City fortification Lechenich
The Lechenich city fortifications of today's district of Erftstadt in the Rhein-Erft district - Lechenich was built in the late Middle Ages . It covered an area of about 375 m × 450 m, i.e. about 17 hectares. The fortification , which was built between 1250 and 1350, experienced destruction and reconstruction in the following centuries. Today it is only comprehensible in its floor plan through its restored gate structures and partial remaining wall pieces .
history
Reasons for attachment
The Lechenich settlement about 20 km west of Cologne lay unprotected in the south-west of the old archbishop's castle. Another settlement existed on the area of the St. Aposteln Abbey in Cologne on today's market square on Bonn-Aachener Heerstraße , where customs were levied by archbishopric customs officers (telonearius). The planning of the client, the Archbishop of Cologne Konrad von Hochstaden , envisaged a new building in a more easily defended place, which would then be surrounded by a protective city wall. Decisive for the new building was the market settlement and its location between the Rotbach and the Mühlenbach, suitable for defense .
The expansion of this settlement into a fortified city, whose market square was called the “ forum ” in 1256 , began after the archbishop had acquired all rights in an exchange of goods with the apostle monastery. Connected with the expansion was the abandonment of the old settlement near the archbishop's castle and the gradual relocation of residents to the emerging city. These measures were completed in 1271. When Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg was granted city privileges in 1279 , the city wall, which was built using quarry stone , tuff and trachyte rock , was still unfinished.
In the city charter, citizens were obliged to support the castle men in defending the city in the event of imminent danger . The citizens received the income from the excise on the condition that the money be used for the construction and maintenance of the city walls as long as this construction lasted (quamdiu structura opidi durabit).
Medieval fortification
The destruction of the old castle in 1301 gave Archbishop Heinrich von Virneburg the occasion to further expand the city on a rectangular area including a new castle, which was completed under his successors Walram von Jülich and Wilhelm von Gennep . A city wall made of strong masonry, protecting the castle and the city, and the wide moats in front of it, provided good defense possibilities. The castle and outer bailey were also surrounded by a wall and thus protected by an inner and an outer wall ring. City and castle formed a unit as "City and Castle Lechenich", so that Lechenich is also known as the city castle .
city wall
The older walls were made of quarry stone, those built in the 14th century from bricks . On the inside above the arches they were equipped with a battlement that ran along the walls . Slightly raised bastions were built in the northern and western corners of the city fortifications , the southern side was protected by five watchtowers according to Merian. These wooden towers had to be replaced at regular intervals. The bastions were given as castle fiefs.
Course of the wall
Based on the oldest available representation of the Lechenich fortifications and the remains of the wall still preserved today in parts of the overall course, as well as various mentions in documents, the course of the medieval surrounding wall can be described as follows.
The eastern city wall ran as an extension of the castle wall to the south and integrated the Bonn Gate. From there, continue in a southerly direction, then bend to the west along the Zehntwalles road, named after a local farm, to the southwest corner of the city. In contrast to the sections on the east, west and north sides, the southern flank of the fortification in Merian's drawing shows five rectangular towers erected at regular intervals, slightly protruding from the wall itself. In front of the flour mill , which was built very early, the surrounding wall turned north along today's road on the ditch and led to the Herriger Tor built there. To the side of this, the wall ran along today's castle wall up to the level of the "Untere Mühle", where it bent in the northwest to the east and continued along the current Schloßstraße (formerly also Schlosswall) (crossing today's Frenzenstraße to Konradsheim ) there in the northeast corner of the overall fastening built castle where it passed in the wall.
City gates
The Lechenich gate buildings have been given different names in the course of their history, but they always refer to the destination of the path that begins and continues on them. This is how the Herriger Tor 1371, which leads to the neighboring district of Herrig, was called “Harger portze” today and in the 17th century it was the “Dürener Port”. Today's Bonner Tor was mentioned in a document in 1357 as "bunre portze" and referred to the former coronation road, the country road to Bonn .
