Behringen Castle
The Schloss Behringen in Behringen on Hainich in Thuringia comes mainly from the Renaissance - and Baroque -time. It was built from the 16th century under the von Wangenheim aristocratic family , who lived in Behringen from 1305 until the expropriation in 1945.
history
There was probably a previous building in the southeastern area of the current castle. Under Frederick the Middle of Wangenheim, the construction of the current palace began in the early Renaissance in the mid-16th century. Parts of the south wing, the bay window, the not demolished lower parts of the stair tower and the lower area of the southern part of the east wing date from this time. Although an inscription on the bay window says that construction began in 1517, it was later assumed in 1547. A year before that, Friedrich the Middle had taken over Großenbehringen. The castle was inhabited by Friedrich and his family from at least 1567.
After a fire in 1621, Balthasar von Wangenheim carried out extensive renovations inside. The half-timbered building in the middle part of the east wing also dates from the 17th century. During the Thirty Years' War it burned again in 1631 and in 1632 it was looted. After that it was temporarily uninhabited. During the Baroque period, major construction work was carried out, especially inside the castle. During this time, from 1743 to 1792, Ernst Wilhelm von Wangenheim lived in the castle and probably initiated the extensions. He also had the large palace park laid out. The stair tower was raised to its outstanding height in the 17th or 18th century. Before 1874 the old north wing had been demolished and was replaced by a new one. The half-timbered upper floors of the north and west wings date from the beginning of the 20th century. Othmar von Wangenheim, who owned the castle and estate from 1928, also carried out conversions and extensions.
During the German War on June 27, 1866, in the battle of Langensalza, Prussian troops from Minden and Hamburg were defeated by the army of the Kingdom of Hanover , which nevertheless surrendered two days later to the superior Prussian army. On June 24th and 25th, 1866, the Behringer Palace housed King George V of Hanover and his general staff, and negotiations with the Prussian General Alvensleben also took place here. From today's perspective, military historians refer to the Behringen trial as the reason for the later defeat of the Hanoverians. This delay gave the more distant Prussian units time and opportunity to thwart the further advance of the Hanoverians south.
Behringen Castle was expropriated without compensation in 1946 and thus became state property . From 1949 it took on a psychiatric and old people's home . This involved considerable renovations. Tower dome and octagon were demolished, the west wing gutted and rebuilt in the late 1980s. An intermediate building was erected on the north side of the south wing and an extensive extension for technical systems was built on the north side of the castle courtyard. After 2000 the castle was extensively restored and the additions removed. In 2007, the Schlosshotel Behringen was presented to the Minister-President of Thuringia as the "accessible European youth palace " of the Grenzenlos GmbH .
Behringen Castle
Behringen Castle from the east
Behringen Castle Courtyard
Epitaphs in the Behringen castle courtyard
The former inspector's house to the east of the castle was restored in 2000 and taken on its new function as a local museum and community library.
The castle park (338 ar) from the 18th century has been preserved in parts. Its 200 year old Weymouth pine is well known . Other rare tree species were lost and new plantings were made. A 6 km long sculpture hiking trail to Hütscheroda begins in the park ; it was laid out with modern sculptures after 1996. The Rennstieg des Hainich , which leads over 32 km to Eigenrieden , also begins in Behringer Schlosspark .
Local history museum, former inspector's house of the castle
White Pine in the Behringen Castle Park
Thälmann memorial stone in Behringen Castle Park
Sculpture: Leda and the swan in the Behringen Castle Park
The daughter of Othmar von Wangenheim, Elisabeth von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1912-2010), lived at the castle in 1944/45 with her husband, Karl August von Sachsen-Weimar and Eisenach. She fled heavily pregnant in June 1945, shortly before the arrival of the Red Army , to West Germany. Even after the reunification , the last lady of the castle did not want to visit Behringen any more, in order to remember it as in childhood and youth. Elisabeth died in Munich in 2010 and was buried in the Wartburg . The twin sister of Elisabeth von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Dorothee von Bandemer (1912-2006), was also one of the last residents of the castle to belong to the von Wangenheim family. Her daughter Luise-Henriette was born in Behringen Castle on May 14, 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War. Dorothee von Bandemer fled with her daughter in 1945 and only returned to Behringen for a short visit after 1990.
Individual evidence
- ^ Thuringian General, March 17, 2010
literature
- Günter Groth: Chronicle of the community of Behringen 1920 to 1945 . Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2006, ISBN 978-3-938997-08-6
- Günter Groth: Chronicle of the community of Behringen 1945 to 1989 . Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2008
Web links
- Inventory of Behringen Castle
- Reconstruction and completion of the old castle park in Behringen and expansion of the former inspector's house, which belonged to the castle, to become a local museum for the Hainich / Werratal region
Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 21 ″ N , 10 ° 30 ′ 50 ″ E