Liebenstein Castle

The title of this article is ambiguous. See also: Liebenstein Castle (Arnreit) , Austria, Liebenstein Castle (Jebenhausen) , Baden-Württemberg, Liebenstein Castle , Saxony, or Liebenstein Castle .

Liebenstein Castle
Liebenstein Castle
Creation time :	around 1230
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Shield wall, keep, farm building
Geographical location	49 ° 2 '11.4 "  N , 9 ° 11' 38.8"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 2 '11.4 "  N , 9 ° 11' 38.8"  E

The Liebenstein Castle south of Neckarwestheim in the district of Heilbronn in northern Baden-Württemberg goes back to the medieval hilltop castle of the Lords of Liebenstein , came into the sole possession of Württemberg in 1678 and the municipality of Neckarwestheim in 1982. Today the facility is used as a restaurant and hotel.

geography

Liebenstein Castle is about a kilometer south of Neckarwestheim on a narrow, steeply sloping mountain ridge. The Neckar valley runs two to three kilometers to the west of the Schlossberg . The Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant is located in the northwest between the castle and the Neckar .

history

Seat of the Lords of Liebenstein

A branch of the Lords of Liebenstein came in the course of the 11th century from southern Alsace , where they had their ancestral seat, which fell to the Counts of Pfirt around 1300 . The oldest verifiable lord of the Neckarwestheim line is Reinhard von Liebenstein, named around 1200, who with his son Albrecht I probably participated between 1200 and 1250 in the construction of the oldest part of Liebenstein Castle near Neckarwestheim on the former property of the Counts of Lauffen , who died out in 1216–1219 was. According to dendrochronological studies, the keep as the oldest part of the castle was built between 1230 and 1240. On the basis of a document issued in Wimpfen on January 15, 1235, it can be assumed that King Heinrich (VII) originally planned the construction of an imperial castle. This can also be seen from the fact that the area of ​​over one hectare enclosed by a 400-meter-long wall when it was built did not correspond to the usual size of a castle of a noble family. Albrecht I von Liebenstein was probably originally intended as a royal castle man. After King Heinrich was deposed on July 4, 1235 by his father, Emperor Friedrich II , the construction of the castle was changed and the Liebensteiners finally came into possession of the complex.

Liebenstein Castle and the Itzinger Hof in the Kieser forest map around 1680

Around the lower castle with the western main building and keep in the Romanesque style , for which there was little space on the narrow ridge, a moat and a circular wall with battlements drew themselves . In 1225 the Itzinger Hof was built in the nearby Seebronnental. Shortly before his death, Albrecht I, with the consent of his son Albrecht II, founded a Dominican nunnery in the Itzinger Hof in 1261, which was also the burial place of the von Liebenstein family until 1666. Around 1290 the Itzingen monastery merged with the Benedictine nunnery in Lauffen .

Several family lines formed under the sons of Albrecht II. The Ottmarsheimer line, the Heinrichs line as well as the line of the upper and lower house descend from Konrad I († 1363), the latter named after their shares in Schloss Liebenstein and emerged from the division of the estate after the death of Peter I in 1445 between his sons Peter II. And Konrad. In 1500 Peter III was von Liebenstein the ancestor of the upper house, Hanns III. Tribe holder of the lower house.

Heraldic figures under the window of the main building (Palas)

The upper castle was extensively rebuilt from 1525 to 1600 in its current appearance with a very homely character. Hall-like rooms, roof terraces, stair tower, bay window, castle kitchen, house chapel and the outbuildings Zehntscheuer, Meierei, Fruchtkasten, Altes Bandhaus, Neues Bandhaus, forge, bakery, sheep house and hay barn in picturesque architecture in the style of the Renaissance gave the property a representative character.

From 1590 to 1599 the palace chapel was built in the Renaissance style by order of Bernhard von Liebenstein († 1596) by the Heilbronn master builder Jacob Müller. He also created the Liebenstein double tomb in the Bönnigheim church on behalf of Bernhard's son Albrecht († 1608). The tomb of Conrad von Liebenstein († March 4, 1620) in the castle chapel was once located in Itzingen Monastery.

