House Unterbach
| House Unterbach | ||
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 The round tower |
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| Creation time : | around 900 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Receive | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 12 '5 " N , 6 ° 54' 25" E | |
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House Unterbach is a moated castle in the urban area of Erkrath . Historically, however, it is the original cell of Unterbach , which is across the street. This strange situation came about as a result of the municipal reorganization in 1975 , when Unterbach was incorporated from Erkrath to Düsseldorf . The residents of the two former sides of the main street in Unterbach have since found themselves in different cities.
description
The Unterbach house was probably built during the Carolingian era . Probably out of fear of the Hungarians , who burned the neighboring town of Gerresheim and its monastery almost completely, the site was converted into a castle for the first time around 900, but there is no historical evidence of this. It is documented for the first time as a knight's seat in 1169. Presumably around 1300 the fortification was expanded today, with walls up to 1.20 meters thick, four towers with walls up to two meters thick and loopholes surrounded by a wide moat.
Parts of the surrounding wall and three of the towers are still preserved today, namely a gate tower, a court tower and a round tower. Another round tower, the former dungeon, was demolished at the level of the manor house and integrated into it. Parts of the drawbridge mechanism are also still preserved in the gate tower. In addition, other authentic knight material is stored in the towers. The towers are up to 9 meters in diameter and 10 meters high. Probably one of them used to be higher.
The gardens of the castle and the surrounding area were created by the well-known landscape architect Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe (1775–1846), whose numerous works also include the Düsseldorf Hofgarten and the world-famous Königsallee .
The Unterbach property, including the Unterfeldhaus, which he divided off in 1975, belonged to the Unterbach house . This emerges from a sales deed in which the farm "Velthusen" (= field house) was sold by one of the gentlemen from Haus Unterbach. From this, Unterfeldhaus developed, which today includes the area of a former Oberfeldhaus. In the 18th century the farm "Unteres Feldhaus" is documented, from which today's pipe mill later developed.
In the past, the knights of Haus Unterbach not only protected the Unterbach people, but also the patronage of the Erkrath parish. This relationship last came into effect during the Protestant church struggle in the time of National Socialism from 1933 to 1945, when Heinrich von Hymmen and his wife Margarethe opened their house to the illegal but confessional Confessing Community of Erkrath / Unterbach against the resistance of the majority of German Christians for worship and Bible study provided. Heinrich von Hymmen (1880–1960) was made an honorary citizen of Erkrath in 1955 because of his support for charitable institutions in Unterbach and Erkrath.
The gallery of the gentlemen of the Unterbach house and their coat of arms can be found elsewhere in Unterbach on the war memorial. In the pillars of the monument created by Joseph Hammerschmidt , the names were carved in stone in the correct order. The first of this series is also the namesake for Unterbach.
- by Unterbeke 1170
- by Elverfeldt 1450
- by Quad 1467
- from Waldenburg 1545
- by Dalwigk 1708
- by Haren 1807
- by Pestel 1819
- von Plessen 1835
- by Hymmen 1847
The direct descendants of the last man in the female line (Zech von Hymmen) still live in Unterbach today. They are currently having the property restored to its historical state in an elaborate process based on old documents. The latest investigations have shown that the manor house probably does not date from the 19th century, as previously assumed, but must be much older due to a medieval post framework (vertical long oak beams support the house, the floors are suspended from them) and baroque floors found . The moats and the park are also being restored to their old state with the help of the landscape architect Henning von Ziegesar. Here, due to a necessary lowering of the water level, two weirs, which had been forgotten in the meantime, a bridge weir made of stone bricks from the Unterbach house itself, which was recorded on a Weyhe map from 1817, and another wey made of field fire bricks, as well as a bottom outlet made of oak wood, including closure, comparable to that Plug discovered in a bathtub. Ceramic fragments from the period between the 15th and 17th centuries were also discovered in the mud of the moat. A Siegburg funnel neck beaker with the coats of arms of Margarete Quad zu Wickrath and Schwanenberg and Johann Wilhelm von Harff zu Alsdorf and Geilenkirchen was particularly exciting for the investigating researchers . Margarete and Wilhelm married in 1481, they must be individually commissioned wedding cups.
Furthermore, the search for the old chapel listed by the local historian Brors and some old documents from the 15th century on, the foundations of which have still not been found.
As they have been for generations, they are reliable partners in the common cultural life of Unterbach and Unterfeldhaus. For example, they make their premises available to the population of Unterbach to hold non-commercial events.
Part of the moat
The Dalwigk coat of arms
Lieutenant General Rabe Ludwig Freiherr von Dalwigk (1683–1754)
The landscape architect Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe
literature
- FJ Brors: Unterbach - A local history chat and at the same time a contribution to the history of the Bergisches Land . Self-published, 1910, without ISBN.
Web links
- http://www.unterbach-online.de Lots of material on the history and current events in Unterbach (non-commercial site).
Individual evidence
- ^ Franz Josef Brors: Unterbach - A local history chat and at the same time a contribution to the history of the Bergisches Land. Self-published, 1910, without ISBN
- ^ Neue Rhein Zeitung of February 22, 2008