Lower Schmidmühlen Castle

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The hammer lock in Schmidmühlen

The Lower Schmidmühlen Castle is one of three castles in Schmidmühlen in the Amberg-Sulzbach district in Bavaria . The castle was built around 1700 as a hammer lock . It bears witness to Schmidmühlen's past as the center of the Upper Palatinate iron industry .

history

In 1326 there was one of the most important hammer mills in the Upper Palatinate. In 1427 the hammer master Hans Perndl had to undertake to leave two gates of the enclosed property “open at the right time”. One of these gates still exists as a gate passage at the house at Hammerstraße 13. The work experienced an upswing under the Regensburg family of the Altmanns (1465–1556). They also acquired the land south of the Lauterach to store charcoal; the field names Hammerwiese and Kohlstadel bear witness to this use. In 1530 they also bought the Hofmark Pilsheim in order to be able to use the ore deposits there.

In 1566 the Hammergut became the property of the iron wholesaler Leonhard Vogel from Regensburg, who had rebuilt a tin hammer in 1562. After several changes of ownership in 1622, the debts to the Regensburg iron dealer Schwarz and the Amberg citizen Kohler were seen as threatening the existence of the town. In the Thirty Years' War the hammer was looted by the Swedes and a gant trial ensued . In 1666 Johann Adam von Senglau bought the Hammergut and in 1668 founded a paper mill below the factory. His successors were the Fischbach (1680–1784), who were able to bring the plant back up. They built the baroque hammer lock in 1700. After the decline of the iron industry between 1804 and 1817, Franz Wilhelm von Frank, who was also the owner of the hammer mill in Vilswörth , bought the iron hammer. This was converted into a mirror loop and in 1909 into a sawmill that still exists today. Today the water wheel in the polishing plant operates a small hydropower plant.

architecture

Still late Gothic in essence, the architecture of the palace and its furnishings are influenced by the Italian Baroque. The builder Johann Hector von Vischbach, who came into contact with the latest architectural trends during his stay at the Viennese court during the Turkish wars, had a palace built based on the model of Italian aristocratic palaces. The most famous example of this type of castle is the central building of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich . Fantastic stucco ceilings by Italian artists and frescoes by Hans Georg Asam , the father of the Asam brothers , made the Schmidmühlen hammer castle one of the most important buildings in the district.

use

The community bought the hammer lock in 1857. Among other things, it served as an alternative school (until 1863), prison, warehouse and poor house (until 1978). At the beginning of the 19th century the heyday of the hammer lock ended and the building fell into disrepair. After the 1970s, it stood empty for 20 years. It was renovated by 2003 and today serves as a cultural, parish and community center and was the backdrop for the Erasmus Grasser festival on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the market in 2010.

Web links

Commons : Unteres Schloss (Schmidmühlen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.hdbg.de/pfalzweg/content/einzelorte/html/schmidmuehlen.htm
  2. ^ Reinhard Dähne & Wolfgang Roser: The Bavarian Iron Road from Pegnitz to Regensburg. House of Bavarian History , Volume 5, Munich 1988, pp. 32–34.
  3. Klaus Altenbuchner, Michael A. Schmid: The hammer lock in Schmidmühlen. To rediscover an Italian style castle and its important decoration. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Upper Palatinate and Regensburg. 143, 2003, pp. 397-418.
  4. http://www.burgen-und-schloesser.net/bayern/hammerschloss-schmidmuehlen/geschichte.html

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ′ 56.6 "  N , 11 ° 55 ′ 21.5"  E