Hambach Castle
| Hambach Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Hambach Castle from the southeast (Rhine plain) |
||
| Alternative name (s): | Kästenburg / Kestenburg / Keschdeburg, Maxburg | |
| Creation time : | 11th century | |
| Conservation status: | partially restored | |
| Standing position : | Ministerial ( Diocese of Speyer or Kaiser des HRR ) | |
| Place: | Neustadt an der Weinstrasse , Hambach district | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 19 '29.9 " N , 8 ° 7' 5.4" E | |
| Height: | 379.2 m above sea level NHN | |
|
||
The Hambacher Schloss (formerly Kästenburg , popularly also Maxburg ) in the Hambach district of the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse was built as a castle in the Middle Ages and designed like a castle in the modern era . Because of the Hambach Festival held there in 1832 , it is the most important symbol of the German democracy movement alongside the Paulskirche in Frankfurt .
Geographical location
Hambach Castle stands west above the Upper Rhine Plain on the eastern slope of the Haardt , a mountain range in the east of the Palatinate Forest . It is located southwest above the village of Hambach and west above Diedesfeld on the Schlossberg ( 379.2 m above sea level ) named after him .
history
Early history
The original facility dates from the 11th century and was owned by the Salians . Because it was built in a strategically favorable location on the Hambacher Schlossberg, it dominated the trade routes that crossed at Neustadt as well as a robber baron's castle and also the northern route of the Upper Palatinate section of the Way of St. James .
The Speyer bishop Johannes I († 1104), who was related to the Salians, bequeathed the castle to the diocese of Speyer , to which it belonged for centuries until the end of the feudal era. Many Speyer bishops have temporarily resided here; Nikolaus von Wiesbaden received his episcopal ordination on June 12, 1388 in the castle chapel.
In 1552 the troops of the margrave and mercenary leader Albrecht Alcibiades captured the castle and burned it down. Bishop Marquard von Hattstein had it rebuilt in a makeshift manner. The complex then served as a domicile for an episcopal forester.
In the Palatinate War of Succession , the ailing fortress was burned down by the French in 1688 and remained in ruins. Only the castle chapel, consecrated to St. Michael, was rebuilt and rededicated on July 9, 1723. French revolutionaries plundered it again on July 30, 1794 and destroyed it. They tied the figure of the Archangel Michael , who had hitherto been venerated there by the faithful, to the tail of a horse, and rode it through the streets. The entire castle ruins fell first to the French state, later to the Kingdom of Bavaria .
Hambach Festival
In 1832, the six-day protest event (May 27 to June 1, 1832) by around 25,000 people turned the castle ruins into the scene of the early democratic efforts on German soil.
The reason was the dissatisfaction of the Palatinate population with the repression of the Bavarian administration. In the years after 1816 this had taken back important achievements that had been granted to the people during the time of the occupation by France. After the Bavarian authorities introduced strict censorship and banned political rallies, the organizers named the event as a “folk festival”. The Palatinate found support from numerous other ethnic groups and individuals. Since that festival, Hambach Castle has been a symbol of democracy throughout Germany.
Modern times
Reconstruction project of Maximilian of Bavaria
In 1842 the loyal owners made the castle ruins a wedding present to the Bavarian Crown Prince and later King Maximilian II . Since then the castle has also been popularly known as "Maxburg". In 1844 Bavaria began rebuilding, for which August von Voit provided the plans. Although he did not intend to reconstruct the medieval castle in accordance with the taste of the time, the plans for the neo-Gothic castle building based on Hohenschwangau show a comparatively careful handling of the existing building fabric. So of the neo-Gothic-looking bay windows on the east facade, the one on the left actually belongs to the medieval castle. Only the tracery of the windows and the battlements on the facade are freely invented . Just two years after the start of construction, work stalled and finally came to a standstill in the revolutionary years of 1848/49 . Only the main facade of the residential building as well as the torso of the arbor to the side and rear of the main building were executed . For more than a century, Hambach Castle remained an open building ruin.
