Hirschberg Castle (Bavaria)

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Hirschberg Castle seen from Arzberg .

Hirschberg Castle is located on an elongated mountain tongue above Beilngries in the Altmühltal Nature Park and, together with the Willibaldsburg in Eichstätt, is one of the two largest castle complexes in the Altmühltal. The village of Hirschberg borders the castle .

history

Hirschberg Castle, defense towers of the medieval Count Castle
Hirschberg Castle, moat of the medieval count's castle
Hirschberg Castle after the fire of 1632
View from the castle bridge to the inner courtyard
Hirschberg Castle, inner courtyard

From 1170 to 1200, built counts of Grögling and Dollnstein on the Hirschberg an extensive castle and named themselves after their new seat from 1205 "Counts of Hirschberg." The family, which comes from the county of Ottenburg an der Moosach (west of Freising ), had received the protective bailiff through the Eichstätter Church through an imperial award. The castle built at that time (previous buildings are archaeologically proven) already had the same dimensions as today, a rectangle with a length of 200 m and a width of 50 m. Many parts of the Grafenburg have been preserved in their structure to the present day: the two keep in the west, the southern curtain wall up to the castle chapel. On September 8th, 1304, the last Count of Hirschberg, Gebhard VII., Bequeathed the Count's Castle and Grafschaft to the Bishop of Eichstätt , on whose grounds the castle was once built. He died in 1305; the new lords of the castle expanded and added to the complex over the centuries.

Bishop Friedrich IV of Oettingen (1383–1415) led the north tower to its present height and added a four-storey building to it for the bailiff, Bishop Albrecht II of Hohenrechberg (1429–1445) relocated the original access to the defensive wall south of the gate tower . He also built the spacious outer bailey to the west of the neck ditch , the wall of which has been preserved with four towers. Bishop Wilhelm von Reichenau (1464–1496) replaced the old Count's building on the eastern tip of the mountain with a three-story mansion, the outer walls of which, including the original window axes, still exist in today's hall. The large north wing was built under Bishop Martin von Schaumberg (1560–1590), the windows of which on the north side still bear the stone sills and roofs. In 1632 most of the castle burned down due to a lightning strike, only the towers, the nursing home and the chapel were spared. A votive picture of the nurse Lorenz von Helmstadt, which hangs today on the second floor of the stairwell, conveys a picture of the destroyed facility. It was not until 1670 to 1729 that the castle was partly rebuilt and partly renewed. Many parts, however, have not been renovated. Therefore, a new overall plan was drawn up, which was to implement the palace in line with the great palace architecture of the late baroque. The order for this was given by Bishop Raymund Anton Graf von Strasoldo (1757–1781). From 1760 to 1764, the prince-bishop's court building director Moritz Pedetti built the symmetrical rococo palace complex that is still visible today. Pedetti led the south wing in the place of the old grain box to its present extent to the west and demolished the nursing home and the high shield wall between the defensive towers. In this way he gained a symmetrical court of honor 150 m deep. The outer bailey was then given a 60 m deep avenue in the extension of the central axis, which leads straight through the fields and corridors into the neighboring Jura forests in the so-called “Fürstenstrasse”. Finally, Pedetti gave the entire exterior architecture of the rococo castle a uniform facade structure, while the Eichstätter court sculptor Johann Jakob Berg gave the interior a rich stucco decoration.

In 1803 the castle fell to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand during the secularization . In the following decades the owner changed several times: in 1806 it fell to the Bavarian state , in 1817 it fell to the newly founded principality of Eichstätt under Eugen Beauharnais , Duke of Leuchtenberg , and in 1833 it fell back to the Bavarian state.

Various church uses in recent times

In 1860, Bishop Georg von Oettl (1846–1866) bought the castle for the episcopal seminary in Eichstätt for the vacation of the alumni and seminarians.

In 1923, the " Hirschberg Program " of the Federal New Germany was announced at the castle .

In 1925 the castle became a retreat house for the Eichstätt diocese . In 1967/69 the Marienkapelle was built on the southern slope according to plans by Alexander Freiherr von Branca . 1987–1992 the historical rooms were completely renovated. Diocesan master builder Karljosef Schattner designed the new building as an extension of the dining room, kitchen and cafeteria on the southern slope and was responsible for the interior renovation of the house.

Since 2003 the house has been operating under the name "Diocese House Schloss Hirschberg".

Today's shape of the castle

Since Hirschberg Castle serves as an educational center, a visit is only possible as part of public tours that take place on Sunday afternoons.

At and in the castle are worth seeing in terms of art history:

  • Central portal of the hall building with Jura stone sculptures by Johann Jakob Berg , representing the court, ceremonial and kitchen master, with building inscription and coat of arms of the Prince-Bishop of Strasoldo; the stucco inside also by J. J. Berg
  • Imperial hall on the 1st floor of the central building with the portrait paintings of the 18th century imperial house by Johann Michael Franz , ceiling stucco with hunting scenes
  • Knight's hall on the 2nd floor with pilasters made of faience panels , with paintings of Hochstiftsorten, by Gebhard VII. Von Hirschberg and Prince-Bishop Raymund Anton Graf von Strasoldo and with a ceiling fresco "Sacrifice of Iphigenia in Aulis", all by Johann Michael Franz, and with stucco
  • Other stucco rooms, including the "spider room"
  • Old castle chapel of St.  John the Evangelist , stucco altar with the evangelist who receives and writes down the revelation (so-called Johanneskapelle )
  • Deer antlers on Obereichstätter cast plates in the inner courtyard on the two side wings
  • Baroque gate entrance with stone animal sculptures
  • New castle chapel in the von Branca annex, St. Maria dedicated (so-called Marie Chapel ), with underlying auditorium

literature

  • Friedrich Hermann Hofmann, Felix Mader (Ed.): District Office Beilngries. I. District Court Beilngries , In: Die Kunstdenkmäler von Oberpfalz Regensburg Volume XXII, Oldenbourg , Munich 1908 (unaltered reprint: Munich / Vienna 1982, ISBN 3-486-50442-8 ), pp. 69-93.
  • Felix Mader: Hirschberg Castle. In: Deutsche Kunstführer , Volume 29, Filser, Augsburg 1929.
  • Felix Mader: History of the castle and Oberamt Hirschberg. Brönner & Daentler'sche book printing and bookshop, Eichstätt 1940/1942.
  • Wolfgang Wüst: Hirschberg Castle and the hunting passion of the Eichstätt prince-bishops. In: Hanswernfried Muth, Erich Schneider (Ed.): Altfränkische Bilder , NF, 3rd year 2008, Würzburg 2007, ISSN  1862-7404 , pp. 13-16.
  • Karl Zecherle (editor): Castles and palaces . Eichstätt district in the Altmühltal nature park. Ed .: District of Eichstätt. 2nd unchanged edition. Hercynia-Verlag, Kipfenberg 1987, DNB  944206697 , p. 42-43 .

Web links

Commons : Hirschberg Castle  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Max Künzel: The Hirschberger glasses man. Würzburg medical history reports 21, 2002, p. 556 f.

Coordinates: 49 ° 2 ′ 13.9 ″  N , 11 ° 27 ′ 31.7 ″  E