Wässerndorf Castle

The preserved remains of the castle

The Water Village Castle is a former noble residence in Seinsheimer district Water village in the district of Kitzingen . The castle was inhabited until the end of World War II before it was destroyed by the effects of the war. The ruins have been preserved to this day. The castle is in the center of the village.

history

The history of the castle is closely linked to the history of the von Seinsheim family. In the 12th century, a ministerial with the name "de Sovensheim" was mentioned for the first time, and from 1263 the family had their headquarters in Wässerndorf. During this period, the second half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century, the previous building of the castle was built on the same site. First a moated castle was built.

In 1502 Baron Johann von Schwarzenberg acquired two quarters of the property in the village. The Peasants' War of 1525 destroyed some parts of the complex, but most of it remained. In 1529 Wässerndorf and its castle fell to the Erlach line of the Lords of Seinsheim. Another quarter went to Johann von Schwarzenberg in 1538. His son Friedrich completed the acquisitions in 1550, so that the whole of Wässerndorf was in the hands of the Schwarzenbergs.

Baron Friedrich von Schwarzenberg began building what is now the castle in 1555. In the 18th century some changes were made to the building, so the drawbridge was replaced by a stone bridge. From 1910 the von Pölnitz family lived in the former aristocratic residence. The palace was expropriated by the National Socialists in 1936, but the former owners were still allowed to live in the complex.

In the last days of World War II , when the Americans had already taken the village, the castle was destroyed by fire. The background to the crime is unclear, it was probably an act of revenge because an American officer had been shot in the village. In addition to the castle, the fire also destroyed several thousand boxes of stored archive materials and art objects from Würzburg and Munich. Refugees housed in the palace, including the composer Armin Knab , were able to flee.

In the post-war period , the ruins came to the Bavarian state. He sold the system to private individuals. In several letters eyewitnesses testified to the arbitrariness that led to the burning down of the castle, but no reconstruction took place. In 1971/1972 some minor repairs were made. Today the destroyed facility is in the hands of the Roethe family. Together with a castle ruin association, the former castle has been converted into a memorial against the war. The ruin is listed as an architectural monument, while the underground remains of previous buildings are classified as ground monuments.

description

The facility in the center of the village faces north-north-west. It is almost square and is surrounded by a wide moat that no longer carries water. The castle has an almost square ring and is framed by a high curtain wall . Six round towers structure this wall. There are three round towers on the north side, three in the west and two in the east. Two semicircular towers are also preserved. One of them to the south contains the gate that leads into the courtyard of the castle. The moat is crossed over a stone bridge. The round towers protrude far up on the upper floors, two of them have subsequently attached conical roofs . The three-storey four-wing system located within the ring is only partially preserved. There are four gables and the inner and outer longitudinal walls.

In the southeast of the rectangular inner courtyard there is a stair tower remnant . A round arch portal and several pointed arch windows have also been preserved there. The rest of the complex has layers of masonry. Parts of the basement come from the previous castle from the 13th and 14th centuries.

literature

• District Administrator and District Council of the District of Kitzingen (Hrsg.): District of Kitzingen . Münsterschwarzach 1984.
• Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments. Bavaria I: Franconia . Munich / Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-422-03051-4 .
• Gerhard Krämer: The castle was on fire for a fortnight. In: Main-Post. 2nd April 2015.
• Walter Schilling: The castles, palaces and mansions of Lower Franconia . Würzburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-429-03516-7 .
• Karl Treutwein : Lower Franconia. Landscape, history, folk, culture, art . Heroldsberg 1978, ISBN 3-7738-1015-5 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Schilling, Walter: The castles, palaces and mansions of Lower Franconia. P. 307.
2. ^ Burgenwelt: Schloss Wässerndorf , accessed on April 5, 2015.
3. ↑ Cf.: Gerhard Krämer: The castle was on fire for a fortnight .
4. ^ Treutwein, Karl: Lower Franconia. P. 245.

Coordinates: 49 ° 38 '23.2 "  N , 10 ° 12' 12.8"  E