Ordensburg Karkus
| Ordensburg Karkus | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ruins of the Karkus order castle |
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| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Karksi | |
| Geographical location | 58 ° 6 '17.4 " N , 25 ° 33' 53.5" E | |
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The order castle Karkus ( Estonian Karksi ordulinnus ) was an order castle of the Livonian order . The ruins of the castle are in Karksi (Baltic German: Karkus), Estonia .
history
Karkus Castle was probably built early as a neighboring castle by Fellin and had a common bailiff with Helmet Castle , which is first mentioned in 1248. As was common in this early period, Karkus Castle was probably initially a wooden structure on the site of a former Estonian castle. In 1297 the wooden Samaiten castle was burned down. Only then was a stone castle built, which was destroyed again by the Lithuanians in 1329. On the orders of Master of the Order Goswin von Herike , the castle was restored and reinforced with a wall ring, but destroyed again by Lithuanians in 1366, as it is said: a hus called Karcus si won with painstakingly in error and forewarning is with deme .
Major renovations were made to the castle in the 15th century, probably after 1470, when Master of the Order Wolthus von Herse moved his residence from Riga to Fellin and transferred the local commander to Karkus.
After the collapse of the religious order, the strong castle was a bone of contention. During the Livonian War , Karkus Castle fell to Russia in 1560, Poland in 1561, Sweden in 1563 and back to Russia in 1574, which handed the castle over to Duke Magnus . In 1584, the Polish King Stefan Bathory gave Karkus Castle to Jürgen von Fahrensbach .
In 1601, during the Polish-Swedish War , Swedish troops under Duke Karl von Södermanland captured the castle, which remained in the possession of the Swedes during the further course of the war. A chapel in the castle was mentioned for the first time in 1624.
In any case, the castle was still in a defensible condition in 1633, according to a letter from Axel Oxenstierna . Karkus Castle was finally destroyed in 1708 in the Great Northern War .
Building
The construction of the castle was determined by the location, which offered natural protection in the form of a mountain. As a Vogtburg, Karkus did not need any large rooms, which is why a simple fort built on three sides was built. To the west of the main building was a smaller forecourt, which was connected to the large farm yard by a bridge resting on stone walls. Karkus Castle was built with massive walls made of large boulders. Large room towers were built to protect the wall . Also in the forecastle partly preserved parapet has forms on the first half of the 14th century.
To protect the castle from the east against cannonballs you also have both the outer ward than in the main castle on this side one provided with semicircular cannon towers parchamartiges Vorwerk created.
The Karksi Peetri kirik church, which was preserved during the Swedish era, is located on the site of the former outer bailey .
proof
- ^ A b Karl Woldemar von Löwis of Menar: Burgenlexikon für Alt-Livland . Walters and Rapa, Riga 1922, p. 86-87 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ a b Armin Tuulse: The castles in Estonia and Latvia (= negotiations of the Estonian learned society . Volume 33 ). Õpetatud Eesti Seltsi Toimetused, S. 244-245 .
