Upper Untersiemau Castle

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Upper Untersiemau Castle

The Obere Schloss Untersiemau is located in the Upper Franconian municipality of Untersiemau in the Coburg district . The oldest parts of the structure date from the 12th century. The castle was expanded and rebuilt several times over the centuries.

Geographical location

Eight kilometers south of Coburg im Itzgrund , on the corner of Lichtenfelser Strasse and Pfarrgasse, is the Upper Castle, about 300 meters above sea level.

history

What is certain is that Untersiemau goes back to the Carolingian domain of Suomene , which in the 12th century (probably earlier) was owned ( allod ) by the Knights of Suemen , who lived in their old seat in the Upper Castle. In a document from 1195, the knight Thiemo de Suemen is named as the owner.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Thiemo began building a moated castle about 300 meters south below the Upper Castle. The taverns moved to its completion in this new Lower Castle . The Upper Castle remained in their possession and continued to serve as the official and administrative headquarters. In 1496 Valentin zu Siemau inherited the house. In 1499 there was a long lease contract between the taverns Valentin and Lorenz zu Siemau and the Counts of Henneberg , which was concluded due to financial difficulties , whereby both properties remained cent-free and thus the exercise of lower and higher jurisdiction remained with the taverns. The old Upper Castle served as the courthouse until 1521.

In 1521 the Upper Castle was sold to the Lords of Brandenstein . It burned down during the German Peasants' War in 1525 and was rebuilt. Around 1630 it was destroyed again in the Thirty Years War . Around 50 years later the castle stood again, now with a higher tower and one more story. At the end of the 17th century, the castle was sold to the Ermreuth line of Mr. Muffel von Eschenau , who at that time also sat at Ahorn Castle near Coburg. After they died out, the castle was sold to Johannes Dietrich von Könitz (1662–1730), founder of the Franconian line of those von Könitz . This expired in 1832 with the death of the childless Christian Ferdinand von Koenitz . In 1866 the vacant castle finally fell to the Herzogliche Landesbank zu Coburg. The historian and social scientist Karl Fischer bought the castle in 1870, but rented it to the Barth cigar factory a year later. The cigar manufacturer Adolf Barth bought the building in 1888, but after eleven years sold it again to the brewery director August Schubert. In 1902, master tailor Josef Ott took over the property, then in 1923 the hotelier Carl Busch and around 1950 his then underage grandson, who still belongs to the property today (2015). Several families lived in the castle between the two world wars, and after 1945 displaced people from the formerly German eastern regions . As part of an attempt in the 1960s to convert the castle into a restaurant with guest rooms, the tower and roof structure were renovated and an annex made of gray brickwork was built in the shell. The planned gastronomy did not open, however, and in 1977 the owner offered the castle for 0.5 million DM to the community of Untersiemau, which showed interest in using it as a town hall. However, the sale failed because the renovation costs were estimated at 1.3 million DM. Since then the castle has been falling into disrepair as the owner cannot finance the renovation.

description

Oberes Schloss Untersiemau site plan
Upper Untersiemau Castle - side view
Upper Untersiemau Castle - street view with "extension"

The entire palace building is located on the western edge of an almost one-hectare garden with a fountain. The main building is aligned in its longitudinal axis from north-east to south-west and has three floors, as does the transverse building attached at right angles in the middle. Another, narrower part of the building is attached parallel to the main building and protrudes over the gable front. The stair tower with the main entrance is located in the northeast corner of the building . A wedding coat of arms is embedded in the plaster above him.

In all four parts of the building, the upper floor, created around 1680, is made of timber framework. The saddle roofs of the two separate parts of the building are slightly lower than that of the main building, which makes the entire complex appear smaller. This impression is reinforced by a single-storey porch with a terrace inserted to the right of the stair tower. The upper floor of the round tower consists of a hexagonal framework with the same dome roof and attached bell . As a result, the tower protrudes slightly over the main building.

On the eaves-facing ground floor of the main building with its five by three window axes there are two large arched windows and a narrower entrance door, also with a rounded arch. In the corner of the building facing Pfarrgasse, a two-storey shell structure with a provisional covering was added around 1965, which has not yet been rendered. Originally the café terrace and the toilet facilities of the planned restaurant were to be built here. Another unfinished terrace is located on the second floor of the transverse building facing the stair tower.

Originally a castle chapel also belonged to the castle, but since 1392 the new village church , donated by the Siemau taverns, has stood in its place .

literature

  • Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown. Tape. 1st 3rd edition. Neue Presse GmbH printing and publishing company, Coburg 1974.
  • Arno Debus: 1200 years of Untersiemau: The history of the community. Untersiemau municipality, 2002

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown. Tape. 1st 3rd edition. 1974, pp. 104-105.
  2. ^ Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown. Tape. 1st 3rd edition. 1974, p. 105.
  3. ^ Genealogical paperback of noble houses . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1906, p. 410 .
  4. ^ New Press Coburg from March 10, 2012
  5. ^ Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown. Tape. 1st 3rd edition. 1974, p. 104.

Web links

Commons : Oberes Schloss Untersiemau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 11 ′ 37.9 ″  N , 10 ° 58 ′ 30.4 ″  E