Tower castle Alt-Berneck

Tower castle Alt-Berneck
Remains of the round tower on Alt-Berneck. Note: Only the lowest stone layer is from the construction period
Alternative name (s):	Tower hill castle Altenberneck
Creation time :	early 11th century
Castle type :	Höhenburg in spur location
Conservation status:	ruin
Construction:	Diabase rubble
Place:	Bad Berneck
Geographical location	50 ° 3 '32.6 "  N , 11 ° 41' 34"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 3 '32.6 "  N , 11 ° 41' 34"  E

The tower castle Alt-Berneck , also known as tower castle Altenberneck , is a very early tower castle of the 11th century in Bad Berneck in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth in Bavaria .

The ruin of the hilltop castle is freely accessible.

Geographical location

The way to the tower castle leads east over the city's spa gardens upwards. After about 20 minutes keep right at the concrete bridge. Shortly afterwards turn right to "Rektor-Schoerrig-Weg". At the top of the ridge to the left.

A visit to the ruins can be combined with a tour of the Hohenberneck castle ruins and the old castle at the entrance to the spa park.

History of the castle

There is no archival evidence for the castle. However, due to the history of the settlement, the construction, the excavation of the ruin and modern sources, the history of the complex can be reconstructed well.

The castle was built by the whale pots in the early 11th century . It is located at the interface between the old settlements and the areas on the Fichtelgebirg high plateau that were then to be cleared. Above the castle is the Alt-Berneck corridor, which was the origin of today's city of Bad Berneck.

The castle was abandoned in the middle of the 12th century in favor of the strategically more favorably located Walpotenburg. This castle is in turn the predecessor castle of the Hohenberneck on the Bad Bernecker Schlossberg. With this relocation, the Alt-Berneck settlement was also relocated to its present location at the confluence of the Ölschnitz and the Knodenbach. Obviously, the old tower castle was not used to any significant extent, as the corresponding ceramics are missing.

Building stock

Typology

The castle is one of the seldom verifiable tower castles that formed the typical architecture of the aristocratic castle from the late 10th century to the end of the 12th century. These early castles essentially consisted of a residential tower surrounded by a ring , possibly supplemented by a gate tower . Significant stone ancillary structures have hardly been identified in this type of building, as is the case with the Alt-Berneck castle tower. The tower castle itself is one of the most important castle complexes of the 11th and early 12th centuries.

description

The access to the castle is only a few meters wide on the mountain ridge. In the south a moat protects the castle. The transition over this ditch, which here consists of leftover rock, is unique. In the north there are two more moats . The area of ​​the outer bailey essentially consists of two plateaus in the east and west. The west was used for residential purposes, in the east there was probably an economic area.

Access to the main castle leads from the western plateau via a sloping staircase. This ends in an approximately rectangular protrusion, in the place of which there was possibly a gate tower. The tightly drawn Bering encloses the core hill and thus the main castle. A piece about six meters long and about two meters thick has been verified. The round residential tower, the main component of the complex, has a wall thickness of around two meters with an outer diameter of eleven meters. The excavator Otto Schoerrig found a sandstone column and profiled door and window walls with surface decorations near this tower. This is remarkable as there is hardly any evidence of architectural sculpture for early castles of the 11th century.

The excavation of the tower castle

A find from Otto Schoerrig's excavation on the Alt-Berneck tower castle: "Kommatopf", 11th century.

The knowledge about the tower castle is mainly based on the excavation of the local school principal Otto Schoerrig in the years 1937 to 1939. He was able to obtain the first evidence of a Salierzeit round tower . The pottery found points to the 11th century, possibly even the 10th century. Unfortunately Otto Schoerrig could not finish his excavation, so that a final report is missing.

Preservation of the castle

A local support association tries to preserve the castle ruins. In 2014, landscape conservation measures were carried out to free the castle from heavy vegetation. This work will be continued in 2015.

legend

A legend reports from this time. Since it is relatively short, it can be reproduced in full here. Most of the local details of the saga are either confirmed or suspected.

"The Holzfräulein stayed in Ölschnitz, a mountain near Berneck in Upper Franconia, and sometimes stayed overnight in the rear mill on the Ölschnitz. At that time, Berneck wasn't standing, only that mill. Alt-Berneck was standing on the mountain that is today Still has this name. Sometimes the wood maid wanted to spend the night in the mill again and asked the miller: “Do you still have your big cat?” She meant the bear that the miller had. This one said no, but the bear was in the mill and tore up the wooden girl. "

The tower castle is registered as a ground monument under monument number D-4-5936-0016.

literature

• Hellmut Kunstmann : Castles in Upper Franconia, Part II. The castles of the noble families in the Obermaing area . Verlag EC Baumann, Kulmbach 1955, pp. 52-54.
• Otto Schoerrig: Bad Berneck and its surroundings . Bad Berneck 1983.
• Markus Thoma, Claus Rabsahl, Ingo Sördert: Bad Berneck and Gefrees - A search for traces from the origins to the High Middle Ages . Historical Forum Gefrees (Ed.), Gefrees 2013.
• Emil Wachter: The castle wreath in the Ölschnitztal . Seven star 1952/5.
• Joachim Zeune : Brief report on the castle landscape of Bad Berneck / Gefrees 2013, in the local files of the State Office for Monument Preservation, Bamberg, Seehof Castle.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Location of the castle ruins in the Bavaria Atlas
2. ↑ Joachim Zeune , brief report
3. ↑ Joachim Zeune : Salierzeitliche castles in Bavaria . In: Horst-Wolfgang Böhme (Ed.): Burgen der Salierzeit - Volume 2, Sigmaringen 1992, pp. 217 and 219
4. ↑ Location files LfD, Seehof Castle

Web links

Commons : Turmburg Alt-Berneck  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The homepage of the castle