Bonner and Herriger Tor
After the fortifications that had already been built in the 13th century were destroyed around 1301 with the old castle, a new approach was used to create a city fortification. It is not known whether the two gates of the enclosing wall were erected at the same time or first. At the latest under the prince-bishops Walram von Jülich († 1349) and his successor Wilhelm von Gennep († 1362), who completed the surrounding wall, it must have passed. The Herriger Tor was first mentioned in 1371 after that of the Bonner Tor in 1357. On the occasion of a land survey, this document stated: “The wheat field is 226 acres and is located in front of the Tor of Lechenich, called the Bonner Tor (bunre portze) is between the public road and the Eilau forest ”.
The straight Heerstraße , which crossed the city roughly in the middle, formed an axis with the eastern and western city gates . Apart from the so-called “Brier portze”, the later “Bungarts” gate in the north of the castle, they were the only entrances and exits to the fortified city. According to Merian's drawing on a copper engraving, which is not further documented , at that time it was a question of double gates, with the main gates being followed by a ditch spanned by a drawbridge on the land side, which was preceded by a smaller front gate, as is common in kennels .
Oldest masonry
Guiding slot of the portcullis
Groin vault
Corrugated stone, the wall of the open access illustrates the strength of the wall
The inner, enclosed by walls, massive gatehouses were by a valve disposed in the archway portcullis secured, which could be lowered quickly in surprise attacks since hoisting the heavy bridge would have taken some time.
The entrance to the city side was on corbels closed hanging wooden gates "Reyportzen", so called for their mounting points are still traceable in today's masonry. It was the job of the gatekeepers to open and close the gates at set times and to keep them closed in case of danger.
A customs post was set up near each of the gates, where traders had to pay customs duties and travelers had to pay road duties.
Trench system
The trench system consisted of the natural flowing waters , the Rotbach and the Mühlenbach, and the ditches that were additionally fed by the Mühlenbach and which ran around the entire facility as additional security.
- Sections of the former trench system
Part of the castle moat
City moat at the Bonner Tor
Mühlenbach on the west side
Pond "on the ditch"
The new castle was additionally secured by two ditches, one ditch surrounding the high castle and another surrounding the outer bailey. In contrast to the bastions in the northwest and southwest, in the northeast it was the castle itself, the south side was reinforced by additional watchtowers and a double moat in front of the city moat with a wall in between . The Mühlenbach supplied the trenches with a wooden pipe that was laid above the Herriger Tor at the Mühlengraben and into the southern city moat. The water in the northern section of the trench carried pipes of the same material that had been laid underground and thus crossed the street and gate. At the eastern end of this trench, the water entered the two additional castle trenches through wall passages near the floor. A drainage channel acted as an overflow, which ensured an even water level and drained excess water into the Rotbach.
Securing the fortifications
To protect the castle, the city and the residents, up to twelve castle men ("castrenses"), made up of knights ("milites") from the area around Lechenich, were obliged by the sovereign . Some received castle fiefs for their services such as large farms in Lechenich or the surrounding area, others were enfeoffed with land, grain or money rents. This unit, used as a mounted task force, had to be available to the archbishop and at all times.
In the second half of the 14th century, the castle men no longer played a role in the usual protection of the castle, although they were still considered "vasalli Lechnich" even without a residence obligation and received a castle loan. Officials appointed by the archbishops resided at the castle and were responsible for its security, as well as for the city and the administrative district. As a rule, they were assisted in their tasks by six mounted sticks , who brought eight replacement horses with them. The castle crew also included porters, guards and servants.
