Kaltenstein Castle

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Kaltenstein Castle
Medieval and more modern fortifications around the castle (1832)

The cold stone castle is located in the Baden-Württemberg community of Vaihingen and towers above the landmark of the city.

history

Vaihingen Castle

The forerunner of the castle was first mentioned in a document as "Castrum Vehingen" ( Vaihingen Castle ) in 1096. Until around 1185, the castle was the eponymous seat of the first counts of Vaihingen. Through the marriage of the heir's daughter, the county and the castle came to Count Gottfried von Calw , who founded the second line of the Counts of Vaihingen . His indebted descendants had to sell the castle and town in the 14th century. So the castle finally came to the House of Württemberg via the Margraves of Baden and the Counts of Oettingen in 1339 . From then on, a senior bailiff appointed by the Württemberg counts resided in the castle, but usually shone with his absence.

Stair tower in the courtyard

Kaltenstein Castle

In the 16th century the inner area of the castle was the castle rebuilt and will presumably be renamed. Up until the 18th century, Kaltenstein Castle was redesigned twice and, above all, its fortification was supplemented by modern jumps. Up until the end of the 19th century, the building was used for various purposes: as a military base (garrison) and military hospital (military hospital) and, from 1843, as a workhouse .

During the Nazi era, “protective prisoners” were held at the castle in 1933 ; it was also used to house prisoners of war in both world wars. The head of the workhouse, Chief Government Officer Christian Walther, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison in 1953, among other things, for "105 crimes of unsuccessful incitement to murder".

After the Second World War, the castle was taken over by the Christian Youth Village Association of Germany (CJD) in 1949 to serve as a youth, educational and social workshop for young people. At the end of 2013, the CJD canceled the rooms it had rented in the castle, but continues to use its own facilities in the immediate vicinity of the castle.

A part of the shield wall made of humpback brick masonry, which is integrated into the castle building, has been preserved from the castle. Likewise, the two side walls that led to the former city gates in the Enz Valley. Parts of the more modern fortifications are still present.

In 2020, a building concession agreement with a term of 27 years was concluded between the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Private Schloss-Collection GmbH & Co KG of Wolfgang Scheidtweiler . Thereafter, the company is obliged to renovate the castle and then entitled to use the structure economically for the duration of the contract. The state is contributing to the additional costs due to the monument protection with start-up financing in the amount of 6 million euros.

literature

  • Gerhard Fritz: Noble gentlemen. The Counts of Vaihingen, their village and their city from the 11th to the 14th century . In: Lothar Behr, Otto-Heinrich Elias , Manfred Scheck, Ernst Eberhard Schmidt (eds.): History of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz , Vaihingen 2001, ISBN 3-933486-34-3 , pp. 67-98.
  • Wilfried Pfefferkorn, Ernst Eberhard Schmidt: Vaihingen Castle called Kaltenstein Castle. The building and its history. (= Supplements to the series of publications of the city of Vaihingen an der Enz , issue 3) City of Vaihingen, Vaihingen 1997.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Kaltenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ LG Heilbronn, December 7, 1953 . In: Justice and Nazi crimes . Collection of German criminal judgments for Nazi homicide crimes 1945–1966, Vol. XII, edited by Adelheid L Rüter-Ehlermann, HH Fuchs and CF Rüter . Amsterdam: University Press, 1974, No. 386, pp. 109-174
  2. ↑ Welcome to the CJD Youth Village Kaltenstein
  3. ↑ Schloss Kaltenstein soon without CJD , Vaihinger Kreiszeitung from August 6, 2013
  4. ↑ Press release of July 14, 2020

Coordinates: 48 ° 56 ′ 4.2 ″  N , 8 ° 57 ′ 16.6 ″  E