Marksburg

Marksburg
The Marksburg in Braubach 2004 - southwest side
Alternative name (s):	Brubach Castle; since 1574: (St.) Markusburg, Marxburg
Creation time :	12th Century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	completely preserved, never destroyed
Standing position :	High nobility
Construction:	Quarry stone plastered
Place:	Braubach
Geographical location	50 ° 16 '18.9 "  N , 7 ° 38' 55.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 16 '18.9 "  N , 7 ° 38' 55.9"  E
Height:	160  m above sea level NHN

Strategic location on the Rhine (2013)

The Marksburg is a hilltop castle from the 12th century above the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Braubach am Rhein , from which it took its original name Burg Brubach . It stands on a slate cone at a height of 160 meters and is the only medieval hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that has never been destroyed . The plastered quarry stone building was built to protect and administer Braubach and initially also served as a customs castle .

The castle is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and registered in the list of monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate. Furthermore, it is a protected cultural asset according to the Hague Convention and marked with the blue and white trademark. In addition, it has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 .

Name story

Originally the castle was called Burg Brubach after the place at the foot of the castle hill , in various spellings ( Burgk Brubach , Burch Brubach , Burg Brubach ). The castle chapel of Saint Mark was first mentioned in 1437 when Philip I the Elder von Katzenelnbogen donated an altar to the castle.

In 1574 the castle was first documented as "Sankt Marxpurgk" to distinguish it from the new, second facility on the banks of the Rhine, the Philippsburg , and the name Markusburch was also used. Further name changes can be found in 1581 as Markenburch zu Braubach and in 1583 Marxburg Castle (also known as the “old castle”). In 1646/55 the complex was also called Marxburg by Matthäus Merian . The spelling lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.

There is a legend about the naming, which is settled in the 13th century at the time of the battle on the Marchfeld (1278) and in which the evangelist Markus appears as the savior of the castle and its inhabitants and thus becomes the namesake ; however, it was first mentioned as “Markusburg” almost 300 years later.

History of the residents and owners

The Marksburg from the air

The Marksburg 1999 - northeast side

The Marksburg at night seen from the western side of the Rhine

Marksburg, 1938

Although Burgmannen ("castrenses" from the Latin word "castra" = fortified camp) were first mentioned in a document in Braubach in 1231, it can be assumed that the Marksburg existed before 1219. This can be concluded from the fact that the castle was owned by the lords of Eppstein as a Palatinate fief , whose representative Gerhard II von Eppstein called himself Gerhard von Braubach since 1219 . However, since a noble family "von Braubach" can be proven as early as the 12th century , it is assumed that a castle already existed around 1117 at the same (or nearby) location. Since the end of the 12th century, the Eppsteiners experienced the rise to one of the most powerful families of the High Middle Ages . In the 13th century they provided four Archbishops of Mainz alone .

In 1283 Braubach and the castle passed to the younger line of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen , namely Count Eberhard I. The older line of the family resided at Rheinfels Castle near Sankt Goar at that time . Count Johann II. († 1357) began the redesign and expansion of the castle complex in the Gothic style and thus laid the foundation for today's appearance. Johann's son Diether VIII completed the expansion. In the following years of the 15th century there were further construction activities: Johann IV. Von Katzenelnbogen († 1444) changed the castle complex in favor of living requirements, but maintaining a representative character. In 1437 the donated St. Mark's Chapel was first mentioned at Braubach Castle. However, it kept its old name until the end of the Katzenelnbogen period, only in the 16th century the current name Marksburg (via Markusburg, Marxburg) prevailed (see name history).

In 1479 the County of Katzenelnbogen and with it the Marksburg fell to the Landgraviate of Hesse . Landgrave Philipp the Younger of Hessen-Rheinfels designated Braubach as a widow's seat. However, since the Marksburg no longer met the upscale aristocratic living standards at that time, the castle-like Philippsburg was built at the southern end of Braubach between 1568 and 1571, and from 1643 to 1651 it even served as the permanent residence of Landgrave Johann the arguable . It was also he who had the heavily neglected Marksburg repaired towards the end of the Thirty Years War , but since the Philippsburg was built it has never been used as a noble residence again. After the death of Johann the Arguable, Braubach and the Marksburg came to the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt .

