Ulmen castles
The Ulmener castles are in elm in the Eifel located ruins of what was once composed of Upper and Lower Burg castle .
The upper castle was built on a slope above the Ulmen maar , while the lower castle (also called lower castle) was adjacent but below it.
history
The exact time of construction is not known, but it is assumed that the upper castle was built around the year 1000. It was first mentioned in a document in 1074. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century it was home to the knight Heinrich von Ulmen, from whom the participation in the Fourth Crusade has been handed down. He brought home valuable treasures from this venture, including the famous Limburg Staurothek , which can still be viewed in Limburg Cathedral today. In 1292 the castle complex was expanded to include a Niederburg, which is located directly down the slope. The castle complex was once connected to the city wall in order to form a coordinated defense system with it, but the point in time at which this happened cannot be determined.
The following period was marked by robber barons residing here , which flourished in the 14th century. In 1490, Ulmen finally became the Electorate of Trier . Around 1508 the legend arose about knight Phillip Haust von Ulmen, who is said to have been freed from captivity in the Holy Land by his loyal castle wife.
In the period from 1679 to 1689, the castle was severely damaged several times by fire and troops from the Sun King Louis XIV and finally destroyed by the French troops. In 1789 the upper castle was repaired, only to be abandoned again in the 19th century. From 1794, Ulmen was under French rule. The castle, confiscated by Napoleon , became Prussian property in 1815 and was auctioned in 1822 by a citizen of Cochem for use as a quarry . When Ulmen burned down almost completely in 1831, the houses were rebuilt with stones from the castle. In 1852 the municipality of Ulmen became the owner, and the citizens also used the ruins as a sheep market .
nowadays
The ruins of the upper castle are owned by the municipality of Ulmen and were listed as a historical monument in 1913 . In 1967/68 the upper castle was restored to its present state. From the once proud castle of a crusader , only the curtain wall , the remains of the Electoral Trier office building, an outer wall of the palace , a cistern and a few foundation walls of other buildings are preserved. The remains of the Niederburg have almost completely disappeared. The upper castle is freely accessible and there are regular events on its premises, including an annual medieval market on the last weekend in June.
Web links
- Entry on Ulmen (Oberburg) in the private database "Alle Burgen".
- Entry on Ulmen (Niederburg) in the private database "Alle Burgen".
- Internet presence of the Ulmen Castle and Heimatfestverein ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Floor plan of the upper and lower castle on burgenwelt.de
Coordinates: 50 ° 12 ′ 30.4 ″ N , 6 ° 58 ′ 53.4 ″ E