Waldeck Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Waldeck Castle
View from the pulpit north-northwest to Waldeck Castle

View from the pulpit north-northwest to Waldeck Castle

Alternative name (s): Waldeck Castle
Creation time : before 1120
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Completely
Standing position : Count
Place: City of Waldeck ,
Waldeck district
Geographical location 51 ° 12 '13.7 "  N , 9 ° 3' 20.7"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 12 '13.7 "  N , 9 ° 3' 20.7"  E
Waldeck Castle (Hesse)
Waldeck Castle
View from a ship on the Edersee to Waldeck Castle

The Waldeck Castle (or even the castle Waldeck ) is a closed-like equipped castle from the 12th century in the city of Waldeck in Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hessen ( Germany ).

Geographical location

Waldeck Castle is located in the northern part of the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park above the north bank of the Edersee on the western edge of the Waldecker core town . It is located on a steep, rocky mountain that is wooded on its slopes and can be reached on a road from the center of the village.

Brief history

Castle and place Waldeck in the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian , 1655

The hill fort was first mentioned in a document in 1120. After Count Widekind I von Schwalenberg Lutrud von Itter and his son Volkwin Luitgard, a daughter of Count Poppo I von Ziegenhain , married, the castle came into the possession of the Schwalenbergers. From 1180 a branch of this house was named after her. Until 1655 the castle, which has been renewed and rebuilt like a castle over the years, was the residence of the Counts of Waldeck , after which they moved to Arolsen . The plant then served different purposes. At first it was a fortress and seat of a castle commandant, then barracks , from 1734 to 1868 a penitentiary and women's prison . Since 1920 it has belonged to the Waldeckische Domanialverwaltung and is public property .

tour

The lower round gate on the Powder Tower (1637) bears the coat of arms of the Waldeck-Pyrmont line (around 1830); left of the archway at the gatehouse (also in 1637) are still loopholes to detect.

The castle well , which was built in the 16th century, is around 120 m deep. Here, in hours of work, the water had to be brought to the surface by a gear train. As early as 1612, a pumping station was planned as part of a water art , which was supposed to transport water from the man's drinking trough in the valley to the castle. Today it is uncertain whether the plan was implemented.

The upper gate (1756) leads past the heavily redesigned building complex of today's hotel into the inner courtyard of the castle complex.

The north building is the so-called "Wildunger wing", named after the Wildung branch of the Counts of Waldeck , who lived here between 1500 and 1577 on the first floor. In 1577, Andreas Herber created a coat of arms marked with a monogram, which is located on the staircase tower of the castle. The basement is built into the rock. In the basement there was a water tank, an oil mill and several ovens. The coats of arms of three Waldeck lines are attached to the octagonal tower of this wing, namely Waldeck and Runkel, Waldeck and Ostfriesland as well as Waldeck and Hessen.

To the east rises the keep as a three-storey building of Edersee-greywacke with more than 3 m thick walls. It dates from the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century, making it one of the oldest surviving parts of the complex. Since the count's archive was housed in the keep between 1745 and 1761, it was also called the “archive tower”. Between 1952 and 1997 it served as a water tower . The museum is located next to the keep in a newly designed building.

In the south you get to the arbor, a large terrace . When the weather is good, there is a broad view to the south of the Edertalsperre and to the west over the entire Edersee . Until 1734 the so-called "Eisenbergische wing" was located here, which is named after the other main branch of the Waldeck family of counts. Only the cellar vaults from the 13th century are preserved from him. On the terrace are two cannons from Liège from 1862, which were used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. In addition, students from the Korbach educational building yard have recreated a pillory with a collar (called "Kaak").

To the west of the complex is the upper gate building, which served as the administrative building in the 19th century. The octagonal clock tower, built after 1500 in the late Gothic style, is also located here . The heavily redesigned building now houses a restaurant.

  • Entrance at the lower gate

  • Inner courtyard with northeast and southeast wing, tower, keep and museum

  • Cannons and powder tower

  • Inner courtyard with powder tower

  • Reconstructed pillory on the palace terrace

tourism

The castle high above the Edersee

Today there is a museum as well as a hotel and restaurant in the castle complex. In the exhibition “Behind Locks and Bars”, the museum mainly shows exhibits from the era of women's prison and the penitentiary in the 18th and 19th centuries. The tour is also possible with the help of an audio guide system.

From the castle there is a wide view of the Edersee up to the dam wall and the cellar forest . The Waldecker Bergbahn gondola connects the castle and the excursion destinations below on the Edersee.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Edersee holiday region - Waldeck Castle . Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  2. ↑ Information board for the castle fountain next to the door that leads to the fountain
  3. ↑ Schloss Waldeck , on burgen-und-schloesser.net, accessed on April 12, 2014.

literature

  • Elmar Brohl : Fortresses in Hessen. Published by the German Society for Fortress Research eV, Wesel, Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2013 (=  German Fortresses  2), ISBN 978-3-7954-2534-0 , pp. 195-200.
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hesse: 800 castles, castle ruins and castle sites. 3. Edition. Wartberg publishing house. Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 134.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , pp. 355–357.

Web links

Commons : Waldeck Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files