Fischbach Castle (Franconia)

The Fischbach Castle is located about three kilometers north of the former county seat boars in the district Fischbach in the district of Haßberge ( Lower Franconia ). The small aristocratic seat has been owned by the Freiherr von Rotenhan since the 13th century and is still inhabited today by a line of this widely branched family.

history

General view from the castle courtyard

The plain west side

The lords of Rotenhan were in the Middle Ages servants of the Bamberg diocese or bishopric contractually obligated. The “Bamberg” ancestral castle Rotenhan , located directly in front of the gates of the Würzburg town of Ebern, was a thorn in the flesh of the competing Hochstift Würzburg . In 1323 troops from Würzburg besieged the rock castle on the mountain slope under the pretext of counterfeiting . The Fischbach Castle was also damaged in the course of the fighting. The von Rotenhan family was not allowed to rebuild their ancestral castle after the conquest and had to submit their goods to the Würzburg fiefdom . A complete loss could only be prevented by the intervention of Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria .

The Fischbach estate does not seem to have been completely destroyed. The Rotenhan found shelter there for several years until the new castle in Eyrichshof was built (1330). The complete reconstruction began in 1332. Since then the castle has been inhabited (with interruptions) by various lines of the entire family. During the Peasants' War (1525), the rebels looted and devastated the residence. This renewed damage was probably the reason for the new building begun in 1530, which forms the core of today's castle. This building was expanded on the north side in 1605, but again devastated during the Thirty Years War . At that time, the two upper floors should have been completely demolished, which is why they had to be completely removed in 1707. The castle remained in its one-story state until the 20th century (illustration in the inventory volume). After the Second World War , one floor was added, so that the facility is now two-story again. The inside is divided into several private apartments, an outside inspection is possible at any time.

Building description

The simple, rectangular castle building is located in the center of the village. On the courtyard side, two semicircular towers jump out of the wall. The two former half-timbered upper floors were replaced by a stone upper floor a few decades ago. The towers were also changed and raised, but the shape of the simple hipped roof was retained. In the larger tower, a spiral staircase leads to the upper floor, on the right a barn was attached to the main building. The arched entrance gate has still been preserved. The Rotenhan-Münster marriage coat of arms (end of the 16th century) is embedded above the former main portal to the left of the stair tower . In the north, the castle district is completed by the economic buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, in the east by the Protestant castle and parish church from 1761.

literature

• The art monuments of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Volume 3: Administrative region of Lower Franconia & Aschaffenburg. = The art monuments of Lower Franconia & Aschaffenburg. Issue 15: Hans Karlinger : District Office Ebern. With a historical introduction by Hans Ring. Oldenbourg, Munich 1916 (Unchanged reprint. Ibid 1983, ISBN 3-486-50469-X ).
• Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown. 2nd volume. Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Neue Presse, Coburg 1978.
• Anton Rahrbach, Jörg Schöffl, Otto Schramm: Palaces and castles in Lower Franconia - A complete representation of all palaces, manors, castles and ruins in the Lower Franconian independent cities and districts . Hofmann Verlag, Nuremberg 2002, ISBN 3-87191-309-X , p. 159.

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 36.5 ″  N , 10 ° 45 ′ 47.9 ″  E