Lower Unterbalbach Castle

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Lower Unterbalbach Castle
The destruction of the Lower Castle in 1523 (center); next to it the ruins of the Upper Castle (right margin)

The destruction of the Lower Castle in 1523 (center); next to it the ruins of the Upper Castle (right margin)

Alternative name (s): Castle Balbach, Unteres Schloss Unterbalbach, Wasserburg Unterbalbach
Creation time : around 1345
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: Burgstall
Standing position : Knighthood
Place: Unterbalbach
Geographical location 49 ° 32 '32 "  N , 9 ° 45' 14"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 32 '32 "  N , 9 ° 45' 14"  E
Lower Castle Unterbalbach (Baden-Württemberg)
Lower Unterbalbach Castle

The Untere Burg Unterbalbach , also Burg Balbach and Unteres Schloss Unterbalbach , is a lost moated castle in Unterbalbach near Lauda-Königshofen in the Main-Tauber district in Baden-Württemberg . The name Lower Castle was created to distinguish it from the Upper Castle Unterbalbach .

history

The place Unterbalbach was only mentioned explicitly from 1345 onwards. Since the late Middle Ages there have been two castle complexes in the small town, the upper and the lower castle. The latter was a Hohenlohe fiefdom around 1345 for Konrad Krumlin von Balbach, before it became a Ganerbiat , in which the Truchsessen von Baldersheim , who also called themselves “von Balbach”, and the Sützel von Mergentheim participated. In 1479 the Sützel took over the shares in the Truchsessen. In 1486 the Würzburg bishop acquired the rulership rights in Unterbalbach and a good 104 years later, in 1590, both castles with the associated rulership rights were sold to the Teutonic Order .

Location of the moated castle today

Today almost nothing indicates the former moated castle: where there used to be a castle is now a modern residential area. For this purpose, the rivers were channeled, the terrain was raised so that differences in terrain such as walls and ditches were leveled out. The street name Untere Burg reminds of the castle. In one of the neighboring buildings there is said to be a medieval cellar that could have belonged to one of the castle's supply buildings.

The fateful year 1523

At the end of the 15th century a time of upheaval had come again. With the deselection of Emperor Charles IV and the election of Charles V , the uncertainty on the streets in the German Reich was immensely worse. Although in 1495 at the Diet of Worms an " eternal peace in the country " was resolved, this measure did not contribute to the settlement of the unrest. Seven years earlier, in 1488, the Frankish and Swabian imperial estates had merged under the leadership of Nuremberg to form the so-called Swabian League . The aim of the association was to reduce attacks on traders and travelers by working together. In 1489 the federal government became the Reich executive, i.e. executive power.

In the middle of the 16th century, the robber baron Hans Thomas von Absberg kidnapped merchants on their trade trips and demanded a large ransom for their release. Rüd Sützel also supported him in his feud . In 1523 the federal government sent its troops to level a total of 23 "predatory nests" to the ground. The federal troops, which consisted of 10,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 horsemen, carried 100 cannons and 30 rifles as armament, for which they had 900 quintals of black powder with them. On June 17th, the troops reached Unterbalbach Castle and blew up Rüd Sützel's property to prevent his return.

The woodcut by Hans Wandereisen

Hans Wandereisen accompanied the Swabian Federation as war reporter in 1523 and depicts the complex as follows: The complex can be seen in the center of the picture. Protected by a picket fence and a moat, she dominates the picture. The solid walls have only a few windows in the lower part. The upper half is shown as a half-timbered building . Three large towers can be seen at the front, one of which encloses the inner castle gate. The left tower has a relatively pointed roof and an oriel tower on each of the two visible sides. A roof turret is located between it and the central tower . The roof of the Palas can be seen in the background . A battlement runs around the right half of the castle. The entire facility is already on fire. Parts of the village can be seen in the right half of the picture. A wall could have belonged to a house. In the background four mercenaries are just passing a bridge. The troops of the federal government consist of a good 40 horsemen on the left and almost 30 soldiers on the right.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Untere Burg Unterbalbach  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Untitled document. In: tobias-stindl.de. Retrieved August 28, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Unterbalbach. In: unterbalbach.de. Retrieved August 28, 2020 .