Baldenau Castle
| Baldenau Castle | |
|---|---|
 Baldenau Castle from the southwest with the 24 m high keep and the moat |
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| Creation time : | around 1315 |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg |
| Conservation status: | Keep, enclosing walls |
| Standing position : | Clerical |
| Place: | Morbach - Hundheim |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 50 '7 " N , 7 ° 9' 54" E |
| Height: | 465 m above sea level NHN |
The Baldenau is the ruins of a moated castle in Hunsrück between the villages Hundheim and Hinzerath , both districts of the municipality Morbach in Bernkastel-Wittlich in Rhineland-Palatinate , just south of Hunsrückhöhenstraße B 327th
Geographical location
The castle ruin Baldenau is one of the few moated castles in the Hunsrück that is located in a high valley. The moat of the ruins on the northern edge of the Idarwald at an altitude of 465 meters is fed by the upper reaches of the Dhron . The ruins, which are idyllically situated in a swamp and rarely visited, are freely accessible at all times.
Baldenau also includes the Stumpfe Turm , which was built above Hinzerath on what was then the Roman road. Due to the location on the ridge, approaching dangers could be recognized early and reported to the castle.
history
From the year 1315 it was the Archbishop Baldwin of Trier to secure the Kurtrier domination built. The castle was primarily directed against the Counts of Sponheim . The counts were rival territorial lords of Trier in this area. In 1332 Baldwin received from Emperor Ludwig in a collective privilege the city rights for a settlement near Baldenau; In the end, such a foundation never came about. The castle was named for the Kurtrierische Amt Baldenau , to which fifteen surrounding villages belonged. In the 15th century, two are with Rulmann of Partenheim and Clas of Nattenheim bailiffs handed. Also in the 15th century, the castle and office were pledged to nobles, an indication of the castle's minor importance at that time.
After being damaged several times in the Thirty Years' War , it was repaired in 1649, but was finally permanently destroyed by French troops under Louis XIV in 1689 during the War of the Palatinate Succession . In 1982 the ruins were secured. In the same and the following year, the ruins served as the backdrop for the first part of Edgar Reitz's Heimat trilogy .
description
The castle complex is about 52 meters long, up to 20 meters wide and has the shape of a wedge. In the southwest, in the tapering part of the castle, stands the striking, 24-meter-high, round three-storey keep . It has a diameter of 10.5 meters with a wall thickness of up to 3.2 meters. On the opposite side, the rather sparse, towering remains of the main building rise. It had at least three storeys that were accessed via a stair tower . The kitchen was on the ground floor (readable from the remains of the kitchen fireplace on the east side). The water supply was ensured by a well (this was next to the entrance to the castle). The castle is surrounded by a curtain wall on the long sides . The wall is broken by slits and originally had a battlement . The courtyard was built with smaller buildings, the remains of which came to light during the excavation work.
Damage
In recent years the castle has been more and more willfully destroyed. Among other things, at least 400 stones that have been broken out and removed are missing.
The castle gate that leads to the tower was broken open several times.
literature
- Udo Liessem: Baldenau - the only moated castle of Elector Baldwin, a model for Balduinseck . In: Olaf Wagener (Ed.): Castles in the Hunsrück. A landscape of castles in the flow of time . Michael Imhof, Petersberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-744-9 , pp. 121-134.
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich: "Blown by the showers of the past ..." Castles and palaces on the Moselle . 1st edition. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-1926-4 , pp. 16-21.
- Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich, Achim Wendt: "... where a mighty tower still looks down defiantly". Castles in the Hunsrück and on the Nahe. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2493-0 , pp. 20-25.
Web links
- Entry on Baldenau Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun