Normannstein Castle

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Normannstein Castle
View from the south (2008)

View from the south (2008)

Alternative name (s): Treffurt Castle
Creation time : about 1000
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Standing position : Noble Free
Place: Hit
Geographical location 51 ° 8 '26 "  N , 10 ° 14' 15"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 8 '26 "  N , 10 ° 14' 15"  E
Height: 290  m above sea level NHN
Normannstein Castle (Thuringia)
Normannstein Castle

The Normannstein Castle is the well-preserved ruin of a spur castle at 290  m above sea level. NHN above the Thuringian town of Treffurt an der Werra , directly on the state border with Hesse .

history

The Romanesque castle was probably built from the 9th century to control a section of the Werra Valley . Initially, there was a control room here , which consisted of the round tower that still exists today and a wall. Around 1200, the castle was converted into a castle by the noble family of the Lords of Treffurt . The two square towers, the gate building and the miner's building were built. Later there was also an outer bailey , which in turn was protected by a curtain wall. All buildings are made of shell limestone . A deep trench was dug north of the castle to prevent attacks.

The large square tower in which the museum is housed

The Treffurt knights used the castle as a residence. They were in the service of the Landgraves of Thuringia from Eisenach and administered the villages in the area. At the turn of the 14th century they became robber barons and repeatedly plundered villages in the Thuringian-Hessian border area, which led to a siege of the city and castle by the Archbishop of Mainz and the Landgraves of Thuringia and Hesse. In 1333 the knights had to leave their castle, but soon returned again, which led to another siege, which ended in 1336 with the final expulsion of the Lords of Treffurt. Their property - which included the places Falken, Großburschla, half of Schnellmannshausen, Wendehausen, Klein-Töpfer, the city of Treffurt and Burg Normannstein - was then jointly administered by Mainz, Thuringia and Hesse as Ganerbschaft Treffurt by officials who henceforth on the Burg lived. In 1417 the chapel was added. At the end of the Middle Ages, the officials left the now useless castle and from then on managed the possessions from the Hessian, Saxon and Mainz courts in the old town of Treffurt. Thereupon the castle degenerated into a quarry of the Treffurt citizens and fell into disrepair. Only now did the name "Normannstein" appear for the castle for the first time.

In 1894, Gustav Döring bought the castle ruins and built a restaurant in the chapel building, and the castle became a popular destination for hikers. Between 1921 and 1933 the castle was used several times for major events of the Federal New Germany ; In 1924 the Normannsteiners split off from the Bund New Germany. The Schulz family continued the restaurant for a few years. In 1971 the restaurant had to close, mainly because it was too close to the inner-German border and was therefore difficult to visit with special permission.

1975 began the use of the youth club of the city of Treffurt. He carried out minor maintenance work on the castle, which prevented the castle from falling into disrepair. After German reunification, the castle was extensively renovated between 1995 and 2006 and is now used as a museum. The large square tower houses the exhibition “Werra castles over Werrafurten”, which deals with the numerous castles in the Werra valley. The listed castle is owned by the city of Treffurt.

In 2008 the restaurant at the castle was reopened. In addition, there is an annual festival at which the history of the castle and its relationship with the town of Treffurt take center stage.

Structural systems

Castle from Treffurt
General plan
The round keep

Starting from a Romanesque round tower in a spur above the city, this building developed in several stages into a high medieval residential palace and, after the expulsion of the knights from Treffurt, became a Ganerbeburg .

The round tower (A) and the remains of the inner curtain wall represent the oldest preserved parts of the castle. This tower has a carefully smoothed ashlar wall structure, there is evidence of an extension for 1333 - clearly recognizable by inferior building material; the former access is on the south side at a height of eight meters. The tower has no windows and served as a keep , initially free-standing in the first phase of the castle's expansion. Accordingly, the safe rooms were used as storage facilities and a last refuge in the event of a siege . One suspects a prison cell in the basement. The wall thickness of the tower is about three meters in the lower part.

Castle from the southeast

The large square tower (B) with the two representative triforias inserted in the south wall is the highlight of the complex. The building, erected as a multi-storey residential tower , still has the remains of a toilet dungeon on the west side above the moat. On the first floor of the tower, the remainder of a chimney indicates the lord's high quality of living. Today, the castle museum is housed in this 21.4 meter high tower, in which weddings sometimes take place. There is a roofed viewing platform on the top floor .

The small square tower (C) probably comes from the same construction phase, but served primarily as a fortified tower that was closed on all sides. During the restoration, an iron spiral staircase was attached to the outside of the tower. Left and right on Tower was reached on the battlements of the circular wall with still recognizable loopholes .

The so-called Knappenbau (D) is only a ruin today. Good is the chimney system, which occupies the building as a living area and castle kitchen, which is why the building as here Palas could have served the castle.

The Gothic chapel building (M) dates from 1417; this was the only residential building outside the inner curtain wall. The outer ring wall surrounded only the southern part of the core castle - the plan shows sections of this protective wall in dark blue and reconstructed in light blue.

The gatehouse (F) dates from around 1200 and is no longer available today. It was on the outside of the curtain wall , where there is now a pointed arched door.

During the renovation work, which has been ongoing since 1994, the largely destroyed areas in the courtyard area were examined from a building archaeological point of view. A well or a cistern for drinking water supply has not yet been identified.

The approximately 10 m wide, upstream neck ditch (J) served to protect the castle complex, followed by a powerful, sickle-shaped protective wall (H) to the north. The city wall (K) extended from the south to the castle and covered the steep connecting path (L) to the Normannstein spring and the courtyards of the castle men in the city. The main entrance to the castle was from the east and can still be seen through the existing ravines (M).

After the castle ruins were bought privately in the 19th century, a building used as a residential house, hostel, castle museum and excursion restaurant was built over the remains of the wall of the gatehouse. In the current (2008) ongoing renovation, this building was rebuilt; the courtyard was paved, the stairs and sanitary facilities renewed, the inner curtain wall restored and the access road to the castle paved.

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Normannstein  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Burg Normannstein in Treffurt on the website of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt
  2. ↑ Restaurant "Burg-Normannstein" - HOME || Welcome. Retrieved on April 19, 2019 (German).
  3. ^ Entry on Burg Normannstein in the private database "Alle Burgen". Retrieved June 26, 2016.