In the Napoleonic period in the 18th century, the Marksburg was officially declared a fortress , but served practically as a shelter for the disabled and a state prison. This function left its traces in the form of prison cells in the Gothic hall structure of the complex, which were removed again in 1901. In the same year, doodles by a former inmate, the German freedom fighter Germain Metternich , could still be seen in the castle chapel . Even when the castle fell to the Principality of Nassau-Usingen in 1803 and to the Duchy of Nassau in 1815 , nothing changed in terms of its use. It was still administered by members of the military, in this case the Ducal Nassau Army .

In 1866 the Nassau reign over the Marksburg ended with the annexation of Nassau by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War , but no construction work was carried out during the Prussian period, so the castle fell into disrepair.

In 1900 the German Castle Association took on the neglected complex. On the personal initiative of the privy councilor Prof. Bodo Ebhardt and through the intercession of Kaiser Wilhelm II , the association acquired the Marksburg castle from the Prussian treasury for a symbolic price of 1,000  gold marks (around 10,000 euros). In the following decades he carried out various structural measures aimed at securing the existing building fabric and restoring the castle to its late medieval appearance. This also included the restoration of the churn attachment in 1905.

In March 1945, the German Castle Association had to accept severe setbacks in its efforts when American artillery fire from the opposite bank of the Rhine seriously damaged the Marksburg.

After extensive restoration work, the Marksburg today as a castle museum offers a complete picture of a relatively authentically preserved late medieval castle complex. The German Castle Association has its business premises and offices in the Romanesque palace , while the rest of the complex is open for viewing.

Building description

Chapel tower
The watchtower, only recently called the chapel tower, located at the southern tip of the castle - the main attack side (approach from the south) - comprises seven floors with the roof, of which the bottom two were accessible from the outside through a ladder. The floor plan is parallelogram-like, the south edge of the outer walls broken, so that an almost rounded wall was created on the south side. The four lower floors have massive stone ceilings, the fifth floor below the ledge a wooden plank ceiling, as well as the sixth floor in the protruding upper part of the tower. Above is the attic in the tent-roof-shaped helmet, with the roofs of the four corner bay windows integrated into it. The Merian engraving from 1646 shows it without a roof. When Wilhelm Dilich early 17th century, the chapel tower than Gefengnus and wakes thurm referred. It carries a flat hipped roof over the central guard room on the cantilevered sixth floor, the four parapet dungeons and the connecting battlements have their own roofs that were connected to the main roof. The tower housed the prison until the 19th century. The third floor of the tower has housed the chapel since 1903. Because of the lavatory dungeon , now a niche, which is also located there according to plans from the 18th century , it is assumed that the former chaplain lived on this floor of today's chapel. The fourth floor also has vaults, a chimney and a niche (toilet bay, seen on Wilhelm Dilich's drawings). In the Romanesque beginnings, the original castle chapel was probably only located on the site of today's chapel tower, later near the palace in the castle courtyard (foundations of the foundation wall). In a document from 1588, a chapel with a choir is mentioned that was not in the chapel tower. Like a church, it had its own properties (house, tree meadow, courtyard, forest), the proceeds of which were converted into scholarships for student Braubach citizens' sons from 1527 upon the introduction of the Reformation by Philip I the Magnanimous of Hesse (secularization). The altar saint of the St. Markus Chapel later gave its name to the castle complex. The chapel room is spanned by a ten-part ridge vault resting on masked consoles . These consoles are still the original ones from the 13th century, while the vault was renewed around 1500. The vault frescoes with scenes from the New Testament and a representation of Saint Mark with a lion attribute were made at the instigation of Bodo Ebhardt, the founder of the German Castle Association. V. , attached in 1903.

