Wörth Castle on the Danube

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View of Wörth Castle

Schloss Wörth is a castle in the town of Wörth an der Donau in the Upper Palatinate district of Regensburg in Bavaria . The castle is located next to the federal motorway BAB 3 on a mountain in the middle of town.

The mighty castle in Renaissance style has the character of a fortress, has been completely preserved and is one of the large castles in Eastern Bavaria . It goes back to a refugee castle in the 10th century (around the year 914), and has been rebuilt and expanded over the centuries and received its present-day appearance in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is suspected that a Carolingian Gaugrafenburg was previously located on the same site to secure the eastern borders of the empire , but there is no historical evidence. It was owned by the Regensburg prince-bishops since the high Middle Ages and formed a strategically important fortress .

history

Wörth Castle on a painting by Albrecht Altdorfer (around 1522)
The outer gate construction ...
... and the inner gate construction
Heinrich II. Von Rotteneck pfennig about 1285 bishop. Mint at Wörth Castle

The manor was one of the oldest possessions of the Regensburg bishopric . The castle located here “Auf'n Berg”, that was the original name of today's Schlossberg, was first mentioned in a document in 1264. In 1285, the Regensburg bishop Heinrich, Count von Rotteneck, had the episcopal mint open there. Since 1345 the bishops of Regensburg pledged the castle to local noble families such as the Auer and the Chamerauer . In 1433, Bishop Konrad VII von Soest was able to redeem the castle in exchange for concessions to the Bavarian dukes . Thanks to the large forest belonging to it, the rule became the direct property of the bishops.

The castle was redesigned from 1522 in the 16th and 17th centuries into a palace in the Renaissance style. Most of the new building was built under the administrator Palatine Count Johann III. (1507-1538). Around 1570 the expansion of the residential wing was still busy. In 1616, Bishop Albert von Toerring-Stein added the chapel and the north wing. The castle was administered by caretakers and served the bishops as a summer residence, at times they moved their seat entirely here. The castle survived the period of the Thirty Years' War essentially without major damage. In 1803 the area fell to the new Principality of Regensburg .

On July 26, 1806, Prince-Bishop Karl Theodor von Dalberg , the last ecclesiastical prince of the empire, signed the Rhine Covenant Act in the king's room . In 1810 the "Free Imperial Rule of Wörth" came to the Kingdom of Bavaria . This left it to the Thurn und Taxis in 1812 as compensation for the revoked postal rights of the then Reichspostmeister Karl Alexander von Thurn und Taxis . Until the reorganization in 1848, Wörth was a patrimonial court of the Thurn and Taxis. After that there was an older district court here, and later a district court until 1939. In 1899 the Thurn and Taxis house was awarded the title Duke of Wörth and Donaustauf .

From 1933 to 1935, a Reich Labor Camp was housed in the castle . From 1946 to 1947 it served as a meeting place for young people for the diocese of Regensburg and from 1949 to 1976 the Deutsche Bundesbahn maintained a further education school here. The Wörth Castle Festival was held at Wörth Castle from 1952 to 1969 . From a cultural point of view, this event was of great importance for Wörth and the region. A total of 170 performances were carried out. In 1978, Johannes Prince von Thurn und Taxis sold the castle to a building contractor, and in 1984 it was acquired by a community of castle owners, of which the district of Regensburg is the most important. In the years 1985–1998 the entire palace complex was thoroughly renovated. In 1988 it was rented by a retirement home; today there is a Pro Seniore retirement home in the castle.

Pastor Florian von Miller in prison

After the popular uprising in Cham , which was put down on January 17, 1706 by militants , hussars and regular Austrian troops, the leader of the rebels , Pastor Florian von Miller , was arrested and initially brought to Straubing . On March 12, 1706 he was transferred to Wörth an der Donau and imprisoned in the prison tower of the castle. When the verdict was announced in the middle of 1707 and he was sentenced to imprisonment for an indefinite period, a new prison facility was built on the fourth floor, in the former “Ritterstüberl”. Miller was held there until October 15, 1714. He was then released from there; nothing more is known about his further fate. The Hochstift repeatedly complained about the high costs of Miller’s imprisonment in Wörther Castle.

