Saarburg (castle)
Saarburg | ||
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The castle ruins over the old town of Saarburg |
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Creation time : | 964 | |
Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
Conservation status: | ruin | |
Place: | Saarburg | |
Geographical location | 49 ° 36 '34.6 " N , 6 ° 33' 18.5" E | |
Height: | 202 m above sea level NHN | |
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The Saarburg is the ruin of a hilltop castle on a southern mountain spur of 206.5 m above sea level. NHN high Schloßbergs above the city of Saarburg in the Trier-Saarburg district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It is one of the oldest hilltop castles in western Germany.
history
The castle, which was probably built in the 10th century, was first mentioned in a document in 964. In that year it was given to Count Siegfried of Luxembourg by the Archbishopric of Trier as a fief . After the death of Siegfried's son Adelbero in 1046, the castle fell back to the Archbishopric of Trier.
The Lords of Reuland seem to have acquired rights to the castle through the Counts of Luxembourg . Due to these rights, the castle was occupied by Arnold von Reuland in 1300. He only released the castle again after Archbishop Balduin von Trier bought his rights from him in 1313. Since at the same time Johann von Luxemburg , also called Johann von Böhmen or the Blind, renounced all rights of the Counts of Luxemburg to the castle, Kurtrier was the sole owner of the castle from that time on. The Archbishops of Trier had the castle expanded continuously in the period that followed.
In 1431 Ulrich von Manderscheid attacked the castle and destroyed it. Johann II of Baden rebuilt the castle and was consecrated as Archbishop of Trier in the castle chapel in 1464.
In 1522 the castle was successfully defended against the troops of Franz von Sickingen , but 30 years later it was destroyed again by the Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach . The reconstruction took place at the end of the 16th century.
During the wars of conquest of Louis XIV , the castle was occupied several times by the French and Spanish. During the War of the Spanish Succession , the castle was conquered again by the French in 1702 and was only liberated in 1704 by the Prussian "Schwerin" legion. Hardly inhabited since 1734, the complex began to decline.
investment
From the medieval castle complex with an area of 137 by 50 meters there are still remnants of the surrounding walls and a Romanesque residential tower , originally a three-storey permanent house , into which a round keep was later built. The residential tower has an almost square floor plan (13 by 15 meters), a wall thickness of 1.5 meters and a height of 14 meters. The keep has a diameter of seven meters and is around 21.5 meters high with the covered staircase. Its high entrance is around four meters high . From here a wooden spiral staircase leads to the 15.5 meter high viewing platform . The ruin is freely accessible and offers a good view of Saarburg and the Saar Valley from the keep .
literature
- Wolfgang Binsfeld: Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments. Volume 34. Western Hunsrück: Bernkastel-Kues, Idar-Oberstein, Birkenfeld, Saarburg . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1977, ISBN 3-8053-0303-3 .
- Friedrich Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages. Floor plan lexicon. Weidlich / Flechsig, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-8035-1372-3 .
- Ludwig Petry (Hrsg.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany . Volume 5: Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 275). 3. Edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-520-27503-1 .
Web links
- Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun
References and comments
- ↑ Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate nature conservation administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
- ↑ a b Height information according to measurements taken privately