Building history

The layout of the Marksburg is essentially from the early 13th century, but its current appearance is from the 14th century. Modifications and additions took place again in the 18th century.

12th Century

Nowadays only traces of the Romanesque foundations can be found. Archaeological studies have shown that the origins of the 40 meter high keep can probably be found in the second quarter of the 13th century. What is certain is that its original shape was much smaller than its current size.

Late Romanesque

Name of the castle: Saint Mark with lion - fresco in the castle chapel

In the second quarter of the 13th century, under Gerhard II von Eppstein, numerous buildings of late Romanesque origin, such as the former Palas (today's north building ) and the chapel tower, were built .

All buildings from this epoch form an almost isosceles triangle, which can be described as typical for the castle construction of the Staufer period (clear, geometrical floor plan). It is still unclear whether the Marksburg was surrounded by a curtain wall or whether it only had an unpaved outer bailey at that time .

Bergfried
The bergfried was built from 1237, as evidenced by the earliest datable building finds from 1238, by Gerhard II. Von Epstein as a three-story free-standing tower with a square cross-section (six meters side length) and a wall thickness of more than two meters in the Hohenstaufen style on the highest point of the Castle hill built. At the end it had a square defensive platform with battlements, similar to the keep of Sterrenberg Castle . Stairs set into the thick walls made it possible to climb to the roof above the third and later fourth floor.

Nordbau
on the outer walls of the two-storey former palace remains were identified by doppelbogigen window arcades, which greatly the late Romanesque window arches of the castle Gutenfels in Kaub same. It has always been used for residential purposes.

Gothic

Staircase with coats of arms of all lords of the castle

Marksburg castle with original keep above Braubach (excerpt from Topographia Hassiae Matthäus Merians from 1655)

Around 1300 the main castle was surrounded by a ring wall with a kennel (currently called Innerer Zwinger ). During this time the construction of the Schartentore probably also took place .

From the middle of the 14th century (around 1350 to 1375) the main castle was expanded, giving it the Gothic look that still exists today . The defensive wall to the east was replaced by a two-story hall building with a reinforced outer wall. This 6 m × 24 m building was used exclusively for parties and gatherings and was therefore not used for residential purposes, but for representation.

The defense wall on the Rhine side was renewed and expanded with a battlement .

Under Johann II von Katzenelnbogen and his son Dietrich VIII, the castle was expanded from the middle to the end of the 14th century, and the keep was increased by a fourth floor with a protruding arc frieze in 1468 under Philip I von Katzenelnbogen . A surrounding wall about eight meters high and about 80 cm thick with two large arched openings on each side was erected over the frieze. A smaller tower was placed in the middle of the new top roof platform. This type of architectural extension is now known as the butter churn tower . The lowest of its four floors has access to the east, and there are spiral stairs on the inner wall of the second upper floor . The ceiling of the lowest upper storey protrudes over the butter churn attachment and comes up against the surrounding outer wall above the frieze. It thus forms a covered battlement that runs around the base of the butter churn attachment. Above this, the red battlement wall runs around the second floor of the tower as an open walkway. The third floor contains a cross vault with four rectangular openings. A ceiling opening gives access to the elliptical vault of the top floor, the cathedral of which today carries the flagpole and is surrounded by a cantilevered crenellated wreath over a round arch frieze. The keep had eight floors, four inside the angular tower, four in the tower with two aisles. The main entrance ( high entrance ) of the keep is on the southeast side at a height of eight meters and leads to the second floor. Until the 17th century it was only accessible via a wooden ladder that was leaned against and therefore retractable.

The expansion of the courtyard entrance to the gate hall (later changed in the 17th and 18th centuries) with the adjoining outer wall up to the Gothic hall construction also fell during this period.

Other buildings that were built in the 14th and 15th centuries are the bakehouse with a half-timbered upper floor and barrel vault in the basement, the four- story corner tower west of the Romanesque palace and the fox gate with a covered battlement.

