Teufelsstein (Haßberge)

Devil stone
Teufelsstein general view
Alternative name (s):	Devil stone, hell stone
Castle type :	Höhenburg, hillside location
Conservation status:	Burgstall
Place:	Pfarrweisach- Lichtenstein
Geographical location	50 ° 8 '16.4 "  N , 10 ° 46' 58.1"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 8 '16.4 "  N , 10 ° 46' 58.1"  E
Height:	400  m above sea level NN

The Devil's Stone (also Teufelstein or nitrate ) is an Outbound high medieval rock castle on 400  m above sea level. NN below the Pfarrweisach district of Lichtenstein in the Franconian Haßberge .

location

From a fortification point of view, the Teufelsstein lies on the slope of the long ridge above the Weisach Valley. The small castle could easily be shot at from the plateau. The question arises why the (originally probably noble ) lords of the castle did not lay out their fortress on the site of today's large double castle Lichtenstein , which is only about 500 m north on the edge of the village. The hillside location and the proximity to Lichtenstein Castle would rather speak in favor of a preliminary work of this castle, which supposedly came into being later.

A very similar situation exists below Rauheneck Castle on the Haubeberg near Vorbach. There, too, there is a mighty rock near the main castle, on the top of which a rectangular depression indicates a cistern . In the vicinity of Altenstein Castle above Pfarrweisach, processed boulders also tell of such outposts.

In the late Middle Ages, there was another Lichtenstein mansion at the foot of the hill . The stone weir storage of this Dürrnhof (tower courtyard) was removed in the 19th century.

history

Since the Burgstall was already abandoned in the High Middle Ages , there is no documentary evidence of its history.

Some historians locate the ancestral seat of the powerful von Stein family here, which probably split into the lines of Stein to Lichtenstein and Stein to Altenstein around 1200 . The Lichtsteiner branch then built the nearby castle Lichtenstein, the Altensteiner line established about six kilometers to the north on the same ridge, the castle Altenstein . The Teufelsstein could also have been the seat of a sub- vasall of those von Stein who were themselves servants of the bishops of Würzburg .

The castle rise

The "scary face" at the entrance

On the castle plateau

Obviously still used today: The dilemma on the entrance rock

In the 19th century, the castle stables were incorporated into the romantic landscape park below Lichtenstein Castle and made accessible.

The Burgstall is a station on the castle history trail in the Haßberge district. An information board reports on the history of the Burgplatz.

Like the neighboring castles of Lichtenstein and Rotenhan, this site monument is also exposed to numerous esoteric misinterpretations and downright esoteric tourism. However, all rock cut-offs can be unequivocally associated with the high medieval castle complex.

A systematic castle and archaeological research of the two rock castle stables Rotenhan and Teufelsstein is still pending. Such an investigation was called for in 1992 by Joachim Zeune , who saw the research into these early castle complexes as "one of the most important desiderata of Bavarian castle research".

investment

Like the Rotenhan Castle just five kilometers to the south, the Teufelsstein is one of the few real rock castles in Bavaria. Unlike the larger neighboring castle, the main castle of the Teufelsstein was only built on a single free-standing rock. The sandstone formations of both strongholds of the rocky are already thousands of years ago on the clay surface Rhät - Lias -Übergangsschichten downhill slipped to their current locations. Between Buch and Wüstenwelsberg there is another early castle complex on the eastern slope of the ridge, which researchers consider to be the remains of Gutenfels Castle , which was abandoned in the High Middle Ages .

The horseshoe-shaped castle rock of the Teufelstein is separated from the foreland on the mountain side by a shallow neck ditch that is only about one to two meters deep today . Above the rock, some other rock groups show traces of artificial processing. The castle could have been much larger originally. The entrance to the castle plateau is formed by a narrow, angled staircase corridor that was previously secured by two wooden doors. As a deterrent, a stylized guardian face was carved into the soft sandstone in front of the first door. The guard's pointed helmet goes well with the 11th or 12th century. Such “frightful faces” can also be found at other high medieval castles, so the representation should not be a supplement from a later period.

In the 19th century, the castle rock was made accessible at ground level using a few carved steps. Originally, access to the stairwell was probably only possible via wooden ladders about two meters high, which could easily be pulled in in the event of an attack.

The rock plateau bears clear traces of a massive overbuilding (beam holes, foundation banks), on the valley side the rock group was apparently closed by a wall. A few steps near the staircase lead into the void, the castle courtyard was probably spanned by a wooden ceiling that lay on this wall. Numerous irregular small cuboids in the area indicate a stone overbuilding. The pending red sandstone provided enough building material here. The castle rock was undoubtedly artificially separated, and the stone rubble could be processed immediately. Also in the masonry of the nearby Lichtenstein Castle are numerous of these small sandstone blocks, which are likely to have come from the Teufelsstein .

The rear (southern) part of the castle rock was accessible via a small staircase and was probably secured by another wooden door. A mill board carved into the ground has been preserved on the entrance rock. Like the guard's head, it is dated as medieval by castle research. The current name of the castle stable is directly related to this game board. According to the castle legend, a Lichtenstein knight defeated the devil with a trick on this board . The original name of the castle is unknown, whether it is the stone of the same family can only be guessed.

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation lists the ground monument as a medieval tower hill under the monument number D 6-5830-0012.

literature

• Joachim Zeune : Castles in the Eberner Land . - Ebern, 2003 (Eberner Heimatblätter, 2 issues)
• Joachim Zeune: Symbols of power and transience: Castle history trail Haßberge . - Haßfurt, 1996

Individual evidence

1. ^ Joachim Zeune: Castles in Bavaria. In: H. Böhme (Ed.): Burgen der Salierzeit, Sigmaringen, 1992
2. ^ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry