Middle (old) Küps Castle

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Old or middle Küps Castle

One of three existing former aristocratic residences in the town of Markt Küps in the Kronach district in Upper Franconia in the Free State of Bavaria is called the Old or Middle Castle .

Geographical location

The Küps market is located in the middle of the extensive valley landscape of the central Rodach . Slavs immigrated from the east are considered to be the founders of the settlement on the mountainside on the left bank of the Rodach . Prehistoric finds also point to an earlier settlement of the area by Celts . The favorable location of the place on the Rodach, which served as a transport route in the Middle Ages , established the establishment of four aristocratic seats.

So in 1151 the beginnings of the Old or Middle Castle were built, around 1400 the first buildings of the New or Rear Castle , before 1521 a fortified courtyard ( Hofgut Melanger ) and before 1540 the Upper Castle on the highest point of the place.

While the Hofgut Melanger was already described as abandoned in 1668, the three other aristocratic residences in the locality still exist. Six more were built between the 13th and 18th centuries in the immediate vicinity of Küps, the castles in Oberlangstadt , Hain , Schmölz , Theisenort , the moated castle in Tüschnitz and the Alte Kemenate in Nagel. All are or were in today's Küps market area.

Coming from the federal highway 173 from the north-west over the Rodachbrücke, the road climbs up to the historic center of Küps. On a plateau surrounded by a high retaining wall that was renewed in the 18th century, the old or middle castle stands to the left in front of the towering church.

history

The first manor of the local aristocracy originally stood in the place of today's building. The residence is documented in 1151 with Wolfram de Chubece and 1359 with Hermannus de Kuepcz. The barons Eberhard, Heinz and Arnold von Redwitz sat there in 1406 as heirs . It belonged to their descendants for five centuries.

The fortified property was destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525 and in the Second Margrave War (1552 to 1554) . After both destruction, it was rebuilt using old parts. The current building essentially dates from the middle of the 16th century.

In 1907 the Küps market bought the old castle and had it converted into a school house in 1932. It has recently been used as a house and workshop for restoring stucco and stone sculptures .

construction

North-east side with retaining wall

The simple three-story two-sided building with its four by four (east wing) and three by seven (north wing) window axes is roofed with a crooked hip. The upper floor of the north wing has been demolished and today, surrounded by a simple balustrade , serves as a generously dimensioned terrace . The entire building, except for the sandstone frames of the windows and doors, is plastered in ocher yellow . In place of the former drawbridge , a single-arched stone bridge has spanned the deep ditch since the 18th century . The coat of arms of the von Redwitz-Küps family with the year 1747 is on the bridge abutment.

literature

  • Tilmann Breuer: Bavarian art monuments, district of Kronach . Volume XIX, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1964.
  • Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown, 2nd volume . Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Neue Presse GmbH, Coburg 1978, pp. 141–146.
  • Heinrich Pöhlmann: History of the market town Küps . Schulze Verlag, Lichtenfels 1908.
  • Hans Schleicher: The history of the market Küps . Frank de la Porte publishing house, Küps 1996, ISBN 3932416007 .
  • Albrecht von und zu Egloffstein: Palaces and castles in Upper Franconia: a manual . Wolfgang Widlich Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1972, ISBN 9783803503442 .

Web links

Commons : Mittleres Schloss (Küps)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown ; Volume 2; Neue PRESSE printing and publishing company; Coburg; 1978; Page 141
  2. ^ Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles around the Franconian Crown ; Volume 2; Neue PRESSE printing and publishing company; Coburg; 1978; Pp. 141-143
  3. ↑ Bavarian Office for the Preservation of Monuments: Architectural and ground monuments in Küps (PDF; 145 kB)
  4. ^ A b Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown ; Volume 2; Neue PRESSE printing and publishing company; Coburg; 1978; Page 142

Coordinates: 50 ° 11 ′ 28.4 ″  N , 11 ° 16 ′ 39.3 ″  E