In the late 14th century, the early Gothic kennel wall was reinforced by an enclosing kennel (the so-called Gaisen or Geißenzwinger ). At the beginning of the 15th century, the outer Marksburg Zwinger , also known as the Rheinzwinger , and today's drawbridge gate were built .

The building of the hall also underwent a change in the late Gothic: its wooden construction was renewed and a stone internal staircase was installed; the halls on the two floors were divided into smaller rooms for residential purposes.

Modifications from the 16th century

The Marksburg around 1832 without tower top, engraving after William Tombleson

The large battery on the Rhine side

At the beginning of the 16th century, the gun house was built on the southeast corner of the north building to take account of the development of modern weapons. From 1643 to 1645 there were further construction activities to adapt the castle complex again to modern war technology: erection of the postern , the forebastion northwest of the castle, the sharp corner and the so-called large powder corner with barrel vaults. In addition, the small battery and the northern part of the large battery were built.

Around 1660, access to the keep was laid from the Rheinbau via a dormer window using a wooden walkway and the doorway was moved further into the middle of the wall. This footbridge was only rebuilt in 1960. This is evidenced by the records of the expansion phases of the 17th century and the detailed drawings by Wilhelm Dilich, who also made hinged cross-sectional images of the castle as part of a comprehensive description of the castle on the orders of Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel . These show the original access around 1608. The lowest storey, with an inner side length of 1.7 meters at a height of seven meters and a central fear hole in the floor, functioned as a warehouse and dungeon , a toilet niche to a septic tank supports its use. On the floor above, the entrance floor, there is a functional wooden winch from around 1700. When a major fire damaged the Marksburg in 1705, the entire upper structure of the keep up to the roof platform above the fourth floor was removed in order to gain building material for the Rhine construction , which in 1706 was built on the foundations of the former bakery as a two-story residential building with a half-timbered front on the west side of the Main castle was built. This is how the castle presented itself for two hundred years until the keep was restored according to Dilich's plans around 1908.

In 1708, the Romanesque hall received its current appearance with a renovation. The tower was put back on the tower without a helmet in 1905 when the castle was restored to its late medieval appearance. In 1768 the upper Rheinzwinger was redesigned into a baroque garden by the fortress commander GL Rohr .

Due to the desolate condition of the castle rooms (loss of large parts of the original inventory), in 1868, on the orders of Wilhelm I., the castle and access road were repaired.

Restorations after 1945

The repair of the war damage to the butter churn attachment and the upper keep level lasted until 1961, and on the roofs until 1979/80. In 1987, the heavily weathered outer masonry of the entire castle began to be provided with a new white plaster . Work began with the chapel tower, followed by the Zwingermauer, the Pallas wall on the Rhine side and finally the keep. In 1969 the herb garden was laid out as a demonstration garden of medieval garden culture and is now part of the route of the World Heritage Gardens .

2006 was the Marksburg together with three other European castles - Aggstein castle ruins , Vianden Castle and Křivoklát - the subject of an EU-funded project on the analysis of historical, bauhistorischer and archaeological data. The evaluation of this data is primarily used for scientific purposes, but has been reflected in extensive documentation on the basis of display boards on a castle educational trail through new literature and on the Internet also for laypersons. Furthermore, the findings should serve as a basis for future renovations.

Castle Museum

Knight armor in the exhibition

Wine cellar

Nothing has been preserved from the original furnishings. Instead, the interior now houses a museum with characteristic furnishings that have been collected since 1900 through various foundations and purchases to document everyday life in medieval knights. The clear didactic preparation by the castle guides has made the Marksburg an attractive excursion destination, especially for families with children, since the second half of the 20th century. At peak times during the summer, up to 6,000 visitors are counted daily, and guided tours take place continuously. In winter, the opening times are reduced and there is an hourly tour.

