Waldschlössel
| Waldschlössel | ||
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 The ruins of the Waldschlössel |
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| Alternative name (s): | Schlössel, Walastede castle ruins |
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| Creation time : | around 1030 | |
| Castle type : | Hill castle, moth | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Construction: | Half-timbered, stone | |
| Place: | Klingenmünster | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 9 '1.8 " N , 8 ° 0' 24.6" E | |
| Height: | 350 m above sea level NHN | |
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The Waldschlössel on the Treutelsberg at Klingenmunster in Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the oldest castles in the Pfalz , where you from a real Turmhügelburg not one (moth) and Fliehfeste can talk. The original name of the complex, which has been under UNESCO protection since July 2000 , is unknown, and it is often referred to simply as the castle . It cannot be clarified with certainty whether it is identical to the villa walahstede named in a document . So far, no written records are known about the origins of the castle, its function and its inhabitants.
history
The Waldschlössel is a castle that has not been documented and whose original name is unknown. The name Waldschlössel or Schlössel was only given to the complex after it was destroyed. All information can therefore only be based on archaeological findings.
Late Carolingian refugee castle
The hilltop castle was built in two widely spaced construction phases. As Vorburg designated plant of the larger ring wall that spans the later castle, was created in the period from 880 to 920. It belongs to a series of similar refuges in the Palatinate, which were built to protect against the Norman incursions . It is in the immediate vicinity of the Heidenschuh . Other facilities were the Heidenlöcher , Castle Schlosseck and the Heidenburg near Gimmeldingen.
Tower hill castle from the Salier period
The actual castle was built around 1030. It therefore comes from the Salier period and was a tower hill castle . The so-called “Mortar Square” and two remains of buildings have been preserved from that time. Fireplaces and an ore furnace can also be dated to this phase.
The second third of the 11th century is assumed to be the castle's first period of use. Presumably after being destroyed, it was rebuilt in the last third of the 11th century, with numerous changes being made to the building fabric. The third period of use is at the beginning of the 12th century. Here, too, another destruction of the castle may have prompted the renovation.
The Salian king Konrad II comes into question as the client . After Archbishop Adalbert I of Mainz was appointed Chancellor , he appropriated imperial goods, church property and possessions of the empire in a short time . Due to the territorial policy of Adalbert I, his relatives moved into the area around Klingenmünster. The line of the Saarbrücken thus provided guardianship of the Klingenmünster monastery and its possessions. In this way, the castle also came into the possession of the Counts of Saarbrücken . In the further course of history, the patronage passed to the imperial family of the Staufer . There was a close relationship between the Saarbrücken and the first Staufer King, Konrad III. The good relationship between Count Simon I of Saarbrücken and the Staufer Emperor Friedrich I (Barbarossa) must have suffered a serious disturbance, because the Count's castles were destroyed in 1168 on the orders of the Emperor. This could also have affected the Schlössel.
The castle was forgotten and overgrown in the Middle Ages. It only "surfaced" again in 1855, when stones were removed from the castle for the construction of the Pfalzklinik . It was not until 1890 that the archaeologist Christian Mehlis examined the castle scientifically and had large parts of the complex uncovered. At that time there are said to have been window sills and pillars. Friedrich Sprater carried out further excavations in 1935 and the entire inner castle was exposed. Since 1988, on behalf of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate , excavations have been taking place to research the facility.
description
Existing buildings in the second third of the 11th century
Farm yard
A polygonal building with a length of around seven meters and a width of 3.5 meters can be reconstructed through four post holes, inside of which two fireplaces were found. The accompanying finds allow first indications of non-ferrous metal or glass processing. Several ceramic shards with yellow, red and green remains of material were found in the fireplace and in the immediate vicinity . A shard of green, transparent glass with a painting was found at the southern hearth. Immediately in front of the building, several stone layers of a stove sunk into the floor with a working area have been preserved. The stones in the oven are partly badly flaked from high heat. The opening of the firebox is at ground level. Overall, there are great similarities to the oven in front of the kitchen in the Oberhof, so that an oven can be accepted there for the time being. However, if the first indications of glass processing are confirmed, use there as a cooling furnace cannot be ruled out.
