Waldmannshofen Castle

Waldmannshofen Castle
	View of the entrance area of the castle (south facade)
Alternative name (s):	Waldmannshofen Castle
Creation time :	Mentioned for the first time in 1408, rebuilt between 1544 and 1548
Castle type :	former moated castle
Conservation status:	Renaissance castle with baroque elements
Place:	Waldmannshofen
Geographical location	49 ° 32 '7 " N , 10 ° 4' 6" E Coordinates: 49 ° 32 '7 " N , 10 ° 4' 6" E
Height:	320 m above sea level NN

The Castle Waldmannshofen is a former moated castle , which instead of a late medieval castle on the northern outskirts of Waldmannshofen in the town of Creglingen in Main-Tauber-Kreis in Baden-Wuerttemberg was built.

history

Origins

Already in 1408 a plant in Waldmannshofen was mentioned in the division of property between Hans and Fritz Truchseß von Baldersheim . 1421 is the first representative of the Rosenberg family in the castle Konrad von Rosenberg.

Destruction of the moated castle in 1523

A time of upheaval had come at the end of the 15th century. With the loss of power of Emperor Charles IV and the election of Charles V , the uncertainty on the streets in the German Empire was made even worse. Robber barons roamed the area, traveling merchants or envoys were afraid of nighttime attacks and could no longer feel safe. Although a perpetual peace in the country was passed at the Diet of Worms in 1495 , this measure did not help to settle the unrest. Seven years earlier, in 1488, the Franconian and Swabian imperial estates united under the leadership of Nuremberg to form the so-called Swabian League . The aim of the merger was to reduce the attacks on traders and other travelers by working together. In 1489 the federation was finally appointed to the Reich executive , that is, to the executive power.

In the middle of the 16th century, the robber baron Hans Thomas von Absberg kidnapped merchants from imperial cities in Franconia and Swabia on their trade trips and demanded a large ransom for their release. In order to reduce the growing danger of being caught by the Swabian Federation troops, he looked for allies who would support him in his raids and hide his prisoners in their castles for him in case of danger. Kunz von Rosenberg also supported him in his feud , as he hoped that this would increase his dwindling wealth a little. In 1523 the federal government finally sent its troops to level a total of 23 “ predatory nests ” to the ground. The federal troops, which consisted of 10,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 horsemen, carried 100 cannons and 30 rifles as armament, for which they had 900 quintals of black powder with them. On June 23, the troops finally reached Waldmannshofen Castle and blew it up in order to prevent those of Rosenberg from returning.

Woodcut by Hans Wandereisen

Later colored woodcut about the destruction of the castle in 1523

Main article: Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523

The castle complex is shown on the woodcut by Hans Wandereisen as a massive structure that is not only secured by a moat , but also by an inner and an outer stone wall , which is interspersed with watchtowers on both sides . Another wall with another gatehouse is in front of the area in front of the gatehouse . This upstream area is also partially filled with water, so that you have to cross two bridges to enter the castle. The outer gatehouse has an additional half-timbered floor. The inner gatehouse bears the Rosenberg coat of arms above the archway . The entrance opposite the inner gatehouse leads into a first high building, to the right of which is the main house with two roof gables , which is connected to a tower via a covered corridor. The tower is widened towards the top. Another small building can be seen in the background. Apart from the house and tower, the building and the watchtowers within the first moat on the upper floors are made of half-timbered construction. If the watchtowers are not yet covered by flames, their roofs are tapered and a ball is placed on them. Almost without exception, all parts of the castle are shown burning, roofs are on fire, flames also lick from the window openings. The complex castle complex fills the woodcut as a motif, there is only a small building outside the walls in the front right of the picture. The army of the Swabian Federation is shown separately in two parts. The cavalry with a captain , who also regularly appears in the other woodcuts, is on the left in the front area of the picture, the foot troops and two mounted knights are hidden behind the first surrounding wall, which additionally shields the entrance area.

Reconstruction as a renaissance castle

Waldmannshofen Castle seen from the northeast.

Kunz von Rosenberg had the castle rebuilt as a moated castle between 1544 and 1548. After the Rosenberg family died out, Brandenburg-Ansbach enfeoffed Field Marshal Count Melchior von Hatzfeldt with Waldmannshofen, who expanded the castle into a Renaissance palace with baroque elements, as it is still preserved today. It is a castle, but the complex as a castle can still be clearly recognized. The most striking and unusual part is the large tower standing apart . It can be reached via a corridor from the residential wing. What function it served has not yet been researched. As Keep it could not serve as the loopholes missing, and then common use as Judgment Tower is lacking the other attributes (dungeons, interrogation rooms and torture chambers ).

The von Hatzfeldt family remained the landlord in Waldmannshofen until 1886, i.e. 249 years.

The castle has not been inhabited since the end of the 19th century and was left to decay.

Todays use

The castle has been owned by the municipality of Waldmannshofen since the 1950s and by the town of Creglingen since the regional reform in Baden-Württemberg . It was restored from 1956 to 1970. Today there is a fire brigade museum in its rooms .

literature

Wilhelm Gradmann: Castles and palaces in Hohenlohe . DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-87181-209-9 .
Thomas Steinmetz: Conterfei a number of acts of war from 1523 to the 1527 Jar - to representations of castles about the "Absberg feud" or the "Franconian War" . In: Contributions to the exploration of the Odenwald and its peripheral landscapes IV . Breuberg-Neustadt 1986.
Sophie Stelzle-Hüglin, Michael Strobel, Andreas Thiel, Inken Vogt (arrangement): Archaeological monuments in Baden-Württemberg . Published by the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office and the Baden-Württemberg State Surveying Office, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-89021-717-6 , p. 77 f. (No. 105: Creglingen, Waldmannshofen, TBB, Tiergarten).

Web links

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