Accessible are:

• Ascent through Fuchstor and Schartentor with cast bay windows , over the equestrian staircase past the coats of arms of all castle owners from the Eppsteiners in the 13th century to the German Castle Association today
• Small battery to defend the north side of the castle and Large battery to control the Rhine with muzzle loaders - guns for six to twelve-pound balls
• Castle garden in the filled former kennel (restored in 1969) in which around 170 herbs and medicinal plants known in the Middle Ages (including witch and magic plants) as well as ornamental plants are grown in the sense of a pleasure garden. From here there is a wide panorama of the Rhine near Braubach on the right bank of the Rhine and Spay on the left bank of the Rhine with the heights of the Rhine between Stolzenfels Castle , the Königsstuhl von Rhens , the Jakobsbergerhof and Bopparder Hamm .
• Wine cellar under the Gothic hall with barrels and vessels
• Castle kitchen on the ground floor (reconstructed in 1974) with fireplace and rotisserie, wine press from 1767 from Braubach and pantry
• Small bower , the only heatable room on the upper floor (ceiling paneling and wall paintings renewed in 1903) with bedstead for the lord's wife and children
• Knight's hall adjoining it with a dining table and - not unusual in the Middle Ages - the toilet dungeon right next to it
• Castle chapel on the 3rd floor of the chapel tower
• A collection of armaments from different eras, from the Gallic to the late medieval warriors
• Torture chamber in the former horse stable with pillory and rack
• Castle forge for shoeing horses, in the middle an anvil from 1865

The notes to the medieval daily close etymologies known phrases as unlucky , the cancel panel , towers and the bridges behind him tear one.

Since June 2018, 14 warrior figures (as well as the shield and battle ax of a fifteenth non-preserved warrior), which were restored from 2010 to 2017, can be viewed again in a new presentation concept (installation, wall and ceiling design, lighting). The figures as well as the reconstructions of their equipment were designed by the art and weapons collector Karl Gimbel (1862–1902) and illustrate armaments from different historical periods.

Infrastructure

From the center of Braubach there is a 500-meter-long footpath that climbs steeply over 90 meters to the Marksburg. A parking lot below the castle rock, which is often overloaded during the main season, can also be reached by car via a narrow forest road. In the summer season, a tourist train, the so-called Bimmelbahn , runs between the center of Braubach and this car park. The Marksburg is integrated into the Rheinsteig, which opened in 2005 . A small castle tavern with an outdoor terrace and a souvenir shop are available in the entrance area. Once a year, the large fireworks display Rhine in Flames takes place, at which more than 70 ships gather in Bopparder Hamm and also pass the Marksburg on the 17 km long route to Koblenz. Several tens of thousands of visitors appear annually.

reception

Movie and TV

The Löwenzahn - episode 115 (Peter and the Spirit of the Marksburg) was shot almost entirely on the Marksburg. In addition, the Marksburg can be seen in the documentary series The South West from above .

Postage stamps

The German Federal Post Office brought on 13 January 1977 the scope of the definitive stamp series Castles a stamp of Mark Burg with the value of 60 Pfennig out. The stamp also appeared with the imprint Deutsche Bundespost Berlin .

On January 2, 2015, the Federal Republic of Germany issued a Marksburg stamp with a value of 62 cents as part of the series of special stamps castles and palaces ( 2015 stamps issued by the Federal Republic of Germany # special stamps ).

The Marksburg legend

An old legend tells of the tragic fate of Elisabeth, the daughter of the lord of the castle von Braubach, and her fiancé Siegbert von Lahneck:

Everything seemed perfect: Elisabeth was happily engaged to Siegbert von Lahneck. Then the war separated the two. After Siegbert had gone to war for the Kaiser and there had been no news from him for a long time, his alleged cousin Rochus suddenly appeared at the Marksburg. He reported that Siegbert had died in 1278 and was able to prove this claim with documents. Rochus was not known, but based on the documents presented, one believed him.