In addition, there was another building as well as four ovens and fireplaces in the farm yard.
Residential tower with porch
In the cellar of the residential tower , stocks of wine and water were stored, which were brought from the Martha spring , among other things , and fed into the cellar through an opening in the residential tower. The kitchen and probably storage rooms were on the first floor. The upper floors were used by the owners and servants as living quarters.
Building stock in the last third of the 11th century
Farm yard
The remains of three buildings were found in the farm yard, one of which served as a bathhouse . In the middle, traces of a forge could also be found.
This was right at the gate tower . The fireplace in the south-western corner of the building was not only significantly larger than previously known, but it is apparently an open fireplace with a width of around 1.50 meters. The northern stone cheek with a height of about 1.10 meters was already removed at the beginning of the excavations in this area. Only the stump of the southern cheek has survived, some of which has severely flaked off. Immediately next to the chimney, a charred board one meter long and 0.20 meters wide was found in the course of the foundation . It should be a doorstep.
The centerpiece of the building, however, is an elaborate heating system that is largely below the building's walking horizon . It was accessed through a stone staircase between the building and the curtain wall . The boiler room had a barrel vault with a crown height of 1.80 meters and was closed to the outside with a double-leaf door.
The furnace consisted of two parts: under a hot air room was the fire or stoke room, the round arched stoke opening 20 cm above the floor of the boiler room and showing no signs of wear. The hot-air room protruded into the room above and apparently had a round opening at the top, which was closed with a stone and was used for heat regulation. From the hot air room, a duct runs at right angles, which runs roughly in the longitudinal axis of the building and was covered with stone slabs. For a steam bath , water was poured over the hot plates of the canal. The construction of the oven is atypical for a pure steam bath. It is therefore very likely that normal baths in wooden containers also existed.
Oberhof
In the upper courtyard, next to the residential tower, there was a larger building with an outside oven that housed the kitchen. By relocating this room, more space was created in the residential tower. An opening in the wall to the gate tower served as a drain. Animals were sometimes kept in the front building of the residential tower.
Existing buildings from the beginning of the 12th century
Some excavation finds could not be dated to the 11th century, which is why there must have been further conversion and use phases at the beginning of the 12th century. However, no detailed information is yet available.
Today's building stock
The "Vorburg"
On the east side, the elongated oval " Vorburg " joins, a Carolingian refugee castle, which is partially covered by the later tower castle . It cannot be said with certainty whether the early medieval complex was still used as a bailey in the 11th century. Its wall, which now appears as a dry stone wall, consists largely of boulders that were originally held together by mortar . Gate systems were found on the north and south sides. The design of the gates suggests that there were wooden towers above. Some of the ramparts can still be seen quite clearly. The actual access from the outer bailey to the gate tower can currently only be guessed at. After the current excavations inside the castle have been completed, the outdoor facilities and the access route will be examined more closely.
The tower castle
- The gate tower
The gate tower has a passage to the castle courtyard. Its external dimensions are 6.00 by 7.30 meters. The large cuboids of the southern front wall were processed using a construction technique that was used in the last quarter of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century and was apparently intended to achieve a representative effect.
The gate tower had two two-door swing gates with a passage height of 2.50 meters. Repair work can be seen on it, indicating multiple destruction. On the right-hand side of the entrance, a door robe was mistakenly used in an earlier excavation (probably 1935). This is authentic, but belongs to one of the building entrances.
- Castle area within the curtain wall
The ring wall made of small stone blocks, which forms an irregular polygon, is attached to the gate tower . It was built shortly after the residential tower was built and has probably replaced a wall made of sand and wooden pegs.
The castle area is divided into two areas. The farm buildings of the settled craftsmen stood in the south-eastern farm yard. After the gate tower, another gate on the right led to the Oberhof. This was accessible to the castle owners and their employees. The Oberhof was controlled from the gate tower and the front of the residential tower.