The fact that the castle and city wall were always kept in readiness for defense and manned by guards in uncertain times is evident from the old appointment documents of Lechenich's officials. According to an instruction issued by Archbishop Dietrich von Moers to the Lechenich waiter around 1450, the latter was supposed to ensure that the south-eastern tower was occupied by a good man who provided the archers with arrows. Over the centuries, with the advent of firearms, the fortification had lost value as a security. Since the 16th century, the electoral military was stationed at the castle and took over the protection of the castle and town. The former houses and farms, which had previously been granted as castle fiefs, were partly sold with the consent of the sovereign. From the north-western bastion of the city, on which the "Haus Leuchtenberg" was located, only a watchtower stood at the beginning of the 17th century. It was built in 1605 by the city of Lechenich after an attack by Dutch troops with the permission of Adolf von Gymnich on the site on which he was the owner of the castle fief at that time.
Siege and destruction 1642
The siege of Lechenich was preceded by times that were characterized by military units that were moving through and that acted on behalf of different political interests. On several occasions, commanders of foreign soldiers passing through were encouraged by gifts of money to spare the city. Thereupon city walls and moats were repaired on the order of the elector because of the increasing danger of war.
During the siege of Lechenich in 1642 during the Hessian War , part of the Thirty Years' War , the fortifications proved to be valuable in defending the castle. To protect the castle and town, 400 imperial and 130 electoral Cologne mercenaries as well as two equestrian companies were relocated to the castle, led by commanders appointed by Elector Ferdinand . They were supported by the citizens of Lechenich, who were subordinate to the electoral officers in the event of war. Supplies of ammunition, musket balls , powder and fuses were stored in the castle . Heavy artillery was available for defense, but the besieged also fought with other weapons such as rifles , pikes , swords and even stones against the approximately 9,000 to 10,000 enemy attackers. When the city was bombed by 20 guns and parts of the walls collapsed, it was realized that the city walls could not withstand the newer weapon technology.
After three weeks of siege, the military and the population withdrew from the heavily destroyed city to the castle. This turned out to be impregnable for the besiegers, as the deep moats surrounding the castle and outer bailey could not be negotiated under fire.
Fastening loss
Elimination of war damage
With the reconstruction of houses and courtyards, the fortifications were repaired. The major breaches in the masonry were closed with bricks and minor damage repaired. Nevertheless, large sections of the wall remained fragile, so that repairs were often necessary in the following decades. The construction of a section of the western wall at Herriger Tor is documented for the year 1760, but no further measures against the decay, which progressed strongly until the end of the 18th century, are not reported. The south side of the surrounding wall was still in relatively good condition, as was part of the east side, as can be seen in a painting by A. Reuter from 1797.
Wall houses
On the inside of the surrounding wall, which had been decimated by the war, the city built small houses, so-called ramparts or apartment buildings , the back wall of which formed the city wall. They were initially leased, but were not profitable because of the low rents . In addition, many of these houses were subsequently destroyed by several city fires , so that the city began to sell the remaining buildings and construction sites on the ramparts. The new owners were free to change their houses or build new buildings.
City gates
The destroyed upper floors of the two gates were not rebuilt at that time. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the mayors' file notes almost regularly indicated the need for repairs to the dilapidated gates. Invoices show that 1689 holes were repaired on both gates and in 1735 the Bonn gate had to be underpinned from both sides. As early as 1709, the Herriger Tor was fortified with iron girders due to the threat of collapse. In 1769 part of this gate was rebuilt with bricks.
The portcullis of the outer gates, the "first portze", had been replaced by wooden gates. These and the inner gates had to be repaired several times, the inner gates also had to be renewed.
Repairs to the gateways used by the military as guard rooms were also often necessary. After the demolition of the upper floors, these rooms were located on the thatched first floor.
In 1726 the wooden bridge at Bonner Tor and in 1733 the one at Herriger Tor was renewed as a stone bridge.
Decay of the castle
During the unsuccessful siege in 1642, the castle had proven its worth and continued to play a major role as a garrison in Electoral Cologne politics. In the following years the damage caused by the siege was repaired with bricks burned on site. In 1673 the castle was prepared to accommodate the Elector's French allies and made ready for defense again.
