Hirschau nursing home

Hirschau nursing home
Place:	Hirschau
Geographical location	49 ° 32 '41 "  N , 11 ° 56' 57.4"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 32 '41 "  N , 11 ° 56' 57.4"  E

Hirschau care castle is the name of a castle in Hirschau in the Amberg-Sulzbach district in Bavaria.

history

Building history

The beginnings of the care lock are not exactly known. What is certain, however, is that fortifications already existed on the castle grounds when the Hirschau settlement was founded by the Counts of Hirschberg in the 13th century. The castle was the first and only fortification until the city received its wall ring with a water belt.

Since the Hirschau nursing office had existed since 1325, a castle-like building must have been part of the fortress since then. Investigations on the masonry show that parts of the castle date from the 14th century. Presumably there was only a fortified wall ring at the beginning, which was expanded into a fortress, which burned down in 1474. After the fire, the castle that still exists today was rebuilt in the same place and, according to an inscription in the bay window, completed in 1478.

The still-preserved three-storey castle building with stepped gables and cased windows dates back to the 15th century in its current appearance, but the masonry is likely to be even older in part. On the west long side of the castle there is a bay window with two inscription panels, on the upper one is chiseled: “1478 Wilhalm Tondorffer”, who was a nurse in Hirschau at that time . The lower panel shows two heraldic shields with the Bavarian diamonds or lions and the name "Maister Erhar". He may have been in charge of the reconstruction of the castle and is perhaps identical to Erhard Bauer , who lived in Eger for a long time and worked in the Upper Palatinate. Recent additions and renovations have decisively changed the original character of the palace complex.

In the turbulent times at that time, when the rule was seldom permanent and numerous wars ravaged the country, it served as a fortress for the still small village. In addition, it was surrounded by a castle pond to the outside and a moat to the city, the only access was secured by a drawbridge.

Over the centuries, the main building has been rebuilt several times to adapt it to the respective use. Apart from two corner towers, which disappeared around 1800, and the customs building, which is today's economy, the other buildings in the area were never permanent structures. With the reconstruction of the castle in the 15th century, windows were broken into the city wall, which were moved or expanded in the 16th century. In the 19th century, extensive renovations were made for use as a brewery and the malt house was added to the east. The large barn in the south of the area must also come from this time. In 1911 the drawbridge used to access the inner courtyard fell victim to a fire. Therefore, only the city wall on the north side of the original fortification remains.

use

At the beginning of the 14th century, Emperor Charles IV set up maintenance offices everywhere along the route to secure the Golden Road . The seat of the Hirschau nurse was the nursing home. It also served as the seat of the city council until the town hall was built. Until the abolition of the Hirschau office in 1802, the castle served the lordly officials as an official building, as well as to store the delivered tithe grain.

After the Hirschau nursing office was abolished, the former nursing court clerk Dürschl auctioned the castle building, which he sold in 1817 to Andreas Dorfner, who built a brewery in the building. The Dorfner family bought the remaining buildings and land on the site over the course of the next hundred years. After several months of dispute with the town of Hirschau, the brewery was built to the west of the castle and the malthouse to the east of the castle. In 1820 an inn was set up in place of the old customs building at the eastern Hirschauer Tor.

In 1910, the so-called castle hall was added to the north side of the inn. This hall was used as the first cinema in Hirschau in 1948 under the name “Schlosslichtspiele”. Today this building is used as a sports facility for the edelweiss riflemen.

In 1968 the brewery had to be expanded due to a lack of space and therefore moved to the new building right next door. The castle building was temporarily empty. Since the renovation of the old castle restaurant in 1987, parts of the building have been used as a restaurant and hotel. There are twelve rooms available in the Schloss-Hotel for overnight guests. The large prince's room is a special attraction.

Web links

Commons : Hirschau nursing home  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Cultural gems in our region! Nursing lock, Hirschau. In: die-goldene-strasse.de. AOVE GmbH, accessed on November 7, 2012 . 
2. ↑ Frauenbund with Sepp Strobl at the Schlooserer on the way to www.hirschau.de