In the western area of the farmyard there is an area of around 35 m², on which two solid layers of mortar have partially survived. This is where the “mortar place”, where the mortar was mixed for the construction work on the plant, was probably located.
- The residential tower
The structural design of the massive residential tower, which has been preserved at a height of around 6 m in the west, can be reconstructed based on the volume of the remaining rubble (approx. 2500 m³) and individual building fragments. Accordingly, four more floors above the basement and ground floor can be assumed, which ended in a pyramid-shaped roof construction made of Eifel slate. The total area can be estimated on this basis: With a square floor plan of 13.3 by 13.3 m and a wall thickness of approx. 2.5 m at floor level and 2.4 m on the first floor, 320–380 m² of usable area can be assumed . The wall shells of the tower are made of red sandstone, on the south side three narrow wall slots provide lighting. There are also three complete window pillars and several cube capitals as well as a window sill with an incised mill map. Colored plaster fragments and remnants of glass windows suggest a representative design of the premises. A colorful window measuring 40 by 16 cm and marble slabs with the image of a lamb of God indicate the presence of an integrated chapel or prayer niche.
The residential tower is flanked by two other structures: In the north by a shaft-like extension with a floor plan of 4 by 3.5 m. A lavatory shaft is suspected here . In the east there is a front building of 13.3 x 5.60 m that was erected at the same time. It most likely served to protect the high entrance, which is presumably located on the second floor . The entrance to the porch is about 1.50 meters high. In front of it is a platform that was previously only accessible by a ramp. It ran along the wall so that it was impossible to use a battering ram on the door of the porch.
literature
- Dieter Barz: Excavations in the “Schlössel” castle from the Salier period near Klingenmünster, Southern Wine Route district . In: Helmut Bernhard (Ed.): Archeology in the Palatinate. Annual report 2000 . Leidorf, Rahden / Westfalen 2001, ISSN 1617-3414 , pp. 133-138.
- Dieter Barz: The "Schlössel" near Klingenmünster. Findings about everyday life in a castle from the Salier period . In: C. Müller (Red.): Burg und Stadt . Munich [u. a.] 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-06845-2 ( Research on castles and palaces . Volume 11), pp. 217–226.
- Dieter Barz: The castle ruins "Schlössel" near Klingenmünster , in: Laura Heeg (Ed.): The Salier. Power in change. Accompanying volume to the exhibition in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz Speyer, Vol. 2: Catalog. Munich 2011, pp. 304–305 with subsequent catalog numbers 282–368.
- Dieter Barz: A "bath house" with heating system on the castle ruins of Schlössel near Klingenmünster . In: Middle Ages. Journal of the Swiss Castle Association . No. 4, 2001, ISSN 1420-6994 , pp. 95-102.
- Dieter Barz: Research project “Castle from the Salier period, Schlössel near Klingenmünster”, Südliche Weinstrasse district. In: Helmut Bernhard (Ed.): Archeology in the Palatinate. Annual report 2000 . Leidorf, Rahden / Westfalen 2001, ISSN 1617-3414 , pp. 184-188.
- Jürgen Keddigkeit (Ed.): Palatinate Castle Lexicon . Volume 4, Part 1. Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore, Kaiserslautern 2007, ISBN 978-3-927754-56-0 ( Contributions to Palatinate History . Volume 12,4,1), pp. 449–461.
- Alexander Thon (Ed.): "... like a banned, inaccessible magic castle". Castles in the southern Palatinate . 2nd Edition. Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1570-5 , pp. 138-141.
Web links
- Entry on Schlössel in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Information on the Waldschlössel on klingenmuenster.org ( Memento from October 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Pictures of the castle on Burgenparadies.de
- Comprehensive preparation and a. with a bidler gallery and 3D reconstructions on pfälzer-burgen.de Castle Schlössel.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: klingenmuenster.de , accessed on May 24, 2009.
- ↑ The Rhine Palatinate , Your Weekend, Im Bade bei der Saliern , November 26, 2011