Most of the Liebensteiner secular class were mostly in the Württemberg service: Friedrich I and Hans V were Württemberg councilors in the 15th century, Bernhard († 1596) and Albrecht († 1608) were chief bailiffs in Lauffen am Neckar , Philipp († 1637, upper one Haus) was the Württemberg governor in Vaihingen an der Enz . Emperor Ferdinand moved part of the upper castle in 1631 because Philip had been too strong for the Swedes in the battle of Nördlingen . After the castle briefly belonged to Count von Trauttmannsdorff , who was the emperor's chief minister after Wallenstein's death , the upper castle was returned to the lords of Liebenstein in 1639.

With the death of Friedrich Albert von Liebenstein in 1657 the male line of the upper line became extinct. The goods were bequeathed to Philipp Konrad I of the lower house, who thus united the entire family property. His three sons Philipp Reinhard, Philipp Konrad II and Philipp Albrecht founded an inheritance community in 1666. After the death of Philipp Reinhard, the eldest of the brothers, there was a dispute between Philipp Konrad II and Philipp Albrecht around 1670, which meant that the owner of the lower house no longer went through the upper gate, but through the wall next to the castle chapel even had a gate cut for a path into the valley.

Wuerttemberg sole ownership from 1678

Liebenstein Castle in Kieser's Forestry Register 1684

On September 4, 1673, Philipp Albrecht sold to Duke Eberhard III. von Württemberg (1628–1674) the upper castle, about two acres of the lake and half the rule for 50,000 guilders and 230 ducats. On May 28, 1678 Philipp Konrad II exchanged his remaining half of his rule and the lower castle with the House of Württemberg for the other half of the village of Köngen near Esslingen with its front castle and all affiliations and an additional 13,000 guilders. Duke Eberhard III. paid as a buyer from his private box and was the owner of the entire Liebensteiner estate with Liebenstein Castle, Kaltenwesten, Ottmarsheim, monastery and hamlet of Itzingen, half of Holzweiler as well as goods and slopes in Ilsfeld and Auenstein. Württemberg set up a bar cellar there to manage the property. In 1773, the von Liebenstein family tried in vain to dispute the sale of the Liebenstein estate from 1673/78 by filing a sensational lawsuit.

During the Palatinate War of Succession in 1693, around 5,000 French approached Besigheim . The bailiff of Besigheim had some of his files at Castle Liebenstein. The looting soldiers found all the files and destroyed them.

Around 1800 the House of Württemberg tried to sell the castle chapel for demolition. Since no buyer was found, the chapel was left to decay. In 1807 the remains of the Itzinger Hof were sold for demolition.

On June 8, 1812, the Liebenstein domain was ceded to the Oberfinanzkammeramt von Großbottwar through an exchange contract . The contract was canceled in 1819. The royal court domain chamber managed the property again and leased the estate with 390 acres of land for 4765 guilders annually to two farmers. At that time the castle consisted of two buildings. The two tenants lived in the former hunter's house, the other building was the residence of the court forester. The remaining buildings on the estate were used as apartments for the employees and as stables. The royal court domain chamber also took over the Itzinger Hof with 107 acres of land in 1846/49.

In September 1840, the Swabian poet Eduard Mörike visited Liebenstein Castle. In 1843 Liebenstein became a member of the Neckarwestheim Church and School Association. In 1851 the tenants undertook to train twelve poor boys as farmhands. They had to work free of charge between the ages of 14 and 18 and were given free food, clothing and accommodation.

In 1884 the court chamber forest office was housed in parts of the palace. In the remaining part, two families lived with a total of 43 people. According to the report of the mayor at the time, the agricultural domain was managed by around 60 to 80 workers. In 1892 the number of castle residents was 23.

In 1914, the front exterior of the palace chapel was renovated.

On April 12, 1945, the French artillery shelled the castle, which was occupied by German soldiers, from the direction of Bönnigheim. Of six grenades, four hit the tower and two hit the castle building without injuring anyone. After the Second World War , the castle and its outbuildings provided a new home for 46 displaced persons .

