Lichtenstein Castle (Saxony)
The Lichtenstein Castle is a castle in Renaissance style on the Saxon town of Lichtenstein .
location
The castle stands at an altitude of 340 meters above sea level. NN about 300 meters northeast of the city center of Lichtenstein. It is located in a strategically favorable location on a outcrop on the eastern bank of the high Rödlitzbaches and run by a former deep section trench separated from the plateau of the hinterland.
description
The castle is a two-storey four-wing complex that encloses a rectangular courtyard. The lower floor, the so-called gallery, is structured in the courtyard by arcade arches. In the middle of the west wing there is an octagonal tower. Below the lantern it has an ionic column structure. At the outer north-west corner of the castle is a round tower with a conical roof.
The main entrance is followed by a gate hall decorated with coats of arms and the castle courtyard, which has been surrounded by arcades since the 19th century (approx. 1837–1839) . The free access to the upper floor was added later. On the top of the tower there is a weather vane with the Schönburg house coat of arms.
In the Middle Ages, a drawbridge secured the entrance. The sliding channels of the bridge weights can be seen today in a room under the entrance to the castle. The foundations of the old castle were found during excavations under the pavement of the driveway to the castle gate. It should presumably be buildings in the outer bailey. Between 2014 and 2016 excavations were carried out in the castle courtyard, whereby the foundation of a square keep was found. Since there are only a few square keep in the whole of Saxony (including Waldenburg Castle), this foundation should be preserved. When the core was partially removed, a Schoenburg coat of arms was discovered and uncovered in the so-called knight's hall (presumably late Gothic) under plaster. The main structure of the castle that has been preserved dates from the 16th century and the period 1837–1839.
178 castle steps lead from Angergasse to the castle and overcome a height of 34 meters.
Renaissance facade
North side with palace forecourt, area of the former outer bailey
Castle gate
.JPG)
history
The first, but controversial, mention of the castle as "Castrum Lichtenstein" comes from the year 1212, when Emperor Friedrich II. Left the castle and rule of Lichtenstein along with other possessions to the Bohemian King Ottokar II . The lordship and castle became Bohemian imperial fiefs, which were lent on to the lords of Schönburg as imperial fiefs . This first castle complex was one-story and had wooden battlements and a watchtower. Later, the defense system was made of quarry stone masonry made of porphyry .
In 1286 Friedrich I. von Schönburg (first mentioned in 1247, died between 1290 and 1291) on "... castro Lichtenstein ...", and in 1297 Friedrich II. Von Schönburg (first mentioned in 1261, died around 1297). 1349/50 are in Lehnbuch Frederick the Severe Bohemian Lords of Schönburg - Pirsenstein , Friedrich XIII. (first mentioned 1341, died around 1367) and Albrecht I (first mentioned 1349, died around 1353) as the owner of the castles (referred to as palaces) Ponitz and Lichtenstein. In 1357 the castle was apparently destroyed during a feud between the Schönburgers and Reussians against the Margraves of Meissen, because in 1364 the foreman of the blacksmiths and hatchet makers' guild asked his masters and journeymen to “... the Burgk zum licten Steen so have known for a hundred years ... “to help build up. On April 5, 1382, the Bohemian Schönburgers sold their share in Lichtenstein to their Saxon cousins Friedrich XI. and Veit I (first mentioned in 1370, died between 1421/1423) from Schönburg- Glauchau . In 1538 there was a castle fire. It was then rebuilt in the style of the early Renaissance.
During the Thirty Years War the castle was destroyed / burned down by the imperial army on August 18, 1632. The ruins were visible until 1648. In 1648 it was rebuilt in its current form and was the center of the Schönburg feudal rule of Lichtenstein until the 19th century . An extensive renovation took place around 1790 by Otto Carl Friedrich von Schönburg-Waldenburg (1758–1800). 1837–1839 the south wing was changed and a gallery was built in the castle courtyard . During the March Revolution in 1848 , Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich , who was a relative of the Schönburger, is said to have hid in the palace. The excited people carried out a search of the castle, but it was unsuccessful.
In 1945 it served as refugee accommodation. The interior of the castle has been completely rebuilt since 1949 and served the Catholic Caritas Association as an old people's home “St. Elisabeth ".
In the 1950s, the Heimatfreunde of the Kulturbund cleared the underground passages under the castle and the Schönburg family crypt and made them accessible for sightseeing. At the entrance to the castle, the system of corridors under the castle (an alleged underground bailey ), a torture chamber and a dungeon were also discovered. In the area of the forecourt, foundations of a forecourt were discovered, which are now covered again by the paving of the forecourt. There is also a buried well or, more likely, a cistern in the corridors. The corridors have no connection to the castle today. They can be entered via a staircase on the Schlossberghang and an entrance there: 178 castle steps lead from Angergasse to the castle and overcome a height of 34 meters.
The castle became the property of Prince Alexander von Schönburg-Hartenstein in 2000.
In 2008 the usage contract with the city of Lichtenstein ended. A restorer from the region bought the building in 2014 after a foreclosure auction for 78,400 euros.
Family crypt
The crypt was laid out in 1797 under the castle chapel. 20 members of the Schönburg family are buried in it. The entrance was a ventilation shaft until 1958. The coffins made of wood, zinc, copper and cast iron were lowered through an opening in the floor of the chapel.
One of the coffins stands a little open. Otto Victor von Schönburg-Waldenburg was afraid of apparent death , so he had wood fastened between the lid and the base. A line led from the coffin through a hole in the ceiling of the crypt into his rooms and was connected to a bell with which he wanted to ring his servants in case he awoke from his apparent death.
Palace in Lichtenstein
.JPG)
The Lichtensteiner Palais is located on the access road to the castle. In 1996 the palace was the focus of the Saxon State Garden Show in Lichtenstein . From the Palais the Käpplerschlucht drags on until the village Schäller whose timber harvesting earlier the castle Kaplan state.
literature
- Bruno Lippmann : The excavations at Lichtenstein Castle . In: Natur und Heimat, 8, 1959, 1, pp. 28-30
- Bruno Lippmann: The destruction of Lichtenstein Castle in 1357 . In: Der Heimatfreund für das Erzgebirge, 7, 1962, No. 6.
- Between Mülsengrund, Stollberg and Zwönitztal (= values of our homeland . Volume 35). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1981.
- Wolf-Dieter Röber : Lichtenstein Castle . In: Series of publications Heft 3, Museum and Art Collection Schloß Hinterglauchau, City of Glauchau, 1981, GDR, p. 21, illustration on a Schönburg family tree around 1760 on p. 39 (on the history and building history of Lichtenstein Castle)
- Wolf-Dieter Röber : Aspects of the significance and dating of the corridor systems under the Hinterglauchau, Lichtenstein and Fordglauchau castles, pp. 31–33. In: Series of publications, issue 7, Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, City of Glauchau, 1988, illustration Fig. 20 / S. 37 (corridors of Lichtenstein Castle)
- Wolf-Dieter Röber : (Castle) Lichtenstein . In: Author collective, u. a. Helmut Bräuer , Robby Joachim Götze, Steffen Winkler and Wolf-Dieter Röber: The Schönburger, economy, politics, culture. Brochure for the special exhibition of the same name 1990–91 in the museum and art collection of Schloss Hinterglauchau. Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau 1990, pp. 23–24
Web links
- Lichtenstein Castle at sachsentip.de
- Information boards at the castle
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolf-Dieter Röber : Chapter "(Castle) Lichtenstein" in: The Schönburger, Economy, Politics, Culture . Brochure for the special exhibition of the same name 1990–91 in the Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau 1990, pp. 23–24
- ↑ Wolf-Dieter Röber : Chapter "(Castle) Lichtenstein" in: The Schönburger, Economy, Politics, Culture . Brochure for the special exhibition of the same name 1990–91 in the Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau 1990, pp. 23–24
- ↑ Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 29, 2014
Coordinates: 50 ° 45 ′ 28 " N , 12 ° 38 ′ 4.9" E