Randenburg (Spessart)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randenburg
Burgstall Randenburg - The hill of the core castle

Burgstall Randenburg - The hill of the core castle

Alternative name (s): Rannenburg, Rannenberg Castle
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Burgstall (2 outer castles, 1 main castle) with ring and neck ditches
Place: Alzenau
Geographical location 50 ° 4 '38.2 "  N , 9 ° 5' 27.7"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 4 '38.2 "  N , 9 ° 5' 27.7"  E
Height: 250  m above sea level NN
Randenburg (Bavaria)
Randenburg
The Randenburg stables from the northeast with the Schanzenkopf in the background
Looking north: the outer castles. View from the main castle into the neck ditch
Western moat wall system; left the middle outer bailey
Panel on the front spur side

The Randenburg , also called Rannenburg , was a spur castle in the Bavarian Spessart in today's district of Aschaffenburg . The Burgstall is located on a spur facing south towards the Krebsbach valley on the right side of the slope between Schanzenkopf and Hahnenkamm, southeast of Alzenau . The castle consisted of three castle parts with a comprehensive ring moat and several neck moats, the course and location of which are still clearly visible in the landscape. Illegal bicycle trails endanger the existence of the designated ground monument .

history

The Randenburg first appeared in writing in 1227 in connection with the Lords of Kälberau . It was built around 1175 as a private castle for this noble family. These were later called von Rannenberg .

In the 13th century the castle played a strategically important role in the dispute between the Counts of Rieneck and the Electors of Mainz . With a length of 150 meters, the Randenburg was not a small fortress for the time, but a handsome building that was protected in many places by double trenches and porches. An elongated crater that still exists today was likely a large vaulted cellar.

In 1258 the Randenburg must have fallen into Rienecker hands, because after the end of the war between Rieneck and Mainz and the victory of Elector Werner von Eppstein , the fortifications had to be torn down on March 17th, 1266. Perhaps this was also the reason for the construction of Alzenau Castle about 140 years later by Mainz. The remains of a fort - like counter-castle with a wall-ditch system with a water point on the rising ridge about 300 meters northeast of the castle stables testify to the siege by the archbishop's troops .

The Randenburg had only existed for almost 100 years, much shorter than the Forgotten Castle on the smaller neighboring hill.

After a sale of parts of the mountain and the castle remains in 1311 by the veto of the then Archbishop of Mainz Peter of Aspelt had failed, then sold in 1357 Squire and vassal of the archbishops of Mainz Fritze of Rannenberg in a document of Ulrich III. (Hanau) and Eberhard zu Eppstein each have a third of the Rannenberg mountain, a third each of the jurisdiction of Wilmundsheim and that of Somborn . They become gan heirs . It should only be possible to sell the parts to one another. The aim is to rebuild a castle on the Rannenberg. A third should belong to each. The approval of the Archbishop of Mainz Gerlach von Nassau was necessary for a new building . Burgrave should become the von Rannenberg.

Several reconstruction projects of the Randenburg were prevented by the Archbishops of Mainz, so that it eventually served as a quarry and was removed. The area is designated as a ground monument (D-6-5920-0004) by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (BLfD) .

It could not be proven that the gentlemen von Rannenberg were the later builders of the Hessian Ronneburg , since both systems existed at about the same time and the Ronneburg is probably even older.

description

The Randenburg is, in the extent known today, one of the largest, even if only preserved as a castle stables , Spessart castle and was a spur castle to the south of the Krebsbachtal on an elongated spur lying higher. To be on the safe side, it was secured by a double outer bailey , each separated by a deep ditch . The northernmost outer bailey was triangular in shape, with a point facing north on the spur attack side. Except for the front southern, steeply sloping spur side, the castle was surrounded by a deep wall-ditch system, which was laid out twice on the somewhat flatter west side. Special height images show that in the main castle, a tower has to the north, possibly a building have been Palas was in front. To the west at the foot of the main castle, still in the castle area, there are two dozen-meter wide bingen. Initial investigations in preparation for a planned excavation between the central bailey and the southern main castle did not reveal any stone elements in the bailey. It is currently assumed that the bailey were only made of wood. The excavation of the Randenburg planned for 2019 by the ASP in connection with the community and associations cannot yet be implemented. The counter-castle , probably formerly Mainz, is also to be examined 300 meters further northeast.

legend

The Randenburg plays a central role in the Alzenau namesake. After the castle was taken, the lord's wife was granted free travel, and she was allowed to take whatever she could carry with her. The woman decided to take her husband on the shoulders. When the burden became too heavy for her, her husband asked her to leave him behind, but she replied "too close" and dragged him over a nearby hill. The Randenburger is said to have founded a new castle there, which he called “Allzunah” in memory of this rescue, from which the name “Alzenau” is said to have emerged later.

Monument protection

The Randenburg as well as the counter castle are ground monuments according to the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

Further former castles in the region

Fort-like Mainz counter-castle to the Randenburg 300 m northeast of the Randenburg

Immediately around the Randenburg there is a group of former castles or fortifications, the history of which is hardly known and which are barely visible in the landscape. These include:

  • Forgotten castle (in the Krebsbachtal near Alzenau), in sight of the Randenburg opposite
  • the small siege castle about 300 m northeast of the Randenburg
  • the fortification on the Schanzenkopf about 500 meters south of the Randenburg on the Schanzenkopf
  • other recently discovered fortifications

Other fortifications in the immediate vicinity are / were:

literature

  • Björn-Uwe Abels : The prehistoric and early historical site monuments of Lower Franconia . (Material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series B, volume 6). Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1979, ISBN 3-7847-5306-X , pp. 60-61.

Web links

Commons : Randenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Around 1335 he was both bailiff of Bad Orb and Burgmann at Burgjoss Castle
  2. ↑ Hellmuth Gensicke:  DOCUMENTS OF THE GROSCHLAG FAMILY v. DIEBURG  (= Repertories Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt ) inventory B 17 (p. 2, reg . No. 8, April 13, 1357) (PDF; 160 kB). In: Archive Information System Hessen (Arcinsys Hessen), as of August 2006, accessed on September 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Stefan Grathoff Mainzer Archbishop's Castle , Stuttgart 2005, Franz Steiner Verlag, ISBN 3-515-08240-9 , pp. 43, 78, 153
  4. ↑ For the origin of this etiological legend motif, see Castle Weibertreu .
  5. ↑ Spessart-Sagen, Valentin Pfeifer, Aschaffenburg 1948, p. 67ff