The dilapidated castle chapel was completely renovated from 1972 to 1976. In 1983 it received the pews of the Martin Luther Church in Heilbronn , which had been dispensed with in favor of more flexible, loose seating.

Owned by the municipality of Neckarwestheim since 1982

The Court Chamber of the House of Württemberg sold the castle in 1982 and 14.5 hectares of land to the community Neckarwestheim that the wearer club Schloss Liebenstein sporting, cultural and leisure facilities GmbH and Co. KG charging thereto. On September 14, 1982 the Golf- und Landclub Schloss Liebenstein e. V. and the expansion of the site into a 27-hole golf course began.

After a thorough construction survey, the renovation and conversion of the upper castle into a hotel and restaurant as well as the club rooms of the golf club followed by 1985. The keep was restored in 1987 and made accessible. 110 steps lead to the viewing platform.

Keep

description

Gatehouse and Palas of the Upper Castle

Palas of the Upper Palace, photo 1926

Farm buildings of the Lower Castle

Castle chapel

Liebenstein Castle is located on a mountain spur south of Neckarwestheim. The outer contour of the facility follows the geographic features of the high plateau to the north and west; to the south-east the facility is bordered against the ridge by a neck ditch ( outer ditch ). To the west the wall is almost round, to the northeast and south-east the wall is almost straight and in the extreme east runs to an almost right angle.

The core of the complex is the main castle, the lower castle , with the rebuilt keep from approx. 1230 and the remains of a Romanesque residential building, as well as traces of a large Gothic building attached to it on the defense tower . The keep has an almost square base, each about eight meters long and about 30 meters high. It is built from blocks of shell limestone and has remains of a toilet dungeon on the south side . The core castle once had a shield wall about 2.40 meters thick to the south, the approach of which can still be seen in the keep, and around 1300 it was surrounded by its own ring of walls that has been preserved, which forms a kennel in the west and a corner tour to the east. A small stone house was added to this wall ring in the east during the Gothic period.

The outer wall surrounding the entire complex, to which, with the exception of the main castle, the castle chapel and the new band house, all of the larger buildings in the complex are attached, as well as the donjon, largely dates back to around 1230 and is also made of limestone blocks. In the far eastern corner in the area of ​​today's old band house , up to 11 meters high remains of the foundations of a high medieval east tower have been preserved. Corner towers were still rare in the 13th century, but the size of the complex required another defensive tower at this point, which is furthest away from the defensive tower of the core castle. To the west, a larger section of the surrounding wall was renewed at a later time.

The gatehouse in the south of the complex is of medieval origin and was expanded around 1600. A bridge once led over the outer moat to the gatehouse. The gatehouse, formerly also known as the Upper Gate , is, however, the second entrance to the castle, the existence of which is probably based on the long division of the complex. The original Romanesque main entrance was a little further to the west, at the level of today's sheep house.

Immediately to the right of the gatehouse is the Palas as the main building of the Upper Castle . Like the surrounding wall, it was built in the 13th century and supplemented around 1600 with various additions such as the stair tower and the kitchen. Around 1700 it was expanded to its present size by the east wing, and the dairy farm of the Upper Castle was once attached to it.

To the left of the gatehouse is a group of smaller buildings that served as a washing and baking house. This is followed by the riding house built around 1600 . It was probably named after the still existing roof turret and was originally a residential building above a wine cellar and with attics for storing grain, later it was also known as the hunter's house or dairy. Similar to the Renaissance additions to the Palas, the building breaks through the otherwise closed defensive wall to the south and thus underlines that when it was built, representation and economic efficiency were already more important than defensibility. In front of the equestrian house, a staircase leads down into the inner ditch to the sheepfold and the core castle.

