Rappoltstein

This article deals with a historical domain in France. For the noble family of the same name, see Rappoltstein (noble family) .

Rappoltstein coat of arms

The name Rappoltstein describes a historical domain around the castles Hohrappoltstein , Girsberg and Ulrichsburg in the area around Ribeauvillé (German: Rappoltsweiler ) in Alsace . The rule , which had been under French sovereignty since 1680/81, lost the contractually guaranteed quasi- sovereign rights with the French Revolution in 1789. The rulers were the Lords of Rappoltstein . According to these, the Cologne student association KDSt.V. Rappoltstein (Strasbourg) named. Since 1783, Graf von Rappoltstein has been a title of the princes of Waldeck and Pyrmont .

history

The place Ribeauvillé is mentioned for the first time in 759 as Ratbaldouilare ; further mentions are Ratbertouillare (768), Ratpoldesuilare (896) and Rapolswilre (1162). The gentlemen of Rappoltstein have been documented since 1038. After their extinction in 1673, the rule of Rappoltstein (Ribeaupierre) and with it the city fell to the Wittelsbach line Pfalz-Birkenfeld , from 1734 Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken . From 1680/81 the rule of Rappoltstein was under the sovereignty of France, but the French administration was only introduced in the course of the dissolution of the feudal rule by resolution of the French National Assembly on August 4, 1789. This was sanctioned under international law in 1801.

Geographical limitation

The Ulrichsburg in Ribeauvillé

Up to the year 1300 can Rappoltstein city Rappoltsweiler, as the center of a spell district by both high- and low court were exercised along with the three Rappoltsteiner castles, as well as the castle Hohnack , castle Gemar , the Judenburg and towns Weier in the valley and Hausen to be delimited. This area is considered the core area of ​​the Rappoltsteiner. After 1300 there were still other villages that were no longer counted as part of the core area.

At that time it was customary to transfer property to secular or clerical masters in order to get them back as a fief . Therefore, today no clear statement can be made as to whether parts of the above-mentioned fiefs were originally or in the meantime Rappoltsteiner's own property. It should be noted that the rule of the Lords of Rappoltstein was derived from sovereign and not from landlord rights, although the Rappoltsteiners developed a very important real estate over the centuries.

See also: The Pfeiferrecht , an imperial fiefdom of the Lords of Rappoltstein.

Possessions

The Rappoltsteiner Herrschaft is made up of a large number of fiefs that together make up the Rappoltstein domain. Originally only half of Rappoltsweiler was owned by the Lords of Rappoltstein. Lieutenants in the heartland were in particular

• the diocese of Basel for half of Rappoltsweiler, the castle Hohrappoltstein and the Ulrichsburg, Weier-im-Tal u. a.
• the Duchy of Luxembourg for the Girsberg Castle
• the diocese of Strasbourg for the castle Gemar u. a.
• the Duchy of Austria for the Hohnack Castle, the Judenburg a. a.
• Hausen was an imperial fiefdom

The Rappoltsteiner castles

Anton Seder : Rappoltstein

The three Rappoltsteiner castles

Ulrichsburg , Girsberg and Hohrappoltstein

In the Topographia Alsatiae by Matthäus Merian it says:
"Drey castles on a mountain, Drey churches on a churchyard, three cities in a valley, Drey open in a hall, is the whole of Alsace everywhere."

The three Rappoltsteiner castles are very well known and have been published on many pictures. At Bodo Ebhardt states that you "deserved the attention which found her not only her masterful construction sake, but also for the richness of its history and of old age on which to look back the sex of their owner, who Rappoltsteiner, The three castles are closely linked to the history of Alsace. It was you who prompted Merian to quote the proverb mentioned at the beginning. This is where the von Rappoltstein family, who became the ancestors of the Hohenzollern family as women , lived until 1673. It is noteworthy that there were often arguments and feuds between the lords of the three castles Hohrappoltstein, Ulrichsburg and Girsberg . For example, Girsberg Castle was conquered by the Rappoltsteiners in 1422, with Hans von Girsberg, the last of his line and Rappoltsteiner liege, being slain by a Rappoltsteiner.

• The northern castle on the mountain top is Hohrappoltstein (642 meters above sea level)
• The middle one, Girsberg (528 meters above sea level)
• The southern one, the Ulrichsburg (530 meters above sea level)

As late as 1904 it was said: "If the other two ruins are desert, but extremely picturesque heaps of rubble, then Ulrichsburg offers a rich source of the artistic language of castle building." All three castles are ruins today .

literature

• Friedrich J. Ortwein (ed.): Rappoltstein. 1905-2005. Locher, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-930054-50-7 , pp. 636-640 ( digitized ; 138.3 MB).

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ In 1291 and again in 1379 the bishop of Bamberg claims feudal rule over these fiefdoms. It is not clear what this claim is based on. However, it can be assumed that the Bishop of Basel was feudal lord from 1084 (1162) until the French Revolution.
2. ↑ Matthäus Merian in Topographia Alsatiae , 1663
3. ↑ Bodo Ebhardt: The three Rappoltsteiner castles . In: German castles. Volume 1. Berlin 1899, p. 292.
4. ^ Friedrich Ortwein: The line of succession and line of succession of the lords of Rappoltstein. Typewritten manuscript, Hanover 1999.
5. ↑ Bodo Ebhardt: The castles of Alsace. Lecture in the presence of SM Kaiser Wilhelm II before the meeting of the Association for the Preservation of German Castles in Strasbourg on February 26, 1904. Berlin 1904.