Steinfels Castle

The Steinfels castle was originally a moated castle , intended to protect the hammer bank Steinfels was created. The listed castle is located in the district of the same name in the Upper Palatinate municipality of Mantel in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district of Bavaria (Steinfels 1). The hammer there was powered by the water power of the Haidenaab .

history

Steinfels is first mentioned in 1052. Until the 15th century, Hammer Steinfels was owned by the Lords of Steinfels. This was followed in 1400–1624 by the Mendel von Steinfels family of hammer masters. In 1416 the landlord Hans Mendel paid the "Martini interest" to Parkstein . 1440 Erhard Mendel is named as the owner in the Parkstein Saalbuch . In 1478 and 1486 Friedrich Mendel is named as Hammer Master von Steinfels. Christoph Mendel von Steinfels († 1508) was the first rector of the University of Ingolstadt and 1502–1508 Bishop of Chiemsee . 1521 Adam Mendel zu Steinfels is mentioned in the Landsassen register . The brothers Hieronymus and Fabian Mendel followed until 1545, who last appeared in the Landsassen register in 1552. Gabriel Mendel was registered between the 60s and the 80s of the 16th century. In 1583 (Hans) Jakob Mendel was named zu Steinfels. For this, the sovereign homage is registered for February 25, 1607. This was the last Mendola on Steinfels.

In 1624 Steinfels came to the hammer master Paul Schlaher, who had already acquired the Thumsenreuth estate in 1596 . Steinfels was completely devastated by the Thirty Years War . The widow of Paul Schlaher, Anna Maria Magdalena and remarried Sieber, reported in 1661 about the desolate condition of the property. In 1661 Georg Pfreimdter von Bruck owned the estate.

The Weveld family followed here from 1671 to 1835 . The first to be mentioned is Johann Simon von Weveld, who was the Palatinate-Neuburg Council and colonel in Jülich , commander in Parkstein and Weiden and owner of the lordships of Mechtildshausen and Steinfels. He should have acquired the rule of Steinfels in the course of his command there. Jakob Ignaz († 1728) and Wilhelm Adam (* 1674, † 1734) are known as direct descendants of Johann Simon and his wife Margarethe Julia († 1704). Jakob Ignaz was the owner of the country estates in Steinfels, Grub and Lebau, as well as the Higher War Commissioner in Nordgau and, probably following his father's footing, also the commander in Parkstein and Weiden. His wife was Catharina Countess von Wrschowetz-Sekerka and Sedschitz (* 1622, † 1744), who came from the Bohemian nobility and is buried in the crypt of the nearby Steinfels parish church of Sankt Pankratius in Parkstein. In his letter of June 1717, Elector Karl Philipp Jakob appoints Ignaz as treasurer of the Electorate of the Palatinate. This should have been the reason for him to buy a house in the Neuburg Upper Town together with his brother. That is why Jakob Ignaz is not buried in the Steinfels family crypt, but in Neuburg in Sankt Peter . With a deed of assignment dated May 1, 1746, he designated his aunt, Maria Elisabetha von Weveld as the owner of both country estates, who in turn presented her nephew, Count Anton Christoph von Weveld auf Sinning, with a deed of gift dated August 27, 1770. In 1808 his son Max von Weveld bought the Steinfels and Grub estates from him. This was approved on March 8, 1828 the formation of a patrimonial 2nd class. The Weveld property had to be auctioned and so the jurisdiction was declared dormant on April 15, 1835.

In 1835 Johann Friedrich from Böhmischbruck acquired the castle from Josef Alois von Weveld. In 1884, Carl Trautner sells the castle to Kommerzienrat Heinrich Knab from Münchberg .

In 1927 Hugo Auvera († 1962) leased the Steinfels estate with its kaolin pits , and in 1937 he acquired it. He managed the estate until 1957. In that year he sold the property to Wolff Freiherr von dem Bongart. In 1966 a mixed gravel plant was built in Steinfels, but it no longer exists today. After the death of the former lord of the castle Wolff Freiherr von den Bongart in 1979, operations around the main building came to a standstill. In the last few years, an investor who should revitalize the palace building was sought several times without success.

Steinfels Castle today

Steinfels Castle

The building that can be found today dates from the 17th century, with medieval parts also being used. The castle is a three-storey saddle roof building with an attached hipped roof and south-facing extension. The castle has a round arched portal decorated with coats of arms.

The castle church, which was built to the northwest of the castle and renovated, was built in 1707 by Ignatz Freiherr von Weveld and consecrated to the Assumption of Mary in 1723 . The palace chapel is a hall building closed on three sides with a gable roof and a ridge turret . In the church there are wooden figures from around 1520. A passage leads from the gallery of the chapel to the castle.

literature

Franz Michael Ress: Buildings, monuments and foundations of German ironworkers . Written on behalf of the Association of German Ironworkers . Verlag Stahleisen, Düsseldorf 1960, DNB 453998070 , p. 147 .
Heribert Sturm: Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Weiden . (= Historical Atlas of Bavaria, part of Altbayern issue 47, p. 218ff). Commission for Bavarian State History, Verlag Michael Lassleben, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-7696-9912-2 .