description

Castle courtyard with keep

The rectangular building with round towers has the appearance of a fortress. Coming from the east one encounters a gate building with the year 1605 and a coat of arms with the Latin initials of Prince-Bishop Wolfgang von Hausen , Bishop of Regensburg . This pre-castle was built in the second phase of renovation from the medieval fortress into a Renaissance summer residence. This is followed by the two-story main gate from 1525, which is flanked by two battery towers. The left tower is the former dungeon . The builder Johann von der Pfalz , Prince-Bishop of the Regensburg Bishopric is noted on the coat of arms . Albrecht Altdorfer , who was the city architect of Regensburg at the time, is considered to be the architect of this first phase of the reconstruction of the castle . The main gate could be closed by a drawbridge over the moat until 2000 . In front of the main gate is a garden-like kennel, which houses a baroque pavilion.

Floor plan without pre-lock

Inside is the goalkeeper's apartment on the left, the service building on the right, and from 1444 to 1939 the “Vorderen Schlossstock” was initially the district court and later the district court. The rectangular, six-storey residential tower made of quarry stone dates from the 13th century. The basement of the medieval tower, also known as the keep, has a barrel vault with a considerable span. In another part of the building, a cross-vaulted ceiling indicates a former chapel. The tower originally had no roof. The upper end was a platform that was secured with tooth-like battlements. In addition, clock faces of a tower clock were attached to the four sides, remains of which are still visible. Cells for prisoners were built into the tower in the 17th century, and some of these and their furnishings have been preserved to this day. On the inside there is a stair tower that was added later, one of the upper floors has a niche with a late medieval ribbed vault . The roofing was renewed in the early 17th century. The tower used to be one story higher. After a lightning strike in 1778, this part of the castle burned down. Together with the keep, the basement of the service building is the last remnant of the former castle. To the left of the keep is a battlement with massive walls and loopholes. The defense or powder tower next to it impresses with its three-meter-thick outer walls.

Aerial view of Wörth Castle

Opposite these buildings is the three-wing Princely Building, which was built in the early 16th and early 17th centuries, in the west. The former bedchamber in the central building has a wooden ceiling from 1616. The noble boys' room in the cavalier building or guest house in the north wing also has a wooden coffered ceiling that is well worth seeing. The remaining rooms of the north wing as servants' quarters are relatively simple. In the south wing there is the elongated former ballroom with lancet vaulting on pilasters , it was also built in 1616.

The castle cellar in its current dimensions should have been completed by the middle of the 16th century, but at the latest in 1616 with the construction of the chapel by Bishop Albert von Törring. It is about 80 meters long and the entire south wing of the castle rests on its vault.

In the castle courtyard there are two fountains, a fountain from 1636 and a draw or scoop fountain , of which only the upper stone frame can be seen. The fountains had predecessors: One dates back to 1450, another ornamental or luxury fountain was built in 1566 under Bishop Vitus von Fraunberg. The water for this was taken from the Marktbach and pumped up to the castle by means of a power unit. The place still has the street name Bei der Walch , which stands for “kneading and driving”.

Rondellzimmer

Rondellzimmer

The most important room from an art-historical point of view is the Rondellzimmer, also known as the Prince's Room. It is located in the south-western battery tower of the prince's building and was refurbished under Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern , 1668–1685 Prince-Bishop of Regensburg. The room was stuccoed by the Italian Jacopo Tornino in 1673/74 and painted in 1676/77 by the Regensburg painter Jakob Heybel. This painter created an extensive mythological cycle in 1676 and 1678: six paintings in the vault, five on the underside of the window arches, five on the window parapets, and six figures on the pilasters. The paintings are considered to be extraordinary and are likely to have been shaped by the client, Prince-Bishop Albrecht Sigismund. Subjects are the areas of hunting, power and wisdom.

Castle chapel

Castle Chapel St. Martin

The end to the west is the single-nave Roman Catholic castle chapel of St. Martin von Tours from 1616. It belongs to the parish of Wörth. Its furnishings date from the late 17th century. The altar picture of the high altar by Jakob Heybel, Regensburg, from 1671 depicts the death of Mary , the picture on the left side altar, also by Heybel and from 1675, the Last Judgment , the picture on the right side altar shows Saint Martin , who shares his soldier's coat with the beggar. The crucifixion picture with a Jansenist cross was created by an unknown painter. There are Rococo carvings on the cheeks and on the confessional. In the church there is a bell by the Regensburg bell founder Georg Schelchshorn from 1616 with the following inscriptions: "Sancta Maria Mater Dei ora pro nobis" and "Avs dem Feuer I flowed, Georg Schelchshorn from Regensburg gos me 1616" .

legend

Unfinished painting, unknown painter

"The crucifixion picture in the Wörther Castle Church"

In the St. Martin castle chapel there is an unfinished crucifixion picture (the initials INRI are missing) by an unknown painter. According to the legend, the artist of the painting was talking to the devil: If the painting is "finished in all pieces" with his help, the soul of the painter belongs to the devil.

Once upon a time there was a young painter with little talent. Envy of successful artists drove him into the woods one night. There he met an oversized hunter, to whom he entrusted his concern. The hunter suggested that he write his soul to him, and he would become exceedingly glorious. So it happened. The painter dedicated his soul to him and painted a picture of the crucifixion commissioned by a monastery. It worked. The closer to perfection, the more his conscience troubled him and he confided in a monk. He advised him to leave the picture unfinished, without an inscription panel. “As if freed from an alp, the painter breathed a sigh of relief. And instead of striving for earthly goods and ephemeral fame, he sought peace in the quiet monastery. "

Others

Castle Wörth at night

Wörth Castle is part of the Regensburg Castle Trail . The courtyards of the castle are freely accessible during the day, but not the interior of the building. Guided tours are provided to view them. In addition to events in the “KiW - Culture in Wörth” project, the round room is also used for weddings. The castle cellar, which has been newly renovated by the district of Regensburg since April 2005, is also used by "KiW - Kultur in Wörth" and can also be used for other larger events. The "Schlossgalerie Wörth" in the cellar of the old castle keep shows from time to time exhibitions.

The southern slope of the Schlossberg had been a vineyard with around seven days of Baierwein for a long time until after the First World War . There has been a serpentine staircase to the castle there since the 1930s.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Wörther Schlossfestspiele" in: Regensburg Contributions to Local History , accessed on November 9, 2016
  2. ^ "Regensburger Burgensteige" Official site of the Regensburg district office.
  3. ↑ The project "KiW - Culture in Wörth".
  4. ↑ "Viticulture near Wörth ad Donau" in: Regensburg Contributions to Local Research , accessed on November 9, 2016

literature

  • Georg Dehio : Regensburg and the Upper Palatinate Handbook of German Art Monuments , Drexler Jolanda / Hubel Achim (arrangement), Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1991
  • Andreas Boos : Castles in the south of the Upper Palatinate - the early and high medieval fortifications of the Regensburg area . Universitätsverlag Regensburg, Regensburg 1998, ISBN 3-930480-03-4 , pp. 413-416.
  • Ludwig Schindler (editor): Schloss Wörth on the Danube in pictures . 2004 Verlag Attenkofer Straubing, ISBN 3-936511-04-7 .
  • Ludwig Schindler (text author): City guide Wörth. Verlag Attenkofer, Straubing 2008, ISBN 978-3-936511-52-9 .
  • Josef Fendl (Red.): Wörth, city between river and mountain. Regensburg 1979, DNB 790673258 .
  • Georg Hager: Castle Wörth on the Danube. Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag (Die Kunstdenkmäler von Oberpfalz and Regensburg, District Office Regensburg 1910) unchanged reprint 1981, ISBN 3-486-50451-7 .
  • Fritz Jörgl: Brief Wörther folklore "hereant and dreant". Publisher City of Wörth ad Donau. Oberpfalzverlag Laßleben, Kallmünz 2013, ISBN 978-3-7847-1226-0 .

Web links

Commons : Wörth Castle on the Danube  - album with pictures

Coordinates: 49 ° 0 '0.2 "  N , 12 ° 24' 9.4"  E