Falkenstein ruins (Danube valley)

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Falkenstein
Falkenstein Castle, east side with staircase

Falkenstein Castle, east side with staircase

Creation time : around 1213
around 1407
Castle type : High castle, rocky location, valley slope
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Noblemen;
Count
Construction: Small cuboid, quarry stone;
Quarry stone
Place: Beuron -thiergarten
Geographical location 48 ° 5 '1 "  N , 9 ° 4' 57"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 5 '1 "  N , 9 ° 4' 57"  E
Height: 743  m above sea level NN
Falkenstein ruins (Baden-Württemberg)
Falkenstein ruins

The Falkenstein ruins are the ruins of a rock castle on the edge of the valley above the Danube at around 743  m above sea level. NN between the villages of Neidingen and Thiergarten about 150 meters above the Neumühle. The ruin is privately owned by the Fürstenberg aristocratic family . It is probably the best-preserved and largest medieval fortification in the Upper Danube nature park between Tuttlingen and Sigmaringen . A distinction is made between the Ober- and Unterfalkenstein castles .

location

The research assumes that Ober- and Unterfalkenstein are to be regarded as independent castles due to the layout of both systems and the documentary evidence:

  • Unterfalkenstein, with only a few remaining wall remains, lies on a rocky outcrop above the Neumühle. Ceramic finds indicate that it is the older of the two castles (around 1100–1150). Entering the ruin is prohibited.
  • Oberfalkenstein was built as a modern complex between 1516 and 1545 with the inclusion of a previous castle and, in contrast to other Danube valley castles, lies in the middle of a long, rocky ridge at 743  m above sea level. NN on the edge that drops steeply to the Danube in a southerly direction. In the north the mountain falls to the "Buttenloch" at 670  m above sea level. NN from. This side valley between Falkenstein and Mittelberg, a circulating mountain , is a pre-glacial course of the Danube (today's Danube level 591  m above sea level ). The important ruins of the core castle are freely accessible and secured.

The exact extent of the entire system has not yet been precisely researched.

history

The south side of the ruin with the former staircase leading to the entrance

Purchase and donation deeds from the 14th and 15th centuries clearly differentiate between Upper and Lower Castle, which were also sold independently of each other and were often in different structural conditions. However, it cannot be concluded from this that they did not represent a structural unit at times.

Knight Cunradus Hasenbain from Falkenstein Castle was a feudal man of the Counts of Veringen in 1274 . Falkenstein Castle, after which a knightly family named itself in the 13th century, was owned by the Counts of Lupfen at the beginning of the 14th century . In 1516 Gottfried Werner von Zimmer bought Falkenstein Castle for 4800 guilders together with Kreenhainstetten , Reinstetten , today Reinfelder Hof, Weiler and the mill in Neidingen from Wolf von Bubenhofen . At that time, Unterfalkenstein was known as the Burgstall . He immediately began with the expansion, which, similar to his neighboring castle project Wildenstein , took place according to the technical status of the time, which took into account the gun technology of that time. He had a tall tower above the castle chapel, which provided a view to Mengen , but swayed dangerously in strong winds, demolished. Similar to Wildenstein Castle, the rock under the walls was removed flush so that the transition from the masonry to the rock was smooth.

The Counts of Zimmer turned the castle into a kind of hunting and representation palace in the new Renaissance style, with large windows and glass slugs with their own glass smelting facility in the 16th century. In 1978, a large crucible with traces of glass was found. It was completely sintered at the edges. Even then, experts speculated whether the castle had its own glass production facility. In 2010, eleven quartz sand pits were found around the castle with troughs one meter deep and around four meters in diameter. This enabled the Counts of Zimmer to meet their immense needs themselves: windows, mugs, jugs and bottles were produced by their own master craftsmen. They kept their recipe secret. Falkenstein Castle is so far the only castle in the Danube Valley on which glass was verifiably smelted.

In 1525 Gottfried Werner sold the Falkenstein to his brother Johannes Werner , whereby the associated villages were sold to Sixt von Hausen for only 400 guilders.

After 1528 Johannes Werner expanded the Falkenstein further. In 1575, Wilhelm von Zimmer had a game reserve built near the castle on the Danube, which later became the village of Thiergarten .

Falkenstein first passed the ownership of the rooms to the Counts of Helfenstein - Gundelfingen and, after their extinction in 1627, to the Fürstenberg dynasty . In the 17th century the castle was described as uninhabitable.

Redevelopment

Over the years the Falkenstein ruins had grown in. Trees and bushes overgrown the walls and the masonry had broken off. Structural securing of the ruins was urgently needed. At that time, the ruin was difficult to reach on foot.

