Strössendorf Castle

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View of the southwest wing of Strössendorf Castle; easy to see the keep in the background

Coordinates: 50 ° 8 '21.3 "  N , 11 ° 13' 20"  O Castle Strössendorf is a lock in Altenkunstadter district Strössendorf . It is inhabited all year round, owned by the von Seckendorff familyand cannot be visited. As a protected architectural monument , the castle is listed by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation under monument number D-4-78-111-81 . Due to archaeological findings in the area of ​​the castle, which are related to the medieval core of the building, the complex as a whole is also a ground monument with the number D-4-5833-0151 . South-west of the building ensemble of the castle is the castle church of St. Katharina and the castle park with former stables.

Usage history

12th century to 1408

At the site of the present-day castle there was probably originally a border fortification of Charlemagne against the Slavs .

The builder and owner of the oldest surviving part of the castle, Rudolf von Widence (Weidnitz), sold it to the Langheim monastery around 1180 . In 1301 Gundeloch Marschalk von Kunstadt acquired the castle from Langheim Abbey as a gift for his wife Plantscha. After Gundeloch's death (last mentioned in a document in 1310) the castle was probably owned by his nephew Friedrich II von Kunstadt, then his childless son Friedrich III, who passed it on to Friedrich IV, a grandson of Gundeloch. It is likely, however, that several family members and lines simultaneously owned the castle. So the widow of Wolfram von Redwitz sold their property in 1335 to Strössendorf for 222 pounds Heller to the Klosterlangheim. In 1350 the brothers Eyring and Theoderich von Redwitz also had property in Strössendorf, which they exchanged with the Langheim monastery. In 1352 Eyring sold half of his fiefdom, which he held with his wife and brother Arnold, to the monastery for 50 hellers.

The Marschalks, who despite the unclear ownership situation at that time, can be regarded as the main owners and owners of the castle, expanded the castle in the second half of the 14th century and expanded it. In the course of these construction measures, the bower was extended to the northeast and the keep was built in its current form with 1.50 m thick sandstone walls. The possession of the castle is secured in 1403 by Wolfram IV. Von Kunstadt, the son of Friedrich IV. Until his death in 1405, he had owned the castle from the 1380s to Margrave Friedrich III. von Meißen and his successor Wilhelm I of Meißen given as a fief. After his death, his wife donated parts of the castle to the Langheim monastery under certain conditions for the salvation of his soul. If the conditions were not met, the income from this should be left to the Strössendorfer parish founded by Wolfram IV and his wife. Nothing is known about the type of requirements and whether they were met.

1408 to 1858

Shortly before Plantscha, the widow of Wolfram IV, the last Marschalk von Kunstadt, died childless in 1408, she sold the free property and the property belonging to it to her brother-in-law Heintz, Heinz or Heinrich von Schaumberg . At that time, Strössendorf Castle included properties in Burgkunstadt , Weidnitz , Ebneth , Ober- and Unterlangenstadt , Nagel , Küps , Baiersdorf , Trainau , Theisau , Reuth and Tüschnitz . Immediately after Wolfram IV's death, she transferred it to her brother-in-law Heinz Land zu Trainau, Mannsgereuth , Tiefenklein and Burgkunstadt. Under Heinz von Schaumberg, the palace was expanded with the south-east and north-west wings. The defense tower in the south corner of the palace complex was also built in the 15th century, but it was not connected to the main building and is isolated.

After the death of the childless Heinz von Schaumberg, probably in September or October 1419, the castle, together with property in Traustadt , Lisberg , Hof an der Steinach and Nagel, passed into the possession of his cousin Michael I von Schaumberg. On the day of the takeover, October 5, 1419, he carried the Nuremberg burgrave Johann III. of Nuremberg the free part of the castle to fief. Since two feudal lords now owned the castle and its affiliations, the Bamberg monastery through the Langheim monastery and the Nuremberg burgrave, the castle probably had two kemenaten at that time. The Bamberg share was given to the brothers Michael and Georg von Schaumberg as a fief in 1422. The castle was probably badly damaged or destroyed for the first time in the Hussite Wars in 1430. The then head of the house, Michael, took part in the Council of Constance and in the war of retaliation that followed, which is why the castle was unguarded for several years. After Michael's death in 1454, his sons received the castle. In 1464, however, part of it was owned by Georg's grandson Veit. In 1469, Veit and his brother offered their part of the castle to the Bishop of Bamberg and the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth as a fief. In 1487 it was recorded that the Bamberg bishop wanted to give fiefs to the Schaumberg zu Strössendorf as long as there were male Schaumbergs; after that they should receive the female family members.

The ownership of Veit and his brother passed in 1497 to Wolf von Schaumberg, a son of one of the two. In 1514 he acquired his share in the castle from his uncle Konrad, the last male descendant of Michael I, who died in 1454, and thus became the sole owner. The bishopric of Bamberg and the margrave remained fiefdoms.

