Runneburg

Runneburg
	Runneburg Palas, residential tower and stables from the south
Alternative name (s):	Weißensee Castle, Wyssense
Creation time :	1168
Castle type :	Location
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Standing position :	Count
Place:	Weissensee
Geographical location	51 ° 12 '1 " N , 11 ° 3' 44" E Coordinates: 51 ° 12 '1 " N , 11 ° 3' 44" E

Shot-capable Trebuchet with movable counterweight on the Runneburg, reconstruction between June 16th 1995 and July 1997

Interior view of the courtyard

The Runneburg (modern name; in the Middle Ages called Burg Weißensee ) is located in the town of Weißensee in the Sömmerda district in Thuringia .

history

The assumption that the Runneburg was built on the remains of a hill fort from the 6th century has now been archaeologically refuted. From 1168 the Ländgräfin let Judith of Hohenstaufen , a half-sister of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , the Runneburg to a residence of the Landgrave of Thuringia with a two-storey palace , fünfgeschossigem residential tower , castle gate and castle walls to expand. The castle was first mentioned as "Wyssense" in 1174 in a document from Landgrave Ludwig III, the Mild, of Thuringia . Weißensee came into the focus of German history in 1180, when Heinrich the Lion defeated the Thuringian Landgrave Ludwig III in the Battle of Weißensee . and defeated his knight. Unsuccessful sieges of the castle followed, first in 1204 by King Philip of Swabia and in 1212 by Emperor Otto IV , who also used a trebuchet as a siege device .

1220 was Palas increased by a party hall. Landgrave Ludwig IV the Saint of Thuringia , husband of Saint Elisabeth , held a court day on the Runneburg in 1225. With the death of King Heinrich Raspe in 1247, the Ludowinger family died out. After the Hessian-Thuringian War of Succession , the Thuringian parts of the country and thus Weissensee and the Runneburg fell to Margrave Heinrich III. the illustrious of Meissen. The Wettin margraves stayed at the castle frequently and regularly. In 1382 the Runneburg came back into the possession of the Thuringians. In May 1440 the last Landgrave of Thuringia, Friedrich IV., The simple-minded , died on the Runneburg, which then came into the possession of the Dukes of Saxony .

During the Peasants' War in 1525, the rebellious peasants were refused entry into the town and the castle. From 1554 the Runneburg served as the widow's seat of the Electors of Saxony . In the years 1580/1581 new residential buildings were built. The gatehouse was built around 1600 and the carriage house was built in 1738. Due to disrepair of the old Roman already had about 1750 Bergfried (armed tower) are removed. From 1656 to 1746 Weißensee and the Runneburg belonged to the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels . After the Congress of Vienna , the city and castle came under the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815 ; The lord of the castle became the King of Prussia. In the following years the castle was rebuilt for administrative purposes. Instead of an old military magazine barn, the new Prussian district office for the then Weissensee district was built on the castle in 1890 .

After the Second World War , the Palas was used as a school in the GDR from 1952 to 1995, before the building was closed by the building authorities due to serious structural defects. Building archaeological studies have been carried out at the castle since 1988.

After German reunification, the “Association for the Rescue and Preservation of the Runneburg in Weißensee / Thür. e. V ". founded. Extensive structural security measures have been and are being carried out. The residential tower had to be protected from collapse by a steel corset. In 1993 the first castle festival and the 825th anniversary of the Runneburg took place. In the same year the museum (treasure vault) was opened on the ground floor of the hall. In 1995 the Weißensee Historical Archive was founded on the Runneburg.

The transfer of the Runneburg to the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation based in Rudolstadt took place in 1996. In the same year, the Landgrafen-Schenke castle restaurant was opened and the Runneburg Betriebsgesellschaft Weißensee mbH was founded. To commemorate the siege of the castle by Emperor Otto IV, a large slingshot was built from 1996, which was successfully tested on June 1, 1997 with a stone throw over the city's allotment gardens. On August 11, 1999, the day of the total solar eclipse , a fireball was first thrown with a slingshot .

In 1998 the historian Michael Kirchschlager discovered the Weißensee Purity Law of 1434 for the brewing of beer ( hops , malt and water ) in the historical archive Weißensee on the Runneburg . In December 1999 the first beer brewed in accordance with the Weißensee Purity Law (Runneburger 1434er) was tasted at the castle.

In 2010, however, the association stopped its activities on the Runneburg. The restaurant and museum were closed. The slingshot was already sold in 2009.

Structural renovation measures have been taking place since 1996 and are to be completed in 2017.

With its Romanesque gate and the basement of the keep dating from the same period, as well as the palace with its additions, which were extended around 1220, the castle has almost as much original high-medieval building fabric as the Wartburg and is one of the most important castles in Thuringia.

The 3B-Weißensee educational and meeting center has been located in the former Prussian district office since 2013.

investment

The castle grounds are freely accessible. However, due to ongoing maintenance work, the core area can only be viewed on weekends as part of guided tours. Finds from the castle are exhibited in the town hall of Weißensee. On the weekend of Pentecost, there will also be a medieval spectacle at the castle.

literature

Michael Kirchschlager among others: Runneburg in Weissensee. Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich / Berlin 1997.
Steffen Raßloff , Lutz Gebhardt : The Thuringian Landgraves. History and legends . Ilmenau 2017, ISBN 978-3-95560-055-6 .