Kugelsburg

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Kugelsburg
The ball castle

The ball castle

Alternative name (s): Kogelnburg, Kogelberg, Cugelenberg
Creation time : 1225
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Volkmarsen , Kugelsberg
Geographical location 51 ° 24 '49 "  N , 9 ° 7' 49"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 24 '49 "  N , 9 ° 7' 49"  E
Height: 270  m above sea level NHN
Kugelsburg (Hesse)
Kugelsburg

The Kugelsburg is a castle ruin and the landmark of the town of Volkmarsen in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district in northern Hesse .

Geographical location

The ruins of the Höhenburg are located about 1 kilometer east of the Volkmarsen town center on the west knoll (approx. 270  m above sea  level ) of the Kugelsberg, which is located directly east above the Erpe valley just 1.2 km south-south-east of its confluence with the Twiste .

history

Beginnings

Although it was first mentioned in a document in 1225, the Romanesque core castle was built towards the end of the 12th century above the Erpetal to secure a transition over the Twiste on the old Fritzlar  - Paderborn road by order of Abbot Witukind von Corvey , probably by the Lords of Everstein , who, as heirs of the first house of the noble lords of Itter, had been feudal men of the Corvey monastery since at least 1126. A subsidiary of Matched of Itter , a relative and ultimately genetic the extinct in the male strain 1123 first line Itter, probably Mechthild, married to or before 1128 the Edelherren Konrad I of Everstein, Gograf of Medebach and vice Vogt the Helmarshausen Abbey that with this Marriage Castle and lordship Itter acquired - but as a fief from Corvey. A son of the two, Gerlach, became the ancestor of the second house of Itter; the other, Thietmar, founded the rule of Büren near Paderborn on the allodial property of the Counts of Arnsberg-Werl inherited from his grandmother Gepa .

Albrecht III. von Everstein is considered to be the builder of the castle. After the fall of Heinrich the Lion in 1180, he became a feudal man of the Archbishop of Cologne , Philipp von Heinsberg , who had now also become Duke of Westphalia and Engern, bought the castles of his vassals and then awarded them as fiefs. The Eversteiners had held the town of Volkmarsen as a Kurmainzer fief since the end of the 11th century , and by 1200 Albrecht had gained extensive property in the area. Around the middle of the 12th century, Volkmarsen itself came into the possession of Corvey, as Pope Hadrian IV confirmed on February 25, 1155. The later construction of the castle was not intended to protect the city, but was an attempt by the Corvey abbot to put a stop to Mainz's expansion efforts. Already in 1198 Abbot Witukind had a protection contract with the Cologne Archbishop Adolf I closed.

Between Cologne and Mainz

Pope Gregory IX 1233 confirmed the possession of the Kugelsburg and the city of Volkmarsen to the Corvey Monastery. The Lords of Everstein lived in the castle from 1239 to 1293, and since the city of Volkmarsen was not under their control, there were often arguments between the two. As early as 1239 Otto IV von Everstein had transferred his rights to the churches in Volkmarsen, Wittmar and Benfelde to the Aroldessen Monastery , which ecclesiastically belonged to the Diocese of Mainz, and thus intensified the conflict. In 1255 Conrad III pledged. from Everstein the "Cugelenburg" partly to the monastery Gehrden . Robberies by the castle men led to the criminal destruction of the castle in 1260, which, however, was soon rebuilt.

In 1297/1303 Otto von Everstein renounced his part of the Kugelsburg to the Archbishop of Cologne Wigbold von Holte , and in 1298 the Corvey Monastery came under the patronage of the Archbishop of Cologne and gave him his part of the castle for two years as a pledge . In 1304 Corvey pledged his half of the castle and the city again to the Archbishop of Cologne, who had the complex reinforced and the keep built.