Renovations since the 20th century
The castle came into the ownership of the Bad Dürkheim district when it became the legal successor to the disbanded Neustadt an der Weinstrasse district in 1969 . In 2002 it was transferred to a newly established foundation , the Hambacher Schloss Foundation , which is supported by the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Palatinate District Association , the Bad Dürkheim District and the City of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. The federal government supports the foundation financially.
For the 150th anniversary of the Hambach Festival, the castle was almost completely restored between 1980 and 1982 for around DM 12 million (around € 6 million). Furthermore, the first permanent exhibition in Hambach Castle was opened to the public. Since 1982 there have been three permanent exhibitions, the last as part of the major renovation work in 2007/2008. The last permanent exhibition has been under the title Up, up to the castle since October 2008, on the 5th floor.
A further renovation began in 2006 and, in its first phase, led to the lock being closed to visitors from July 17, 2006 to May 24, 2007. Among other things, handicapped-accessible installations including the installation of an elevator were carried out. For the 175th anniversary in 2007, the castle was reopened for six months and an exhibition showed the planned renovation measures in the context of the historical development of the castle and the castle. In the second phase of the renovation, from November 4, 2007 to November 7, 2008, the building was again closed to visitors. The measures carried out during this renovation phase, in particular the removal of a large wooden ceiling that was only installed in 1980, were discussed controversially in public. The construction phase 2009-2011 included the construction of a new restaurant with over 100 seats. The renovation and the extension by the Swiss architect Max Dudler was awarded the DAM Prize for Architecture in Germany from the German Architecture Museum in 2012 .
Events and tourism
During the times of its opening, the castle is museum and meeting site with around 200,000 visitors per year. The exhibition shows the events of 1832, their conditions and aftermath in Germany and Europe.
Events and receptions from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Bad Dürkheim district and the city of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse take place there all year round. A prominent guest was US President Ronald Reagan on May 6, 1985 with a speech “to the youth of the world” . German Federal Presidents also usually combine their inaugural visit to Rhineland-Palatinate with a visit to the historic site.
To kick off the anniversary celebrations, the Hambach Castle Marathon was held for the first time on April 1, 2007. It led from Neustadt up to the castle and via various wine villages back to Neustadt. Of more than 2350 registered participants - professionals and amateurs - 2200 were finally at the start. The main speaker at the ceremony on May 27, 2007 was the former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker . On May 11, 2007, Albert H. Keil's poem "Nuff uffs Castle" was awarded a prize at the Dannstadter Höhe dialect competition . To commemorate the historic Hambach Festival, on June 19, 2007 more than 11,000 Palatinate schoolchildren took the traditional route from Neustadt or Kirrweiler up to the castle and celebrated the “Hambach Youth Festival” organized by the Palatinate District Association.
meaning
The “Maxburg” is particularly valid for student connections as a national monument and symbol of freedom and brotherhood; To call the building that is therefore, especially among students and academics, the character of a code of belonging. The castle is a stop on the Straße der Demokratie , established in 2007 , which runs from Frankfurt to Lörrach .
In 2015 Hambach Castle was declared a European cultural heritage by the European Commission and awarded the European Heritage Seal . The restored building and its presentation on the Internet are "symbolic and exemplary for European unification as well as for the ideals and history of Europe and the European Union ".
Transport links and hiking
To the east, south and west of Hambach Castle, the merging district roads 9 and 14 lead on the slopes of the Schlossberg , connecting the southern and northern locations of Hambach . Somewhat southeast of the Burgschenke Rittersberg (hotel, restaurant, café), this one- way street reaches the intersection with several forest paths at a height of 339.1 m to the southeast of Rittersberg ( 531.8 m ; southeast spur of the Hohen Loog , 618.7 m ) . There is a parking lot for hikers from which the castle (40 m difference in altitude, about 300 m paved road, can be driven with special permission) can be reached.
The castle is well connected to public transport connected (PT). The Imfeld bus line 502 runs to the aforementioned parking lot all year round . The buses run about every 60 minutes every day and are integrated into the Rhineland-Palatinate cycle of local rail transport at Neustadt an der Weinstrasse main station . The VRN tariff applies on the line . The Rhineland-Palatinate Ticket and the Saarland Ticket (country tickets ) are no longer recognized on this line.