Between 1977 and 1989 the Falkenstein was extensively renovated by the Upper Danube Valley Ruin Protection Campaign in collaboration with experts from the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office . Archaeological excavations took place in 1978 and 1980, with only a quarter of the ruins being explored.

At the end of the 1970s, the founding chairman Gerhard Grüninger, a captain of the German Armed Forces, let his ties play out: German and French soldiers freed the courtyard of the Oberfalkenstein core castle from the collapsed masonry. In doing so, they came across a previously unknown cistern driven into the rock . Fighter pilots took aerial photographs as part of their exercises. The association built today's access road.

During the excavation campaign of the State Monuments Office in 1980, the rubble was meticulously searched for finds. A brick floor was removed in order to continue digging under it. The bricks may have come from the Zimmerische Ziegelei in Thiergarten, whose invoices are still available.

At the end of the structural security, the Oberfalkenstein ruins were made accessible to everyone. The stairway to Unterfalkenstein was equipped with a safety hook. In the meantime, it has been closed to climbers again because the remaining masonry fell almost completely into the depths.

In the years that followed, Oberfalkenstein overgrown again, and the renovated masonry had broken out again in some places. For this reason, the ruin protection campaign for the Upper Danube Valley was reactivated in 2006. In many hours of voluntary work, the broken masonry was repaired in 2006 under the supervision of the State Office for Monument Preservation Baden-Württemberg and the signs were attached. These new signs point out the structure and history. The work took place with the help of the Dietfurt mountain rescue service and a school class. In the early summer of 2007, the ruins were cleared and cleaned. In addition to the work to preserve the substance, other areas of the ruins were also excavated. The association received financial and ideal support from the nature park, Haus Fürstenberg, the district of Sigmaringen, the State Monuments Office and the Landesbank.

description

The castle complexes of Oberstein and Unterfalkenstein differ fundamentally:

  • Unterfalkenstein, a rock castle, is located about 50 meters west of Oberfalkenstein, built on two rocks - the pre-fortification (12 × 9 meters) and core castle (slightly larger) were connected by a footbridge.
  • Oberfalkenstein, on the other hand, is a spacious facility. Wall remnants of an outer demarcation on the south, east and north sides, which included the moat , indicate an area of ​​around 5000 square meters. Recently, a fore was found as a protective structure for the castle. The outer bailey on the south side (45 × 20 meters) was separated from it by an outer wall. The main castle of Oberfalkenstein is located on an almost 20 meter high and about 40 meter long rock base, which was accessed by a staircase ramp over the outer castle. On the attack side (von Thiergarten) the masonry was stronger and originally secured by a tower. The stair ramp ended about four meters in front of the south tower, a drawbridge or seesaw bridge is conceivable. In addition to these two towers, Oberfalkenstein also had a north tower, bastion-like with Wildensteiner-style mouth slits. The amount of rubble that was cleared away and the dimensions of the foundation walls as well as the presence of two stairwells indicate that there were originally several floors.

According to the current state of research, not all wall and foundation remains can be assigned to former buildings.

Lost property

The finds made between 1977 and 1990 such as ceramic plates from tiled stoves, fragments of ceramic and glass vessels, fittings, projectiles, three slingshot balls and others are looked after by the Tübingen Regional Council, Monument Preservation Department. All glass finds are stored in the central archive in Rastatt, which is subordinate to the State Office for Monument Preservation. From April 16 to May 31, 2010 the exhibits were shown in the exhibition "Falkenstein - History and Exhibits" in the House of Nature Beuron by the ruin protection campaign of the Upper Danube Valley . With the exhibition, excavation finds of a former castle in the Danube Valley were presented to the public for the first time. Furthermore, a finger ring and the mouthpiece of a wind instrument made of a metal alloy were recovered from ruins from Falkenstein's ruins.

Falkensteiner Altar

St. George; Master of Messkirch; Falkensteiner Altar; probably a portrait of Johannes Werner von Zimmer

