Tonna Castle
| Tonna Castle | ||
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 View from the B 176 (2011) |
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| Alternative name (s): | Chain castle | |
| Creation time : | 12th Century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Preserved essential parts | |
| Place: | Count donna | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 5 '29.2 " N , 10 ° 43' 40.5" E | |
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Tonna Castle , also called Chain Castle , is a medieval moated castle in Gräfentonna , a district of Tonna in the Gotha district in Thuringia . It was rebuilt several times and served as a correctional facility over a period of 130 years until 1989 .
history
Since 874: Manorial seat of the Counts of Tonna and Dukes of Gotha
As early as 874, the place was named as the residence ( villa Tonna ) of the Counts of Tonna . In 1089 it was inhabited by Erwin I. The oldest parts are the 35 m high tower in the north wing and the high front building in the northeast. Around 1200 the building was rebuilt as a typical late Romanesque moated castle (surrounded by a moat , the water of which was fed by the Seegraben) as a castle for the Counts of Gleichen and Tonna on an area of almost 12,000 m².
The castle forms a rectangle of 2604 m² (62 × 42 m). The four-winged main castle received a trapezoidal outer castle . In 1375 the castle was restored after a fire and furnished with contemporary style elements. The south and east wings were expanded in several stages in the 16th century.
The west wing dates from the 16th or 17th century. From the middle of the 17th century until 1861, the castle served as the royal office of the Duke of Gotha . In 1761 renovations were carried out for the royal bailiff of Gotha. Some rooms served as storage rooms for interest crops. Until 1859 the castle served as the judiciary and tax office and was extensively redesigned until 1861.
Since 1861: used as a prison and penitentiary
From 1861 to 1991 the building served as a penitentiary and perhaps got its name from this period. In 1873 it was expanded by adding a third floor in the south and west wing and adding an extension on the north side. The inmates were “housed” in 282 individual cells during the night. The tower used to be inhabited by a tower guard , who would blow his horn in the event of imminent danger or when an enemy became visible. During prison times, an "inmate" climbed into the tower every day to wind the clock.
Between 1933 and 1935 the occupancy of 85 and 35 women in the prison and penitentiary departments reached a high point. The proportion of people in prison for political reasons has risen from 5 to 45% since 1933. The men's departments that were re-established in 1933 showed an increase in occupancy from 98 in 1933 to 261 in 1935. Since 1934 there was a penitentiary department for men, the number of which increased from 42 to 111 people by 1935. From the preventive detention department, 80% of the 164 people were transferred to the Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps. At least 144 foreign forced laborers were imprisoned during the Second World War . Forced laborers and prisoners of war from France, Poland and the Soviet Union had to work in the agriculture of Burgtonna, on the Schröder domain in Gräfentonna and in the W. Mottebohm farm.
During the GDR era, political prisoners were imprisoned in this prison.
Since 1991: change of ownership and vacancy
Since the completion of a new correctional facility in Gräfentonna after the fall of the Wall, the castle has been empty and is in need of renovation. In 1993 it was assigned to the Free State of Thuringia as an asset. He sold it in 1996 to the state's own state development company Thuringia (LEG) for recycling. In 2007 (LEG) auctioned the castle and awarded the contract to the highest bidder, Gans Generalbauunternehmung GmbH in Zurich. After no renovation work had taken place for years, the palace was offered unsuccessfully at an auction in 2012 via Sächsische Grundstücksauktionen AG , Dresden , with a minimum offer of 29,000 euros . The Swiss company then tried to sell it on the Internet. The Thüringer Allgemeine reported a sale offer of 108,000 euros and estimates the need for renovation at a double-digit million amount. At a renewed auction in February 2013, an American limited liability company called “ISAR LLC” won the bid for 29,000 euros and then advertised on the building for the rental of residential and storage rooms. As representatives of the owner company, Dr. Wolfgang Pöschl and Lana Dandridge, 1603 Capitol Avenue, Suite 314-161, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA . An address at Hauptstrasse 86 a, 5113 Cologne was given as the business address . In 2015, the Thüringer Allgemeine reported both on constructive discussions between the new owner and the lower and upper monument protection authorities and on the fact that the castle was still in its original state, apart from stabilization measures.
The roof of the castle has been open in several places since March 2020 at the latest (see photo).
Tonna Castle in the film
In 2013, Schloss Tonna was the location for the film adaptation of the novel Das große Heft (2013), directed by János Szász .
literature
- Victoria Augener: Student mobilizes citizens for the Kettenburg, Thüringer Allgemeine , Gräfentonna, March 14, 2020
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments Thuringia. edit by Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. a., DVA Munich 1998
- Andreas Priesters: Noble residences of the 16th century in Thuringia - living culture and rulership tradition between innovation and continuity , synopsis of a dissertation at the University of Bamberg (online) , Bamberg 2016
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime - Bund der Antifaschisten und Studienkreis deutscher Resistance 1933–1945 Local history guide to sites of resistance and persecution 1933–1945 Erfurt, 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0 , p. 102f.
- ↑ Ex-prisoner tells about life in prison in Gräfentonna. Thuringian General of April 15th. 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2017
- ↑ Michael Keller: Gräfentonna Castle is rotting and falling into disrepair . Thuringian General of August 10, 2012. Accessed December 17, 2017
- ↑ Holger Wetzel: Land auction: Kettenburg von Gräfentonna met with great interest. Thüringer Allgemeine from February 21, 2013. Accessed December 17, 2017
- ^ Website of ISAR LLC
- ↑ Land Registry Gotha, quoted from a letter from the Thuringian State Chancellery to the Thuringian Parliament of June 3, 2020
- ↑ Paul-Philipp Braun: American investor wants to take on the chain castle in Gräfentonna. Thüringer Allgemeine from September 23, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2017