The northern route of the Palatinate Jakobsweg and the Palatinate Keschdeweg lead past the Schlossberg . From the mountain there is a broad view about 200 m down to the vine hills on both sides of the German Wine Route and the Rhine plain to the east.
gallery
Hambach Castle, aerial view from the south
Castle from the north
Castle from the east
Hambacher Schloss with Burgschänke Rittersberg and Kalmit
View from the castle to the south over the Rhine plain
Hambacher Schloss from the east through the main entrance
literature
- Alexander Thon (Ed.): ... like a banned, inaccessible magic castle . Castles in the southern Palatinate. 2nd, improved edition. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1570-5 , p. 68-73 .
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich, Dieter Barz: Kästenburg . In: Jürgen Keddigkeit , Ulrich Burkhart, Rolf Übel (eds.): Palatinate Castle Lexicon. (= Contributions to the history of the Palatinate . Volume 12 , 3 I - N). Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore , Kaiserslautern 2005, ISBN 3-927754-51-X , p. 83-100 .
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich: Hambach Castle. Kästenburg - Maxburg . 6th, updated and expanded edition. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7954-5043-4 .
- Alexander Thon: Trushard von Kästenburg (before 1178 - after 1201). Legate , Podestà , chamberlain and imperial deputy in Italy . In: Karl-Heinz Rothenberger, Karl Scherer, Franz Staab , Jürgen Keddigkeit (eds.): Palatinate history (= contributions to the Palatinate history . Volume 18 , no. 1 ). 3rd, expanded and supplemented edition. Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore, Kaiserslautern 2011, ISBN 3-927754-43-9 , p. 236-237 . ( Table of contents, PDF. )
Movie
- Where the democrats dreamed - the Hambach Castle. Documentary, Germany, 2013, 29:00 min., Script and director: Utz Kastenholz, production: SWR , series: Known in the country , first broadcast: June 16, 2013 on SWR television , synopsis by ARD .
Web links
- Hambach Castle Foundation. In: hambacher-schloss.de
- “Up, up to the castle!” - An exhibition at Hambach Castle. In: Demokratiegeschichte.eu , portal to the permanent exhibition there
- The Hambach Castle. In: google arts and culture , with virtual tours
Individual evidence
- ↑ Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate nature conservation administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
- ^ Franz Xaver Remling : The Maxburg near Hambach . Mannheim 1844 ( digitized from Google Books ).
- ^ Friedrich Jakob Dochnahl : Chronicle of Neustadt ad Haardt, together with the surrounding places and castles . Neustadt 1867, p. 233 ( digitized from Google Books).
- ↑ Restaurant 1832. In: hambacherschloss.eu , called on 8 October 2017th
- ↑ Photo gallery: Inauguration of the new restaurant on April 28, 2011 ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: hambacher-schloss.de , 2011.
- ↑ dpa / mac: Architecture award for the renovation of the Hambach Castle. (PDF; 376 kB) In: Die Rheinpfalz / hambacher-schloss.de. January 4, 2013, accessed July 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Up, up to the castle! In: hambacher-schloss.de. Retrieved October 8, 2017 .
- ^ Anton Lautner: Hambach Castle Marathon. "Up patriots to the castle". In: marathon4you.de , April 1, 2007, accessed on August 13, 2020.
- ↑ Hambacher Castle Marathon . In: The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen April 2, 2007.
- ↑ a b Hambach Festival • 2007. In: Institute for Historical Regional Studies at the University of Mainz . Retrieved on October 8, 2017 (see Downloads: Weizsäcker's speech in Hambach, May 26, 2007).
- ↑ The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen June 20, 2007.
- ^ NN : Students enthusiastic about the Hambach Festival of Youth. Successful mix of history and age-appropriate stage program. In: Bezirksverband Pfalz , June 21, 2007, accessed on August 13, 2020.
- ↑ swz: Hambach Castle is "European cultural heritage". In: The Rhine Palatinate . Complete edition, section Südwestdeutsche Zeitung , March 12, 2015.
- ↑ Press release: European Heritage Label. Hambach Castle - a symbol of the history of European democracy. In: Landesregierung Rheinland-Pfalz , March 11, 2015, accessed on October 8, 2017.