In 1689 the castle had become militarily worthless for the electors after the French troops were set on fire and fell into disrepair. The poorly covered roofs could not withstand storms and were leaking, and there were also broken windows, so that the rooms were exposed to the weather without protection. A city fire in 1722 damaged the palace complex again and made the masonry unstable. In 1723 large parts of a tower collapsed and in 1728 one of the rooms above the castle gate, the "Bungart Gate". When large parts of the vault and walls collapsed in other places and fell into the castle moat, the complex was abandoned. The curtain wall running towards the city had already collapsed in some places. A severe earthquake in 1756, which caused large cracks in the walls, accelerated the further decline of the castle.
The prison tower, the ecclesiastical house and the castle chapel as well as the waiter's building have been preserved .
Drainage of the moats
In the years 1787–1788, Elector Maximilian Franz had part of the outer trenches drained and the dams removed to gain garden land for reasons of profitability. The ditch called the “castle pond” was not drained because of its depth, but the connecting ditch from Herriger Tor to Frenzenstrasse and the two southern ditches and the ditches around the outer bailey were.
Due to the draining of the southern ditch, the “city pond”, both the city and the Franciscan Fathers ran into water problems, as both of them got their drinking water from the pond. The city fed its drinking water through pipes into the market well, the Franciscans into their own monastery well. At the urging of the Lechenich residents and requests from the Franciscans, the southern pond was preserved and was given to the city on a long lease.
Changes in Prussian times
End of the closed city wall
The fortification was preserved as a closed structure until the middle of the 19th century. The first breakthroughs in the wall ring, in 1854 on Frenzenstrasse and 1857 on Klosterstrasse, were made as part of a continuous route on the regional roads Neuss - Kerpen - Lechenich and Derkum with a connection to Euskirchen , which now crossed the city center unhindered. Something similar happened in 1901 when Luxemburger Strasse was widened . During this time, due to the expansion of the road, some of the ramparts, some of which were connected to the city wall, were put down.
The connection between the city and castle walls also no longer existed after the section of the wall on the east side from the castle to the city development was laid down. In the castle area itself, the southern wing of the wall with the courtyard chapel and the western part were laid down so that the romantic image of the castle ruins emerged, which has shaped the panorama of the place ever since.
The castle owner had the wall on the north side from the gate of the outer bailey to the residential tower removed in 1895 in order to have a good view of his newly created park . After the secularization, only part of the moat came into the possession of the Lechenich community, the moat was bought by the new castle owner.
Some of the drained trenches on Frenzenstrasse were leveled when the Kerpen – Lechenich road was built in 1854. In 1858, the moat at Herriger Tor was narrowed for financial reasons and the land that had been gained was sold to the local residents. Part of it was expanded as a path that is now called "Auf dem Graben". The southern moat remained leased as a fish pond.
Restoration and stylistic changes to the gate systems
In 1853, in agreement with the responsible state authority, the municipality began restoring its historically valuable building fabric. It was the work on the Bonner Tor, which was primarily tackled in 1853, and the repair of the Herriger Tor in 1862. Comprehensive documentation of the restoration process has not been created or is not known. Likewise, there was apparently no inventory of what was still available at that time. In the case of the Herriger Tor, these remains integrated into the superstructure can be seen from a drawing by the "Secret Government and Building Councilor" Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, who was planning the work at the time, and the clearly visible differences in the brickwork of the Bonner Tor. The restorations included the gate and its southern extension. The construction work inside the Bonner Tor was accompanied by the establishment of small holding cells and the preparation of a small official apartment for the prison guard. The gate system served this purpose from 1853 to 1897, until it was used for other purposes after the construction of the district court, which was built on the market square with an adjoining prison wing. During this long period of time, which was documented by many local council records, the Bonner Tor was generally referred to as a “detention facility” or “canton prison” and by Clemen as a canton prison.
Important notes arising from the building specifications of the historian Paul Clemen that from this 1899/1900 published were.
