Friedberg Castle (Bavaria)

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South-east side of the palace complex

The Friedberg Castle or Wittelsbach Castle is a renaissance complex in the north of the town of Friedberg in the Aichach-Friedberg district in Old Bavaria, today part of Swabia . The well-preserved monument goes back to a high medieval castle of the Dukes of Bavaria and today houses the municipal museum of local history and event rooms.

history

The unusually deep ditch in front of the castle is possibly an indication of an early medieval predecessor complex, perhaps a Hungarian protective castle. On the Lechrain, between Thierhaupten and Mering, there are several weir systems from this period, so that such a rampart at the gates of Augsburg seems entirely plausible. Many such ramparts go back to prehistoric and early historical settlements. In the older literature, a Roman guard station or settlement on the Schlossberg was also considered.

The high medieval castle was built in 1257 under Duke Ludwig II the Strict to protect the Bavarian customs post on the border with the imperial city of Augsburg . At this time, the bishop of Augsburg also tried to expand his bishopric over the Lech. In 1264, the city of Friedberg was laid out as planned, and its fortifications were connected to the fortifications.

A memorial stone in St. Jakob by Duke Ludwig the Bearded tells of building work in Friedberg Castle in 1409

In 1409 the fortress was rebuilt and expanded under Duke Ludwig the Bearded . In 1541 a fire devastated the facility, which subsequently had to be largely renewed. The design for the new building in simple Renaissance forms comes from Jörg Stern. However, the construction manager was Narcissus Krebs . The medieval castle was expanded to include the west wing on this occasion. In 1567 the new castle was assigned to Duchess Christina of Lorraine as a widow's seat, whose presence until 1575 made Friedberg a center of court life in Bavaria for a short time.

Damage occurred during the Thirty Years' War , which was repaired by Marx Schinnagel from 1652 to 1656. From 1754 to 1768 a faience factory was set up in the rooms. From 1789 the castle served as the seat of the forest administration, later (from 1803) the rent office was housed here. As early as 1886, the first local museum was built in the complex, which is now managed by an academic art historian. Since 1982 the museum has presented numerous exhibits on the local and regional history in 14 showrooms.

In 1977, a comprehensive restoration of the Wittelsbach Castle began and the conversion for use by the land surveying office, which had been based here since 1915. In 2007 the surveying offices of Aichach and Friedberg were merged as part of the Bavarian administrative reform. The seat of the new office is Aichach . The offices in Friedberg became free. At the same time, the city acquired the castle from the Free State and began redesigning the site in winter. As a first step, the green belt around the facility was thinned out in order to better integrate the ingrown ensemble into the cityscape. The comprehensive three-year renovation of the building for 23 million euros was completed in 2018. The building was gutted and uniformly redesigned. Since then, cultural events have taken place in the premises and these can also be rented for private events. In 2019, Mayor Roland Eichmann and building consultant Carlo Haupt received the monument protection medal for the repair of the castle on behalf of the city of Friedberg .

description

The castle is located on an advanced terrain spur of the Lechleite and is separated from the plateau by an unusually deep neck ditch . The lining wall of the castle hill had to be largely replaced in concrete during the renovation from 1977. The mighty bridge over the moat also dates from this time.

You enter the castle through the outworks of the square gate tower, in which the remains of the keep (13th to 15th centuries) are still stuck. A long, groin vaulted gate hall leads into the arcaded courtyard , the upper rows of arches, however, are walled up. The east wing has a simple Renaissance bay window , next to it a rustikaportal frames the doorway. The low, former commercial wing is in the north, on the other sides the round or basket-arched arcades surround the irregular inner courtyard.

The defensive character of the complex has been significantly reduced since it was largely rebuilt in the Renaissance period, but a few wall sections and two defensive towers made of brickwork are still preserved at the foot of the castle hill . To the south, the castle is connected to the city fortifications by a connecting wall, of which larger parts have also been preserved. Castle and town are separated by the medieval neck ditch, which runs in an arch to the slope edge.

The interior has changed significantly due to the various conversions and conversions. The so-called knight's hall on the ground floor of the west wing has been well preserved . The Gothic hall (probably the former Dürnitz ) is spanned by six ribbed vaults.

Museum in Wittelsbach Castle

Since the renovation in 1982, the museum has presented numerous exhibits on regional and city history in 14 rooms. The focus is on the prehistory and early history of the Lechrain , religious, civil and rural culture and the important collections of Friedberger clocks and faiences.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was a center of watchmaking . Some top pieces of this production could be acquired for the museum. From 1754 to 1768, the "electoral privileged porcelain manufacture" in the castle produced partially richly decorated faience dishes. The permanent exhibitions are supplemented by regular changing exhibitions.

Trivia

In 2015, the mayor of Friedberg, Roland Eichmann, commissioned a Feng Shui report on the castle. According to media reports, he should suspect that "negative forces" are at work there due to the warlike history of the building. Eichmann rejected the fact that this report, as reported, was connected with the fact that his dog was always restless in the castle. He himself rather doesn't believe in Feng Shui and only followed a recommendation from the city administration. The discussion about this report, as well as the dispute about a later satirical discussion of the case, repeatedly attracted national media coverage.

gallery

literature

Web links

Commons : Schloss Friedberg (Bavaria)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. StadtZeitung GmbH & Co. KG: Friedberger Schloss: Now the 23 million euro landmark is ready . In: stadtzeitung.de . ( stadtzeitung.de [accessed on October 13, 2018]).
  2. Thomas Goßner: The Friedbergers get their castle back . In: Augsburger Allgemeine . ( augsburger-allgemeine.de [accessed on October 13, 2018]).
  3. Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (ed.): Monument Protection Medal 2019 . Munich 2019 ( online [PDF; 11.4 MB ; accessed on October 23, 2019]).
  4. kunst-und-kultur.de: 250 years Friedberger Fayencen (1754-1768) , accessed December 20, 2012
  5. Thomas Gossner: Negative Forces: Mayor uses a Feng Shui consultant in the castle. Retrieved March 24, 2019 .
  6. Hans Kratzer: "They try to make me look ridiculous" . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2015, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on March 23, 2019]).
  7. ^ Rudolf Stumberger: Posse in Friedberg: The secret Feng Shui report for the haunted castle . July 20, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed March 23, 2019]).
  8. ^ Thomas Gossner: Expensive Feng Shui consultant for the castle: Criticism of the mayor. Retrieved March 23, 2019 .
  9. Ute Krogull: A new act in the Friedberger Theaterposse. Retrieved March 23, 2019 .
  10. Bayerischer Rundfunk Torsten Thierbach: The mayor and the castle report: Feng Shui satire forbidden: Trouble about Friedberger play . March 23, 2018 ( br.de [accessed August 20, 2019]).

Coordinates: 48 ° 21 ′ 28 "  N , 10 ° 58 ′ 45"  E