Peasants' War and Reconstruction

The destruction of Strössendorf Castle in the Peasants' War in 1525 (woodcut)

When the Peasants' War broke out in 1525, Wolf von Schaumberg had already been the bailiff of Lichtenfels for several years . He therefore stayed mainly at the episcopal official residence on the Knopsberg in Lichtenfels (today's Lichtenfels Castle). When Lichtenfels was in an uproar on Good Friday 1525, the rebels forced him to promise to keep to them. Hans Steudlein, the leader of the peasant uprising in what is now the eastern district of Lichtenfels, was probably informed of this agreement, so he only sent his captain Hans Kälblein there, along with rebels from Marktzeuln and Marktgraitz . Since the lord of the castle was absent because of the pact with the Lichtenfelsers, Kälblein was able to enter the castle without resistance. According to contemporary sources, he and his team plundered "all day and carried away what they could without being disturbed." After sleeping in the castle, the crew set a fire the next day. The bishop's arbitrators estimated the damage to the castle at 3,600 guilders, plus 400 guilders for the damage to Fahrnis . It is not certain whether this amount was actually paid to Wolf von Schaumberg by the then Bamberg prince-bishop Weigand von Redwitz , since much higher claims for damages were often made in order to receive at least an approximately reasonable amount. The castle was rebuilt by 1530. In 1544 the top, slightly protruding floor of the keep was renovated.

Expansion and renovation measures

The maiden structure built around 1600

In 1570 the south wing of the palace was built and thus the three-wing complex was added to a building with a square floor plan and a small inner courtyard. Around 1600, Achaz Georg von Schaumberg had the westernmost residential wing, the so-called Jungfernbau , built, which was initially not structurally connected to the castle. During the Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648 the castle was often uninhabited. The population of Weismain took advantage of this fact in 1632 to plunder the castle.

In 1644, the castle fell to Hans Wilhelm von Streitberg as pledge , who lived there with the widow of the Schaumberg owner who died in the second half of the 17th century. The son of the pledgee, Johann Georg von Schaumberg, moved into the castle in 1719 after the death of his mother. His children received the castle as an inheritance, presumably through purchase, the younger son, Heinrich Carl, became the sole owner of the castle. When he married the Catholic noblewoman Maria Eleonora Franziska Corona von Werdenstein (1717–1758), niece of Freising Auxiliary Bishop Franz Ignaz Albert von Werdenstein , he became the first Schaumberger since the Reformation to convert to the Catholic Church. His ancestors and the rest of his family belonged to Protestantism . In 1742 a Catholic chapel was established on his orders . Under Heinrich Carl von Schaumberg, the exterior of the complex was also adapted to the Rococo style .

1858 to the present

Strössendorf Castle seen from the north. In front of it the castle church St. Katharina during the renovation in 2012

The heirs of Heinrich Carl were predominantly employees (mostly chief hunter masters) at the court of the bishop of Bamberg. The next resident of the castle was the great-grandson of Heinrich Carl in the first half of the 19th century, who in 1858, a year before his death, sold the castle to Franz Friedrich Karl von Seckendorff-Aberdar from Unternzenn . Around 1870 the staircase was built on the north-west wing and the maiden building was connected to the castle. After the death of Franz Friedrich Karl, his property was divided up between his two sons as two family entails, according to his will . One comprised Strössendorf Castle with property in Weidnitz and the lands of the Ortsberg estate, which was demolished in 1882, in what is now the area of ​​the city of Burgkunstadt; the other Schloss Kleinziegenfeld and Schloss Trautskirchen . Since one of the two heirs died childless, the entire property passed to Walter von Seckendorff and, after his death in the middle of the 20th century, to Christoph Freiherr von Seckendorff-Aberdar, who is still the owner of the castle. From 2007 to spring 2012, the castle was extensively renovated in several stages.

architecture

Building history

According to documents and building bills, the building history of Strössendorf Palace comprises six major phases. The first complex was probably built in the 13th century and looked like a castle or fortress . It was a building with a massive ground floor and overhanging half-timbered floors . Instead of windows, there were probably only loopholes on the first floor ; access to the upper floors was made possible by a wooden staircase inside the house. A round tower was in front of the building in the southeast , the core of the defense system, which consisted of a wall and a palisade fence in the east, south and west and a partially bricked drop off to the Main in the north. Access to the property was presumably via a wooden bridge over the moat to the west.

The residence was rebuilt or rebuilt for the first time in the second half of the 14th century under the Marschalks von Kunstadt. The reason for this was presumably a previous destruction. The estate was, partly by reusing old material, in the northwest corner to a growing, probably an extension of the bower , adds, and there was the castle keep . This complex, with a wall surrounding the courtyard, had an almost square floor plan. A two-story round tower was in front of the northwest corner and barrel vaults were partially drawn in on the ground floor . The chapel (mentioned in 1408) that was still in existence at that time or was just built was probably located on the site of today's maiden structure and was protected by other defensive structures.

Between 1415 and 1525 the third construction phase took place with interruptions under the Schaumbergs. Under Michael von Schaumburg, the residence was expanded to the north-east and south-west, with the south-west wing probably only made of wood. At about the same time, an inner stair tower and the west wing were built, which reached up to the neck ditch . The access to the west, where the bridge had been replaced by a drawbridge , was now secured by the fenced chapel and the west wing. A second entrance was created with a gate in the east, at the keep. From this construction phase at the latest, the castle also had a fountain . The gables on the main building and the lower part of the bay on the southwest wing are still clearly visible.