On February 1, 1335 Archbishop Walram gave the Cologne half of the Kugelsburg and the city of Volkmarsen as a fief to the Marshal of Westphalia , Berthold von Büren from the other branch of the Eversteiner. In the following year, 1336, the Corvey monastery pledged its remaining part of the castle and town to Herbold von the nearby castle Mederich , Johann Runst and the council of the town of Volkmarsen. (A member of the Runst family, Dietrich von Runst, was abbot of Corvey from 1408–1417 .) In 1339 Archbishop Walram gave the Kugelsburg and the town of Volkmarsen to the Westphalian brothers Rabe von Canstein , descendants of the "Rave von Papenheim", whose family has since at least 1106 were Hereditary Truchess of Corvey. From 1346 to 1530 this dynasty lived as castle men at the castle, after which it was soon called "Rabe von Coglenberg". The late Gothic palace was built during this time .

Cologne and Hesse

The Landgraves of Hesse had had liens since 1351 , but around 1440 Kurköln also acquired the lien on the second half of the castle. When Hermann IV , Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Paderborn, gave the castle and town to his brother, Landgrave Heinrich III. von Hessen , pledged, both refused to pay homage to the landgrave. Heinrich then had the castle conquered in 1475 and in 1477, after the castle was bombarded, also the city, which he had set on fire. Archbishop Hermann renewed the Hessian lien on the castle and town in 1484, and both remained Hessian occupied until the early years of the 16th century. In 1503/1507 the Corvey monastery finally renounced its rights to the city and castle in favor of Kurköln , which remained the sole owner until the electoral state was abolished in 1802. The city and office belonged to the Duchy of Westphalia and were included in its administrative structure .

Volkmarsen followed the conversion of the Archbishop of Cologne, Gebhard I von Waldburg, to the Protestant faith in 1582 , but was re-Catholicized in 1590 by the new Archbishop of Cologne, Ernst von Bayern .

Modern times

During the Thirty Years War , the occupation of the castle and town of Volkmarsen was reinforced in 1622 by Bavarian mercenaries to protect against Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , the "Tollen Christian". After his defeat, imperial troops moved in . In 1632 the conquest by Hesse took place, which culminated in the looting and pillage of the city and the destruction of the fortifications. The Seven Years' War brought the same thing again in 1758, this time with the occupation and partial destruction of the castle by French troops. After that, the ruins fell into disrepair and in the 19th century was partially removed for material extraction.

After the secularization of the Electorate of Cologne and the Duchy of Westphalia, Volkmarsen was occupied by Hesse-Darmstadt on August 31, 1802 , and three weeks later by Landgrave Wilhelm IX on September 20, 1802 . from Hessen-Kassel , and finally on November 13, 1802 again through Hessen-Darmstadt. With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 25 February 1803, Volkmarsen and the Kugelsburg came to Hessen-Darmstadt. Three years later, on March 13, 1806, Hereditary Prince Wilhelm of Nassau-Orange, Prince of Fulda and Corvey , transferred Volkmarsen and the Kugelberg to Landgrave Ludwig X. of Hesse-Darmstadt .

In 1885 the city of Volkmarsen bought the remains of the castle and the associated land for 6,000 marks and carried out initial security work.

Castle complex

The ball castle

Today the castle ruins are a popular excursion and hiking destination. The residential tower with a square floor plan from the 13th century on the steep slope on the southwest corner and the round keep from the beginning of the 14th century on the northern attack side have been almost completely preserved. In addition, large parts of the curtain wall are still standing . In front of the donjon runs a ditch carved deep into the rock . A walk-in cellar, the so-called “witch's cellar”, chimney, walls of the first and upper floors and the stair tower have been preserved from the late Gothic two-storey palace next to the keep. There are also remains of outbuildings and cellars. There is nothing left of the outer bailey , which was once located on a plateau in a south-westerly direction .

Excursion destinations

Popular excursion destinations near the Kugelsburg are the “Burgschwimmbad” (castle swimming pool) located on the southern slope of the Kugelsberg and the “Sauerbrunnen” mineral water spring, just under 1 km south-southeast, with miniature golf, trampoline and a large adventure playground.

There is an excursion restaurant in the immediate vicinity of the Kugelsburg, and a public archery course is located below the castle in the forest.

literature

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