Altcastell tower hill

Altcastell tower hill
The still preserved top of the tower hill
Alternative name (s):	Lower lock
Creation time :	before 816
Castle type :	Hilltop castle, spur position, moth
Conservation status:	Burgstall, tower hill preserved
Standing position :	Imperial Counts , Margraves
Place:	Castell - "Mahrenberg"
Geographical location	49 ° 44 '17.9 "  N , 10 ° 21' 11.9"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 44 '17.9 "  N , 10 ° 21' 11.9"  E
Height:	394.1  m above sea level NN

The Altcastell tower hill , also known as the Lower Castle, is an abandoned hilltop castle of the type of a tower hill castle (Motte) in Castell in Lower Franconia . Mentioned for the first time in the 9th century, it was the successor to the prehistoric and early historical fortifications in the same place. The castle existed parallel to the Upper Castle and was therefore also called the Lower Castle .

Geographical location

The Altcastell tower hill is located about 245 meters from the St. Johannis church in Castell. The castle rose to about 394.1  m above sea level. NN high summit, which is considered the foothills of the Herrenberg. The corridor on which the tower hill rises was called "Mahrenberg". To the northeast of the former castle grounds, about 115 meters away, you can see the preserved remains of the sister castle Upper Castle, a stair tower.

The tower hill drops off steeply and is planted with sparse trees.

history

The lower castle had an eventful history. Unlike the upper castle, it was not always in the hands of the Counts of Castell . From the second half of the 13th century, the burgraves of Nuremberg , who later became the margraves of Ansbach, owned the building before the count's family exchanged their original ancestral seat, which was now in ruins, in the 17th century.

The Landesburg Castell

The history of Altcastell Castle is closely linked to that of the town and the Castell reign. The first mention of "Castel" in 816 indicates a fortification in the village. Probably was already in pre- and early historic one-time fortress present, only a few of the ridge ditches have received. The complex was later divided into two different castles.

The castle was expanded as a round castle and it was probably expanded into a huge, Ottonian state castle . The sources name a founder in 1057, "Rṏbbrath" (Rupert) "von Castell" from the East Franconian nobility. How the castle and the surrounding settlement came into the possession of the Counts of Castell is uncertain; at the beginning of the 13th century they were already raised to the counts .

In 1258 the castellian goods were first divided. Heinrich II. And his brother Hermann divided their family into two houses, which had their ancestral headquarters in the upper and lower castle. Hermann sat in the upper castle on the Schlossberg, while Heinrich resided in the lower one. Both castles had chapels at that time, the goods were also shared. In 1265 the two fortifications were mentioned again as "castris Kastele".

Owned by the burgraves

With the year 1280 the lower castle came more and more under the influence of the burgraves of Nuremberg . At first the castle could only be sold or loaned with their consent. This was the case in 1321 when, after a further division of the castellischen goods, Hermann III. had to pledge the castle to the burgraves. After Hermann's death in 1328, Friedrich IV of Nuremberg received the castle and half of the village of Castell.

In the 14th century he built the castle count's office of Castell from his newly preserved estates, which was confirmed by the imperial chancellery in 1403 . Previously, in 1379, the Bamberg Monastery had received it as a pledge. In 1408 the castle and office came to Dietrich von Heidingsfeld. Just two years later, Arnold von Eremberg and Horneck von Hornberg came to the lower Castell Castle as officials.

On November 6, 1497 the castle was burned down during a feud by the troops of the Imperial Knight von Guttenberg . However, the buildings had not suffered much damage. The first description of the lower castle comes from this period: it had a chapel, a high tower and a two-story residential building. There is also talk of a large gatehouse . After the minor damage, the fortification was rebuilt.

The final end for the Nuremberg-Ansbach castle of Castell came in 1525. During the German Peasants' War the peasants in the area besieged and stormed the fortified buildings and burned them down completely. In the following years the ruins degenerated into a quarry from which, among other things, the new construction of the upper castle in 1607 obtained its building materials. Later stones were also removed for the new castle in the village of Castell.

description

Only underground elements have survived from the original fortifications. These are classified by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation under the ground monument number D-6-6228-0005. The former castle was about 50 meters long, while its transverse diameter is estimated to be 47 meters. The transition to the Upper Castle is marked in the northeast today by a flat, approximately eight meter high hill and a subsequent pit-shaped depression.

See also : List of German hill towers

literature

• Klaus Leidorf , Peter Ettel , Walter Irlinger, Joachim Zeune : Castles in Bavaria - 7,000 years of history in an aerial photo . Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-8062-1364-X , pp. 116-117.
• Hans Bauer: District of Kitzingen. An art and culture guide . Market wide 1993.
• Karl Treutwein : From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim. History, sights, traditions . Volkach 1987.
• Hellmut Kunstmann , Otto Meyer: Castell. State rule, castles, class rule . Neustadt an der Aisch 1979.
• Björn-Uwe Abels : The prehistoric and early historical site monuments of Lower Franconia . (Material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series B, volume 6). Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1979, ISBN 3-7847-5306-X , p. 103.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See: Kunstmann, Hellmut (and others): Castell .
2. ↑ Schilling, Walter: The castles, palaces and mansions of Lower Franconia . P. 257.
3. ^ Kunstmann, Hellmut (and others): Castell . P. 54.
4. ^ Bauer, Hans: District of Kitzingen . P. 80.
5. ^ Treutwein, Karl: From Abtswind to Zeilitzheim . P. 42.
6. ↑ Geodata: Bodendenkmalnummer D-6-6228-0005 ( Memento of the original dated February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 9, 2014. 
7. ^ Kunstmann, Hellmut (and others): Castell . P. 103.