The fourth phase of construction lasted from around 1525 to 1570. The destruction in the Peasants' War had made it necessary to completely rebuild the residence, which had been destroyed by fire except for a few outer walls. The north-east wing was given two new upper floors in 1525 and the formerly wooden south-west wing was replaced by a massive structure with a bay window in 1570. Instead of the inner stair tower, a sloping connecting corridor was built and the wall with a battlement in the south was expanded into a residential wing. A Protestant house chapel was also built. Under Achaz Georg Wolf von Schaumburg, the three-storey maiden building with a gable roof and multi-curved gables decorated with shell finishes and ornamental obelisks was built between 1595 and 1620. He also ordered the construction of the stair tower, which is still the main entrance to the castle, and had the windows enlarged.

View of the south-east wing of Strössendorf Castle, the donjon and the Catholic chapel on the left

The castle was designed in its current appearance in the baroque and rococo periods . In the years between 1736 and 1750, the facade design was partially standardized and the windows and ceilings in several interior rooms were decorated with stucco . It was only at this time that the rooms of the wings were connected to one another, so that one no longer had to leave the interior of the castle in order to get to another wing. In 1742, the defense tower in the south corner was demolished down to the lowest floor and converted into a Catholic chapel with a decagonal mansard roof and dome. The walls and ceiling are adorned with an illusionistic painting reminiscent of the work of Giovanni Francesco Marchini . The slightly exposed maiden building was connected to the castle in the 19th century.

Building description - today's castle

The brick barn in the economic courtyard of Strössendorf Castle

Strössendorf Castle is divided into the actual Castle of the Economy and two groups of buildings. The four corners of the castle are exactly aligned in the four cardinal directions , otherwise the building is designed rather irregularly from several structures of different sizes and heights. The four main wings enclose a narrow atrium. The maiden building and the Catholic chapel on the ground floor of the former tower are slightly exposed.

Inside, architectural styles from all building eras have been preserved. The cellar vaults in the basement are of medieval origin, the other floors have Gothic, lavishly profiled wooden ceilings and walls, for example in the large hall in the northeast wing and in the keep. On the first floor of the west wing there are rooms designed in the Renaissance style such as the large entrance hall with twisted columns. Numerous rooms with baroque stucco ceilings have been preserved from the last construction phase.

South-west of the castle is the farmyard with a residential stable with a hipped roof and remise from the 18th century and a brick barn with the Seckendorff coat of arms in a historicist style.

literature

  • Ruth Bach-Damaskinos, Peter Borowitz: Palaces and castles in Upper Franconia - A complete representation of all palaces, manors, castles and ruins in the Upper Franconian independent cities and districts. Verlag A. Hofmann, Nuremberg 1996, ISBN 3-87191-212-3 , p. 188
  • Albrecht Egloffstein: Castles and palaces in Upper Franconia: A manual by Albrecht Graf von and zu Egloffstein . 1st edition, Verlag Weidlich, Frankfurt am Main 1972, ISBN 3-426-04406-4 , pp. 32-40.
  • Heinrich Hoffmann: The history of the castle and the castle church in Strössendorf , 1972, scope: 109 pages
  • Bernd Kleinert: A strong evangelical castle for centuries - Strössendorf demonstrated denominational persistence . In: From the Franconian homeland , Kulmbach 1990, p. 4.
  • Fritz Mahnke: Palaces and castles in the vicinity of the Franconian Crown, 2nd volume . Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Neue Presse GmbH, Coburg 1978, pp. 125–128
  • Johann Baptist Müller: The town of Burgkunstadt in the Peasants' War of 1525. In: CHW - year book history on the Obermain. Volume 19, CHW Selbstverlag, Lichtenfels 1993/94, p. 37.
  • Ingrid Weiskopf, Karin Raab-Aydin (Eds.): Burgkunstadt, Altenkunstadt, Weismain - Art and Culture - Things worth knowing and interesting yesterday and today , Die Kulturmacher e. V. 2000, no ISBN, p. 14
  • Dieter Zöberlein: The von Streitberg, story of a Franconian noble family . Self-published, Burggrub 2018, Part 1, pp. 165–178, Part 2, pp. 399–407, Part 3, pp. 89–94 and pp. 133 and 151–153.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Schloss, Am Schloss 4 , geodaten.bayern.de, accessed on December 8, 2012
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Weiskopf; Raab-Aydin (2000), p. 14
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw Egloffstein (1972), pp. 32-40
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mahnke (1978), pp. 125–128
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Bach-Damaskinos (1996), p. 188
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Müller (1994), p. 36
  7. ^ Franz Sales Romstöck: The von Werdenstein - Eyb'sche Grabdenkmal in Dollnstein , Eichstätt 1909, especially p. 21; (Digital scan)
  8. ↑ Schloss Strössendorf , veit-huber-architekt.de, accessed on November 11, 2012