Description of the construction of the east gate around 1900
According to Clemen, the old material of the Bonn Gate, which partly reached the end of the first floor, consisted of tufa brickwork on the field side, whereas quarry stone and trachyte were also used on the side facing the city . The use of sandstone in the substructure, which he discovered around 1900, served as corner brackets and consisted, in part, of cuboids that were originally used. He attributed the materials of the partially bricked-up superstructure to the restoration of the 1850s and described the work carried out in brick, basalt and parts of the house as innovations. He also described the equipment of the gate with a completely new protruding frieze , over the battlements that completed the almost square gate construction. In the two-storey superstructure, according to Clemen, two rectangular windows on each of the floors faced the field side, one on the city side. For the south side he mentioned a brick house attached to the gate, which was also crowned by a battlement.
The gate was passed on both sides through ogival gates, into which a guide slot for the portcullis used earlier had been incorporated in the outer reveal . The gate passage was spanned by a groin vault covered with plaster and there were doors on the south and north sides. On the west side of the south wall there was a Gothic group of St. Anne herself in a rectangular wall panel . On the side facing the city, above the archway, to the side of its apex, there were two large corbels, probably with drilled holes, in which the heavy gate wings were previously hung and thus received their upper attachment.
Choice of neo-Gothic style
In the opinion of the Lechenich notary and historian Bendermacher, the decision of the community to give the buildings in the old town to be restored a neo-Gothic appearance was made consciously. They were supported in this project by the Cologne architect and cathedral master builder Zwirner, whom they had won over for the planning and who was himself a representative of neo-Gothic historicism .
The Bonner Tor was given a surrounding frieze and above it a battlements in neo-Gothic style based on the battlements of the castle towers. In his town history published around 1870, Bendermacher described the battlements of the town gate, which harmonize with the medieval battlements of the castle and gave the town a medieval reputation with the other buildings built in the same style at the time.
Building description of the west gate around 1900
In 1862 the Herriger Tor was restored according to Zwirner's plans and redesigned in a neo-Gothic style. As described by Clemen goal was after the restoration of a base with ogival passage and a two-story superstructure which both sides stepped gables had received and by a gabled roof was covered. Material that was still preserved from the previous structure consisted of trachyte and tuff. Tuff was used in place of the trachyte during the restoration and sandstone blocks were originally used for the corner bracing. For the two gate openings, Clemen mentioned a plain cornice with beveled edges in the reveal . In the archway on the field side there was a groove for the portcullis, as at the east gate. In contrast to the other gate, the small gate hall was vaulted with an unplastered groin vault without ribs and shield arches. In the closed south and north side wall there was a flat arched panel. The upper floor had a modern three-part window on both sides with slender stone pillars with a narrow slit window recessed above them, which provided a bare, flat-roofed hall with light. Regarding the design of the stepped modern gable, Clemen added that these were "not very successful".
On the city side next to the gateway was a stone crucifix from the 18th century, on the base of which (after Clemen) a poor relief of the Pieta and the inscription DDAEV had been attached.
Lateral exposure of the gates
Herriger Tor, designed by Zwirner 1860
Bonner Tor before being uncovered in 1901
Herriger Strasse and Gate 1901
Crumbling remains of the city wall in 1958
The gates, which were still connected to the wall when the rails were laid for the Euskirchen-Liblar circuit in 1895 , were exposed on the side when the Luxemburger Strasse was widened in 1901 by demolishing the adjacent houses. Since there was no level access from the gate hall to the upper floor at Herriger Tor, the gate has remained unused since then.
Remaining plants
City plan
As before, the historical ground plan of Lechenich, which is partly still framed by moats, is now the old town of the village, in its rectangular shape. The old Heerstraße, which has become the town's main street (today in parts of Bonner Straße and Herriger Straße), still connects the two city gates, which are joined by the streets surrounding the town center, Zehntwall and Schlosswall. These are connected with smaller cross streets that branch off from both sides of the central market square, the former forum.
Historic streets and remains of walls
On some of the historic streets, small, but also compact, larger sections of the old city wall are exposed and additional remnants contain the houses built on or on the old wall.
