Ulrichsburg
The ruins of the Ulrichsburg (French Château de Saint-Ulrich ) are near Ribeauvillé ( German : Rappoltsweiler ) in Alsace . It towers 510 meters above the Strengbach valley.
description
Ulrichsburg is a rock castle with a square keep in the north and a donjon in the south. Both towers stand on rocks. Between them are the residential buildings and a chapel . A little lower is the Zwinger and the heart of the castle , the knight's hall . Nine Romanesque twin windows are still preserved in it. The interior of the castle is decorated throughout with ornaments made of red sandstone .
history
There are building remains from the 11th century, but the keep was not built until the beginning of the 12th century. The residential tower , still preserved in its foundation walls, was completed around 1200 and the knight's hall in 1230. The castle was completely finished in 1289. It was first mentioned in a document in 1298.
The chapel dedicated to St. Ulrich was completed in 1435. In the 15th century the castle was involved in acts of war with the owners of the nearby castles Girsberg and Hohrappoltstein . From the Thirty Years War the castle fell into disrepair.
Surname
Bodo Ebhardt explains in his work that “Ulrichsburg (at least since 1084-1298 was called Rapoltstein)” . Against this assumption speaks that in a document from 1288 of "the gentlemen of the old box" is reported. It follows that Hoh-Rappoltstein must have belonged to the gentlemen von Rappoltstein together. This also suggests that only two castles existed at that time, the Alte Kasten and the Stein , which was the residence of the Lords of Giersberg in 1288 and so cannot be meant as the Rappoltsteiner Burg . From the above findings it can be concluded that the construction of the Great Rappoltstein Fortress, the second Rappoltstein castle, must have been completed in 1289. If the foundation stone was laid before 1283, the later name Ulrichsburg would also explain itself, because Ulrich III was from 1275 to 1283. Mr. zu Rappoltstein. As patron saint of the castle, his namesake will have given the occasion for the later naming in Ulrichsburg. It is certain that the vicar general of the Bishop of Basel consecrated an altar in honor of St. Ulrich in the castle chapel north of the palas facing the inner courtyard on October 2, 1435 .
The following names of the system can be found at different times:
- 1368 Groß-Rappoltstein
- 1371 castrum Rapoltzsteine inferius in Volgari the Niderburg
- 1378 Large Rapolczstein Castle
- 1435 majori castro Rappolstein
- 1453 Great Rappoltstein fortress
- 1477 Ortisei
- 1518 Great Rappoltstein
- 1536 Sant Ulrich
- 1627 Ortisei Castle
- 1778 Large fortress Rappoltstein, in the files “St. Ulrich, dermal lower castle "
literature
- Thomas Biller, Bernhard Metz: The castles of Alsace - architecture and history. Volume 1: The beginnings of castle building in Alsace (until 1200) . Published by the Alemannic Institute Freiburg i. Br., Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-422-07439-2 , pp. 456–478.
- Bodo Ebhardt: The three Rappoltstein castles . In: German castles. Volume 1. Berlin 1899, p. 292.
- Nicolas Mengus, Jean-Michel Rudrauf: Châteaux forts et fortifications médiévales d′Alsace. Dictionnaire d′histoire et d′architecture . La Nuée Bleue, Strasbourg 2013, ISBN 978-2-7165-0828-5 , pp. 264-268.
- Friedrich J. Ortwein (ed.): Rappoltstein. 1905-2005 . Locher, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-930054-50-7 .
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 9 ″ N , 7 ° 18 ′ 19 ″ E