Hambach Castle

This article covers Hambach Castle in the Düren district. For the castle in Rhineland-Palatinate: see Hambacher Schloss

Hambach Castle
Creation time :	around 1278
Castle type :	Moated castle, hunting and summer palace, court camp in the Duchy of Jülich
Place:	Hambach
Geographical location	50 ° 54 '0 "  N , 6 ° 26' 27"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '0 "  N , 6 ° 26' 27"  E

The Hambach castle in the town district Hambach of the municipality Niederzier in Düren is a former hunting lodge of the Dukes of Jülich . The castle is a rectangular four-wing complex with four corner towers. However, only parts of two wings and three towers remain. The original size of the complex can be roughly guessed after the recent restoration. The two towers flanking the entrance, which were converted into living space during the restoration, are particularly impressive.

history

Today's castle emerged from a castle that was built around 1280 by Count Walram von Jülich . In December 1512 the building burned down as a result of a powder explosion, was subsequently rebuilt and expanded by Duke Johann . Between 1558 and 1565, on behalf of Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, it was expanded into a representative Renaissance castle and used by him as a venue for glamorous hunting parties. Alessandro Pasqualini and his son Maximilian Pasqualini were responsible as architects . From here the duke and his entourage hunted in the game-rich Hambach Forest .

In 1659 the state parliament of the Duchy of Jülich met at the castle. In the 18th century it was used as an electoral pleasure palace before it was converted into a monastery in 1769.

The French declared it a national property in 1794 and sold the inventory from 1801 to 1805. Furthermore, they tore down the north tower and the north-west wing. From 1805 the meadows and the land belonging to the castle were leased to farmers, after the Second World War only the moat was left. In 1845 the castle became the property of the Claessen family from Frankfurt, whose descendants still live there today.

In 1944, during the fierce fighting on the Rur , the building was the headquarters of the German 959th People's Grenadier Regiment and was exposed to heavy artillery fire by the Americans, which resulted in extensive destruction on the west side, while the actual residential building was only slightly damaged. After the Second World War it was used as an emergency shelter.

In the years 1957 to 1958 the west tower was restored and from 1998 to 2002 the remaining ruins were secured, restored and partly rebuilt. They now serve as apartments.

photos

• 

  The southwest tower

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  The southeast tower with partly new brickwork and windows. The height of the old facade can be seen

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  The north-western tower with pasture in front of it

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  Inner courtyard with a view of the western part of the building

See also

• List of architectural monuments in Niederzier

Web links

Commons : Hambach Castle  - Collection of Images

• Anja Kircher-Kannemann: C.7. Hambach . Residences Commission Kiel Office; Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
• Castles in the Jülich Land Photo friends on the road in 2005 . City of Jülich. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
• Hambach . Residences Commission Kiel Office; Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Retrieved April 1, 2013.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anja Kircher-Kannemann: C.7. Hambach . Residences Commission Kiel Office; Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
2. ^ Jean Charles François Baron de Ladoucette: Journey in 1813 and 1814 through the country between the Meuse and the Rhine . Ed .: Birgit Gerlach. 1st edition. Antiquariat Am St. Vith, Mönchengladbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-028810-4 , p. 156 .