The oldest remains of the wall with original building material are located "on the ditch" opposite the Oebelsmühle, other remains of the wall from the 14th century have been preserved on Zehntwall, Klosterstrasse, Melchiorstrasse, Schlosswall and Steinstrasse. Around 1960 a larger piece of the still existing city wall on Zehntwall was restored when it threatened to collapse when a wall house was demolished. None of the former ramparts exist in their original form, only a few of the houses that have been modernized there still reveal the nature of their origin.
Remnants of the city wall Zehntwall
City wall with support pillars at Klosterstrasse / Auf dem Graben
Melchiorstrasse, western wall
Remnants of the city wall connecting to the castle wall
Moats
The moats still enclose the southern half of the city from Bonner to Herriger Tor as well as part of the castle. On the north-west side, on Weltersmühlenweg, only drained moats have been preserved in the area and thus reveal the former course of the moat system. The moats, also known as “Stadtweiher”, are connected to the Mühlenbach by a pipeline, as in earlier times, and have a drain into the Rotbach. As before, the “castle pond” is fed by pipes from the city moat.
Magnificent gate
The neo-Gothic stepped gables have been striking since Zwirner's redesign. As with the Bonner Tor, the grooves of the portcullis in the outer archway have been preserved. The groin vault of the gate hall remained unplastered. After the adjacent houses were demolished in 1965, the functionless gate is on a traffic island. The gate had its access to the upper floors through its neighboring house and is now only accessible via a ladder. The door opening on the second floor of the northern side, which became visible through the exposure of the gate, probably also exposed the corbels set into the masonry below it, which was possibly the console for holding a staircase and thus connected the gate and battlement of the wall. It could have been left in its place by Zwirner to remind of the circumstances of the former city fortifications of Lechenich.
A wooden cross from 1822 has taken the place of the stone cross mentioned by Clemen next to the city gate. The representation of the Pietà in its base area and the letters DDAEV that have not yet been decoded have been adopted.
Bonner Tor
Repairs and the amount of the reconstruction can be seen on the various building materials. In the outer arch of the former passage, the groove of the portcullis is still present, as is the plastered groin vault. On the city side, the two corbels mentioned by Clemen to hold the wooden gate wings have disappeared, only the holes in their anchoring are visible. Behind a barred glass window in the alcove is a sculpture of Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg with a scroll that is supposed to represent a reference to the document granting Lechenich city rights. The figure replaced the sculptural group of an "Anna selbdritt" from the 15th century, which was still present and mentioned at the time of Clemen, which stood there until 1960 and is now in the parish church of St. Kilian . The rooms on the upper floors of the gate, which is now used as a wine bar, have retained their medieval character. Some of the doors are provided with latches and display flaps, reminiscent of the earlier use of the rooms as prison cells.
All medieval building and soil remains in Lechenich were recorded, protected and published in a list of the city of Erftstadt within the framework of the statutory monument protection .
literature
- Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the Rhine province, Euskirchen district . Düsseldorf 1900.
- Klaus Flink: manorial rule in the city . In: Klaus Flink (Ed.): Manorial rule and urban development on the Lower Rhine. Kleve 1989, ISBN 3-922412-08-4 .
- Karl Stommel : History of the Electoral Cologne city of Lechenich . Euskirchen 1960.
- Karl Stommel: History of the Electoral Cologne Office of Lechenich, its creation and organization . Euskirchen 1961.
- Karl and Hanna Stommel: Sources on the history of the city of Erftstadt . Vol. IV. Erftstadt 1990–1998
- Adolf Holler: The heroic defense of Lechenich against the united Hessian, Weimar and French armies in 1642 . In: Lechenich secondary school program for the school years 1874–1875 and 1875–1876. Zülpich 1876.
- Günter Engelbert: The Hessian War on the Lower Rhine . In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine. 1959.
