Heidelsburg
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The Heidelsburg , also called Bunenstein, is a former defensive structure in the western Palatinate Forest ( Rhineland-Palatinate ), which dates back at least to Roman times . The remains of two gates as well as stairs, walls and a cistern are still preserved from the hilltop castle .
geography
The castle ruins are located 3 km southeast of Waldfischbach-Burgalben on a rocky ridge of the Drei-Sommer-Berg at 340 m above sea level. NN above the Schwarzbach valley .
The Heidelsburg cannot be approached with vehicles. From the Galgenberghaus car park near Waldfischbach-Burgalben, a forest hiking trail (approx. 4 km, walking time approx. One hour) is signposted. From the Sommerdelle car park in the Schwarzbachtal, several well-signposted hiking trails with different degrees of difficulty or different lengths lead to Heidelsburg. Mostly these are gravel paths or smaller forest paths, which, depending on the time of year and the number of people used, can show growth.
history
According to Roman coin finds that came to light in the 1970s, the Heidelsburg was built between the 2nd century AD (Emperor Hadrian ) and 351 (Germanic invasions) at the latest . According to the location and shape of the complex and a Gallic coin find, historians believe it is possible that a previous building dates back to the Celts and that its origin dates back to 100 BC. Chr. Lies. It cannot be ruled out that the castle was expanded again in the late Carolingian period; certain features of the processing of the chamber gate indicate this. In a document from 1355, a rock called Bunenstein and located in the same place as the Heidelsburg is sold by Count Arnold von Homburg to Count Walram von Zweibrücken . He was supposed to build a castle on the rock, but that never happened.
The authentic name has not been passed down. The name "Heidelsburg" has an etymological relationship to "Heiden" and was only created in the Middle Ages, when the building had been in ruins for centuries. A local source from Waldfischbach mentions the ruins around 1600.
In 1990 the facility came into the possession of the State Forest and Castle Administration of the State Office for Monument Preservation.
investment
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According to the findings of the historians Christian Mehlis (1883) and Friedrich Sprater (1927/28), who had the excavations carried out in two stages , on the ridge that descends steeply to the Schwarzbachtal , there was an oval walling with large cuboids, one of which was supplemented by natural red sandstone rock walls older construction made of wooden piles reinforced. The castrum extended within these walls and was accessible through two gates from the west and east.
Today only rudiments of the defensive wall can be seen. Sprater had the west gate rebuilt from the heavily moss-covered original blocks at the end of the 1920s. The function of a recess in the area of the curtain wall is unclear; possibly it was a cistern.
In the local history museum of Waldfischbach-Burgalben there is a reconstruction model of the entire complex.
During the first excavation work in the 19th century, a grave slab was uncovered that depicts a man with an ax and a woman with a basket. The ax was the symbol of the Roman forest manager, the "Saltuarius", and an addition to the name of the same name on an inscription in the wall and a corresponding tool were also found near the facility. Although there are no written sources as to whether and to what extent the Romans actually operated organized forestry in the vicinity of Heidelsburg, it is still the oldest known evidence of forest administration in late antiquity on Germanic soil. Tourist advertising materials therefore announce the Heidelsburg as the oldest forest office in Germany .
The grave slab is now kept in the Palatinate History Museum in Speyer . A replica made in 1876 can be found at the site in the area of the destroyed east wall. The local history museum in Waldfischbach-Burgalben has a woodcut that was made by a local hobby carver.
In addition to coins, Roman ceramic shards and iron tools were also found in the area of the castle, which are exhibited in the showcases of the local history museum.
A circular hiking trail runs from the west gate over the plateau, which is now completely overgrown by beech forest, between the natural rock groups and the remains of the curtain wall. Ferns, heather and blueberry bushes dominate the sandy soils as undergrowth. Individual trees are rooted in the crevices of the rock walls, which are also used by climbers as a practice area.
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Landesvermessungsamt Rhineland-Palatinate: Topographical map 1: 25,000 with hiking trails - Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Rodalben . 3rd edition 1999
- ^ Günter Stein : Castles and palaces in the Palatinate . Frankfurt 1976.
- ^ Jürgen Keddigkeit : Bunenstein . In: Palatinate Castle Lexicon I (A – E) . Kaiserslautern 2007.
- ^ Magnus Backes: State castles, palaces and antiquities in Rhineland-Palatinate . Regensburg 2003.
Coordinates: 49 ° 16 ′ 3 ″ N , 7 ° 41 ′ 31 ″ E