section trench separated the roughly circular, 10 by 12 meter fore and the north-western, about 18 by 30 meters large, rectangular main castle , located southeast of the mountain, and the north-western, also following the course of the spur , which is now connected by a narrow footbridge. An elongated moat measuring around 130 by 50 meters also enclosed the entire castle, which was oriented in the north-west-south-east direction and to the north-west again included another, lower-lying area of ​​the same size as the outer and main castle combined. As a result, another moat was created around the two parts of the castle as an obstacle to the approach. The main castle shows remains of the foundations of the curtain wall and a tower about 3–4 m in diameter.

The so-called donkey path was the presumed access route and connected the castle with the former drinking mill in a serpentine manner . Coming from the southeast he ran towards the outer bailey. The plateau outside and in front of the outer bailey also seems to be artificially lowered or created.

Monument protection

The Burgstall is a ground monument according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg publishing house. Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 51f.
  • Georg Landau : Description of the Electorate of Hesse , Kassel 1842, p. 326

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ potions mill, Werra-Meissner. Historical local dictionary for Hesse (as of May 19, 2017). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on October 2, 2018 .
  2. ↑ The description is based on the map drawn by Christian Wilhelm Lange (1857–1928, librarian at the Hessian State Library, publisher of the tourist information and secretary of the Hessian mountain messenger ): The Gelsterburg . In: Tourist communications from both Hesse, Nassau, Frankfurt / Main, Waldeck and the border areas , organ of the Niederhessischer Tourismus-Verein, the Rhön-Club , the Taunus-Club , the Werratal-Verein, the Knüll-Club, the Solling-Verein and the Upper Hessian Tourist Association, Kassel 1895–1900