Wallburg (Eltmann)

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Wallburg
The Medieval Keep (2007)

The Medieval Keep (2007)

Creation time : High medieval
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: ruin
Construction: Humpback block masonry
Place: Eltmann
Geographical location 49 ° 58 '3.7 "  N , 10 ° 40' 11.3"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 58 '3.7 "  N , 10 ° 40' 11.3"  E
Height: 311.5  m above sea level NN
Wallburg (Bavaria)
Wallburg

The Wallburg is a ruin of a spur castle at 311.5  m above sea level. NN high foothills of the Steigerwald south of Eltmann in the Haßberge district ( Lower Franconia ). Traces of the terrain and the keep have been preserved from the former official castle of the Würzburg monastery .

history

The since 1303 testified Name Wallenburg indicates a prehistoric or early medieval Liche ramparts out. The high medieval castle uses almost the entire plateau (approx. 50 × 50 meters) within the ring wall , whose deep, later bricked-up moat offered protection.

In 1316 the Würzburg Monastery had to pledge the Wallburg to Dietrich von Hohenberg. In 1363 it was pledged again to three gentlemen from the Fuchs family. Dietrich Fuchs was able to acquire the 1404 system in full. The bishopric secured the right of repurchase, so that the castle fell back to Würzburg in 1477.

During the Peasants' War the castle was damaged by the rebels in 1525, but then restored. In 1542 and 1552 there were new pledges. From 1570, after the pledge was redeemed for the last time , the fortress served as the official seat of the Eltmann Office. Prince-Bishop Julius Echter initiated major renovations at the end of the 16th century, which are documented by the views of Meissner (1626) and Merian (1648). The three-storey main building with a gable roof and curved ornamental gables rose to the southwest . The keep was closed by a dome with a tall lantern. In the north there were lower farm buildings next to the gate. The defensive character of the facility was already significantly reduced.

The castle above the town of Eltmann ( Matthäus Merian : Topographia Franconiae, 1648)

In 1777 the bishopric moved the official seat to the Saalhof in the city. The castle buildings then served as a quarry and have disappeared apart from the keep and small remains of the wall. At the end of the 19th century the keep was converted into a lookout tower .

Towards the end of the Second World War , the keep was shelled by the advancing American forces , as a German sniper position was suspected in the tower. The impact of the two grenades can still be seen.

description

The almost square Burgplatz is protected by a surrounding moat. The high medieval keep, around 28 meters high , still stands in the northeast. About a beveled base the clean grouted masonry gets out hump blocks with edge stitch circular up. What is striking is the complete lack of pliers holes, so the stones may have been lifted with the older Wolf lifting tool . The double wall shell is about two meters thick at the bottom, the diameter of the tower is about eight meters. The high entrance is on the south side at a height of about eleven meters. In the 19th century, however, a second entrance was broken into the masonry at ground level in order to use the "Krautschtücht" as a lookout tower. The cantilevered battlement is an addition from around 1890. A view from 1626 (Meissner) shows the tower with a dome roof and a tall pointed lantern. The keep used to have four floors due to beamed ceilings. On the top floor, the wall is only 1.2 meters thick. The tower room is illuminated through four arched windows with benches.

The tower can be climbed and offers a panoramic view of the Main Valley, the Haßberge and the Steigerwald.

The popular name "Krautstücht" is derived from the round shape of the tower, which is reminiscent of a wooden cabbage barrel. The keep did not originally have an entrance at ground level. Like a bucket, even a “Stücht” for pickling cabbage has no outlet opening at the bottom.

The old castle gate was probably in the north in front of the main tower. On the slightly lower-lying plateau before access could originally a Vorburg have stood. The castle fountain with its romantic fountain house is in its current form an addition to the 20th century. In the Middle Ages, this well is said to have been about 30 meters deep. The reconstructed well shaft only extends down about four meters.

There are only small remains of the surrounding wall above ground . At the castle entrance, the so-called Schlosssteige, the old entrance was freely reconstructed in 1985 by the Heimatverein. The sandstone figures from the 16th to 18th centuries and the coat of arms of the Fuchs family were integrated.

literature

  • The art monuments of the Kingdom of Bavaria, III, 4, District Office Hassfurt . Munich 1912, reprint Munich 1983, ISBN 3-486-50458-4 .
  • Six hundred and fifty years of the city of Eltmann: 1335-1985 . Eltmann 1985.

Web links

Commons : Wallburg (Eltmann)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Wallburg castle ruins on the Burgenwelt side
  • Illustration by Daniel Meisner from 1625: Wallberg; If you weren't a thief, you wouldn't be a gallows either ( digitized version )