The so-called Falkenstein Altar was located in the Oberfalkenstein chapel, which is located in the Palas. The four-winged work is said to have been created by the anonymous master von Meßkirch around 1525. The altar was brought to Donaueschingen by the Fürstenbergers . Today it is in a wing of the State Gallery in Stuttgart .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b From rock to rock . Pp. 17-19. In: Wanderbar ... the most beautiful routes. Experience the Sigmaringen district . Sigmaringen district office, Schönebeck printing company, Meßkirch 2004.
  2. ^ A b Hermann-Peter Steinmüller (hps): Association takes care of the Falkenstein ruins . In: Südkurier from June 24, 2015
  3. ^ Julius Kindler von Knobloch; Baden Historical Commission, published by the Upper Baden Gender Book, p. 543. [1]
  4. ^ A b Max Miller , Gerhard Taddey (Ed.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany . Volume 6: Baden-Württemberg (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 276). 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-520-27602-X , p. 793.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Vera Romeu (from right): Coincidence: Badger delivers evidence of glass smelting. The solid matter was processed at Falkenstein Castle as early as the early 16th century . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from January 3, 2010
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Hermann-Peter Steinmüller (hps): Aktion Ruinenschutz Oberes Donautal is urgently looking for supporters . In: Südkurier of May 8, 2015
  7. ↑ a b c According to statements by Wilhelm Rößler, Schwäbischer Albverein, during a visit to the Falkenstein by Wikipedians in August 2008.
  8. ↑ Falkenstein ruins are like new again. Ceremony . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from July 12, 2007
  9. ^ Exhibition on the subject of Falkenstein . In: Südkurier of April 13, 2010
  10. ↑ Falkenstein. Exhibition ends on Monday . In: Südkurier of May 28, 2010
  11. ^ Herbert Rädle: On the dating of the Falkensteiner altar by the master of Messkirch . In: Journal for Hohenzollern History . No. 39, 1989. p. 60
  12. ^ Elsbeth Wiemann, Hatje Cantz: Painting. Fine treasures. A stroke of luck for Stuttgart: The State Gallery is showing all of the “nationally valuable” paintings in the Fürstenberg Collection . In: FOCUS . No. 21. 2002.

literature

  • Mention of the castle in the Zimmerische Chronik
  • Christoph Bizer: Dating castles through ceramics . In: City development in the district of Sigmaringen-Veringen . 1985
  • Christoph Bizer, Rolf Götz: Forgotten castles of the Swabian Alb . DRW publishing house. Stuttgart 1989. ISBN 3-87181-244-7
  • Johannes Bühler: coat of arms, mug, love game: the chronicle of the counts of rooms, 1288-1566 . Societäts-Verlag. Frankfurt am Main 1940.
  • The Chronicle of the Counts of Zimmer. Manuscripts 580 and 581 of the Princely Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen . Edited by Hansmartin Decker-Hauff with the collaboration of Rudolf Seigel. Thorbecke, Konstanz 1964–1972 (3 vol.), Incomplete
  • H. Edelmann: The Donaufalkenstein . In: Hohenzollerische Volkszeitung. No. 88 . 1906
  • H. Edelmann: The Donaufalkenstein . In: Leaves of the Swabian Alb Association . No. 19, 1976. Edited by the Swabian Alb Association. Stuttgart 1907. ISSN  1438-373X
  • Friedrich Eisele: The gentlemen from Magenbuch . In: Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte . No. 2. Vol. 1935. from the Association for History, Culture and Regional Studies of Hohenzollern in Sigmaringen
  • Walther Frick: Stories from Zimmer's Chronicle.
  • Wilhelm Gradmann: Castles and palaces of the Swabian Alb . DRW publishing house. Stuttgart 1980. ISBN 3-87181-206-4
  • Arthur Hauptmann: Castles then and now. Castles and castle ruins in southern Baden and adjacent areas . Verlag des Südkurier. Constance 1984. ISBN 3-87799-040-1
  • Hans-Wilhelm Heine : Studies on weir systems between the young Danube and western Lake Constance . In: Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (Hrsg.): Research and reports on the archeology of the Middle Ages in Baden-Württemberg. Volume 5 . Stuttgart 1978. ISSN  0178-3262
  • Alfons Kasper: Art and travel guide. No. 3. Art walks all over the Danube . Bad Schussenried 1964
  • Swabian Alb. Volume 5. Upper Danube Nature Park . Travel and transport publisher. Berlin 1984. ISBN 3-575-11480-3
  • Wilfried Pfefferkorn: The Falkenstein castle ruins on the Danube . Reprint 1986
  • Wilfried Pfefferkorn: Rock castles in the upper Danube valley . In: Castles and Palaces. Journal for Castle Research and Monument Preservation . No. 14. 1974. European Castle Institute - establishment of the German Castle Association Braubach 1974. ISSN  0007-6201
  • Günter Schmitt : Unter- and Oberfalkenstein . In: Ders .: Burgenführer Schwäbische Alb. Volume 3: Danube Valley. Hiking and discovering between Sigmaringen and Tuttlingen . Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach an der Riß 1990, ISBN 3-924489-50-5 , pp. 121-130.
  • Eva Walter, Thomas Pfündel: Forays into the Danube Valley: from Donaueschingen to Ulm . DRW publishing house. Stuttgart 198. ISBN 3-87181-255-2
  • Karl Theodor Zingler, Georg Buck: Zolleric palaces, castles and castle ruins in Swabia . 1906

Web links

Commons : Burg Falkenstein (Donautal)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files