Binzen Castle

Binzen Castle
	Remains of the foundation walls of Binzen Castle 2018
Alternative name (s):	Bintzheim Castle, Binzen Castle
Creation time :	12th or 13th century
Castle type :	Moated castle
Conservation status:	overbuilt
Place:	Binzen
Geographical location	47 ° 37 '56.5 " N , 7 ° 37' 22.3" E Coordinates: 47 ° 37 '56.5 " N , 7 ° 37' 22.3" E

The Castle Binzen (also lock Bintzheim or castle Binzen) is a abgegangenes moated castle , which in the municipality Binzen in today's district Lörrach stood.

history

Coat of arms of the Lords of Grünenberg

The earliest known mention of the castle dates from 1405 and calls it the property of Grymm von Grünenberg . It is believed that the castle was built in the 12th or 13th century at the time of the Lords of Binzen or at the end of the 14th century. On December 21, 1448 this castle was destroyed by troops from the city of Basel . The landlord of Binzen, Wilhelm von Grünenberg, and other Hapsburg followers had sent a letter of rejection to the city of Basel, declaring war. The castle was only rebuilt after 1468. It remains unclear whether the Lords von Baldegg, who were named by Grünenberg as fief holders, also had shares in the castle at times . From 1478 the Baldeggers appear as the sole fief holders. In 1503 Hans von Baldegg sold the castle and village of Binzen to the Basel Bishop Christoph von Utenheim . The castle was then the seat of the Binzen Burgvogtei of the Principality of Basel until it was destroyed . The Margraves of Baden had sovereignty over Binzen. The castle also served the prince-bishopric as a prison at times, which can be deduced from a corresponding permit from Margrave Ernst from 1529.

In 1615 the castle burned down due to the carelessness of the staff. In the Thirty Years War (December 1641), fire completely destroyed the castle during the occupation by French troops. After that, the castle was not rebuilt. But the tower had lost the roof and the interior by the fire, was still 1730. 1769 the Bishop of Basel, joined Simon-Nicolas de Montjoie-Hirsingue , his rights and properties in Binzen in exchange for rights in Schliengen , Mauchen and Stone City to the Margrave Karl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach exits . After that, between 1771 and 1773, the tower was completely demolished, and the rampart and moat were leveled.

description

In the absence of a drawing and a complete description of the complex, which is partly referred to as a castle and partly as a castle, there is only a description made up of mentions in various documents. Accordingly, the castle (which was rebuilt after 1468) was a relatively small two-story house that was directly on the Kander . In addition to the house, there was a free-standing tower, a stable and a tithe barn. The complex was surrounded by a moat and the way to the entrance gate led over a drawbridge. A sundial and the coat of arms of the duchy of Basel were placed above the entrance gate.

In March 2018, due to a building request, exploratory excavations were carried out in Schlossgasse near the Kander, exposing part of the foundation walls. It was a rectangular building with a side length of about 8 meters on the inside and a wall thickness of almost one meter. The walled area was about 65 m², which would mean a living space of about 130 m² for the two floors to be derived from the written sources. The “castle” was roughly the size of a single-family house today. No evidence of a tower has yet been found. The ceramic shards found in the excavation site support the assumed useful life from the written sources from around 1400 to the 17th century.

literature

Michael Burger: Binzen (LÖ). In Alfons Zettler, Thomas Zotz : The castles in medieval Breisgau, II Southern part. Halbband A-K . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2009, ISBN 978-3-7995-7366-5 , pp. 78-82.
Amadée Membrez: The Binzen Burgvogtei under the Prince-Bishops of Basel 1503–1769 , Freiburg im Breisgau 1928
Fritz Schülin: Binzen , Schopfheim 1967, pp. 58-61