- Konstantin Bendermacher: Lechenich, city and castle . In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Cologne 1870.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e f g h Paul Clemen in: Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, Kreis Euskirchen . Düsseldorf 1900, pp. 127-129.
- ↑ HAStK inventory Aposteln, document no. 1/72, published in Stommel, sources volume I no.132
- ↑ HAStK inventory of the Apostles' Certificate No. 3/51
- ↑ HAStK inventory clerical department 16 sheet 15 No. 41
- ^ A b Klaus Flink, manorial rule in the city. In: Klaus Flink (Ed.): Manorial rule and urban development on the Lower Rhine. Kleve 1989, ISBN 3-922412-08-4 , pp. 153-154.
- ↑ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings Generalia 9 II sheets 156–157 and holdings deeds No. 2160, published in Stommel Quellen Volume II No. 930 and 1057.
- ^ Archives Schloss Gracht files 52
- ^ Archive Castle Gymnich Certificate No. 736
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings Kurköln Lehen Generalia 8 II sheet 196, published in Stommel, Quellen Volume I No. 535
- ↑ HAStK inventory Aposteln Repertorien und Handschriften 2, sheets 303-308, published in Stommel, Quellen Volume I No. 416
- ^ Archive Schloss Gracht files 52 and 53, published in Stommel, Sources Volume V No. 2659.
- ↑ HAStK inventory foreign matters 170, published in Stommel, Quellen Volume IV No. 2091.
- ↑ HAStK inventory foreign matters 170b, published in Stommel Quellen Volume I No. 178
- ^ A b Karl Stommel, The Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its origins and organization. Euskirchen 1961. A7, pp. 31-39 and p. 78.
- ↑ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf inventory documents No. 701, 777, 1790, published in Stommel, sources Volume I No. 474, No. 514, Volume II No. 960
- ↑ Hermann von Weinberg, The book Weinsberg. Edited by Friedrich Lau. Bonn 1897. Volume IV, page 139
- ^ Archive Schloss Gymnich Certificate No. 736, published in Stommel, Sources Volume IV No. 2206.
- ^ A b c Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne City of Lechenich. Euskirchen 1960, p. 47.
- ^ Günter Engelbert, The Hessian War on the Lower Rhine. In the annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine 1959, p. 111.
- ^ Adolf Holler, the heroic defense of Lechenich against the united Hessian, Weimar and French armies in 1642. In the program of the high school in Lechenich over the school years 1874-1875 and 1875-1876. Zülpich 1876, pp. 3–13.
- ↑ Frank Bartsch, The Siege of the City of Lechenich 1642 in the context of the politics of the Electorate of Cologne at the end of the Thirty Years' War. In Festschrift for Manfred Groten. Bonn 2009, pp. 133-137.
- ^ Archive Schloss Gracht, files 52 and 53, published in Stommel Quellen Volume IV No. 2632, 2747, 2932.
- ^ Archives Schloss Gracht files 52 and 53
- ^ Archives Schloss Gracht files 52 and 53
- ↑ Archive Schloss Gracht files 53
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW holdings Kurköln IV 1816, published in Stommel, Quellen Volume V No. 2661.
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings Kurköln IV 1816 and Kurköln II 1960, published in Stommel, Sources Volume V No. 2835.
- ↑ a b c Konstantin Bendermacher: Lechenich, city and castle. In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine. Cologne 1870, p. 154.
- ↑ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf inventory Kurköln IV 3490-5050 (Kellnereirechnungen), published in Stommel, sources Volume V No. 2874 and No. 2934.
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings Kurköln II 1946 and Kurköln IV 285
- ↑ Erftstadt City Archives A03 1097, A03 1096, A03 1098, A03 1117 (log book of the municipal council)
- ↑ City Archives Erftstadt A03 1096 (log book of the municipal council)
- ↑ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings government Cologne BR 0009 No. 579
- ↑ Erftstadt City Archives A03 1097.
- ↑ Erftstadt City Archives A03 1117.