In the far east of the complex there is a Renaissance building group consisting of a tithe barn , an old band house and a hay barn with a fruit box . The arched portal that leads into the two-storey cellar of the tithe barn is dated 1557 and shows the coats of arms of those of Liebenstein and the Stibar of Buttenheim. Under the characteristic staggered gable of the tithe barn, it can be seen that the building was once lower and was subsequently raised. During the renovation, the tithe barn also received a small transverse extension, which also has a stepped gable. Due to its orientation, the Zehntscheuer was once part of the Upper Castle, while the buildings behind it, namely the old band house and the hay barn with fruit box , certainly belonged to the Lower Castle, as larger cars can only approach them from the lower area of ​​Liebenstein Castle. The cooperage of the Lower Castle was housed in the band house. In addition, the massive L-shaped building complex had large storage facilities. B. is expressed with the two-story dormers. The large vaulted cellar under the building has a top height of about five meters. In order to be able to bear the weight of the building and the stored goods, the building has three-meter-thick base and enclosing walls. To the northwest, the Lower Meiereischeuer and the Amtscheuer joined the Heuscheuer .

The new band house , the cooperage of the Upper Castle, which was built in the first third of the 17th century, is free- standing in the middle of the facility . A horse stable of about the same size was once built at right angles to the south.

In the northern area is detached the 1599 by Jakob Müller modeled on the Stuttgart Castle Church built chapel . The chapel has an almost square floor plan and decorative gables to the south and north, an octagonal choir tower has been added to the east, a round stair tower has moved in to the west, which once led to the top floors and two manorial galleries, of which the southern one has still been preserved. The roof shapes of the two towers were changed later. Although the portals, the gables and the interior of the chapel are decorated with Renaissance architectural decorations, the lower area also has Gothic windows. The church garden extends to the east of the chapel, to the west there was once another building.

literature

• Description of the Oberamt Besigheim , Stuttgart 1853, pp. 221–234.
• Eduard Paulus : The art and antiquity monuments in the Kingdom of Württemberg , Esslingen 1906, pp. 85–88.
• Elisabeth Zipperlen: Liebenstein and the Liebensteiner . In: Ludwigsburg history sheets 18/1966.
• Eugen Gradmann : Art travel guide Württemberg and Hohenzollern . Special edition. Gondrom, Bindlach 1988, ISBN 3-8112-0591-9 .
• Neckarwestheim 1884–1984. A section of our local history . Walter-Verlag, Brackenheim-Hausen 1984.
• Wolfgang W. Kress: Castles and palaces on the Neckar. From Esslingen to Mannheim . DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-87181-259-5 .
• Martin Burkhardt u. a .: Archive of the Barons von Liebenstein Jebenhausen (= inventories of the non-state archives in Baden-Württemberg 28), Stuttgart 2001
• Julius Fekete : Art and cultural monuments in the city and district of Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1662-2 , pp. 243-248.
• Kurt Andermann : Die Liebensteiner Chronik , in: Journal for Württemberg State History 62 , Stuttgart 2003, pp. 119–177.
• Nicolai Knauer: Liebenstein Castle. Building history and history , Neckarwestheim 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harald Drös: The eagle of the Heilbronn district - coat of arms of the Counts of Lauffen? In: Christhard Schrenk, Peter Wanner (eds.): Heilbronnica 5 . Sources and research on the history of the city of Heilbronn 20. Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 2013, p. 113 ( heilbronn.de [PDF; 960 kB ; accessed on February 21, 2014]).
2. ↑ Rolf Muth: Parallels to the Wimpfen story . In: Heilbronn voice . June 18, 2010 ( from Stimme.de [accessed on July 27, 2010]).
3. ^ Nicolai Knauer: Liebenstein Castle. Building history and history , Neckarwestheim 2012, p. 9.
4. ^ Nicolai Knauer: Liebenstein Castle. Building history and history , Neckarwestheim 2012, p. 2.
5. ^ Nicolai Knauer: Liebenstein Castle. Building history and history , Neckarwestheim 2012, p. 10.
6. ↑ Evangelische Emmaus-Kirchengemeinde Heilbronn (ed.): Festschrift for the church anniversary AD 2004 - 70 years Martin Luther Church - 40 years Kreuzkirche , Heilbronn 2004.

Web links

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