After Elisabeth had overcome her grief, she fell in love with her supposed cousin Rochus, and the wedding was planned. Shortly before the wedding, however, St. Mark appeared to the clergyman who was to perform the wedding and informed him that Rochus was the devil in person. On the way to the altar, the priest took a cross from under his cloak and held it right in front of Rochus' face. The earth split and Rochus went to hell.

Elisabeth, who had lost her fiancé a second time, believed she had to repent because she had fallen for the devil himself. So she decided to go to the monastery and atone for her guilt for the rest of her life. The castle, however, was renamed Marksburg after St. Mark, who saved Elisabeth from the devil .

But the story came to an even sadder end: Elisabeth's fiancé Siegbert was not dead at all, but returned safely to the Marksburg. When he found out about the deception and the fate of Elizabeth, he threw himself into the abyss out of desperation.

A painting ( Scène galante , Maître du fils prodigue) in the Museum de la Chartreuse , Douai , shows the scene with Rochus and Elisabeth.

The castle as a model

With its current appearance, the complex is considered the medieval castle par excellence and is the model for many fantasy castles, especially for toy castles. For example, a cardboard model kit appeared from the Marksburg, but only the core castle (without the battery buildings in the forecourt) was shown.

The Japanese replica in the German cultural village of Ueno

Marksburg replica in Japan

In the 1990s, the castle in the German cultural village of Ueno on the Japanese island of Miyako-jima was faithfully recreated without a gatehouse or kennel. This happened after the originally planned sale, removal and reconstruction on Miyako-jima had been rejected by the owner of the castle, the German Castle Association.

literature

• Magnus Backes , Busso von der Dollen: The Marksburg. Building and art history of a Rhenish castle . 2nd Edition. Braubach / Rhine 1993.
• Lorenz Frank, Jens Friedhoff : Marksburg. History and structural development (= publications of the German Castle Association . Series D, Issue 7). Braubach 2008, ISBN 978-3-927558-29-8 .
• Michael P. Fuhr: Who wants to be the keeper of the river? 40 castles and palaces on the Middle Rhine. 2nd Edition. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1460-1 , pages 82-85.
• Elke Lutterbach: The Marksburg (= knight castles . Volume 3). Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 3-7616-2223-6 .
• Ulrich Mackensen: ... and the mousquets were rusty. Soldiers' life on the Marksburg in three centuries. From letters, reports and instructions. Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1984, ISBN 3-7637-5450-4 .
• Karl Müller, Martina Kerber: The herb garden on the Marksburg. German Castle Association, Braubach 1996.
• Special issue “Marksburg” In: Castles and Palaces . Issue 4/2002. European Castle Institute, Braubach 2002, ISSN  0007-6201 , pages 201-263.

Web links

Commons : Marksburg  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Marksburg website
• Entry by Reinhard Friedrich and Jens Friedhoff zu Marksburg in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
• The Marksburg on burgenwelt.de
• Virtual model of the Marksburg (website of the German Castle Association)
• 1919 aerial photographs in the archives of the San Diego Air & Space Museum
• Aerial photos of the Marksburg

Footnotes

1. ↑ The invincible: Marksburg in the magazine of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, p. 7, 2./3. April 2011
2. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Rhein-Lahn-Kreis. Mainz 2020, p. 16 (PDF; 6.2 MB).
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Chronicle. Marksburg website, accessed December 20, 2009.
4. ^ Marxburg. In: Pierer's Universal Lexicon . Volume 10. Altenburg 1860, p. 936.
5. ↑ How the Marksburg got its name. Website of the Marksburg ( Memento from July 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
6. ^ E. Lutterbach: Knight castles. Volume 3: The Marksburg , p. 31.
7. ^ E. Lutterbach: Knight castles. Volume 3: Die Marksburg , p. 97.
8. ^ E. Lutterbach: Knight castles. Volume 3: Die Marksburg , p. 48 ff.
9. ^ E. Lutterbach: Knight castles. Volume 3: The Marksburg , p. 46.
10. ↑ The Japanese Marksburg. Marksburg website ( memento from June 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).