Bracht Castle

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Bracht Castle
Alternative name (s): Thalhof, Talhof
Creation time : Late 12th century
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: Burgstall
Standing position : Lower nobility, nobility
Construction: Stone, wood
Place: Kefenrod - Burgbracht
Geographical location 50 ° 21 '59 "  N , 9 ° 15' 40.7"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '59 "  N , 9 ° 15' 40.7"  E
Height: 326  m above sea level NHN
Bracht Castle (Hesse)
Bracht Castle

The castle Bracht was probably built in the late 12th century, a moated castle in today's district of Castle Bracht , a documentary mentioned in the year 785 as "Brataha" today's district of the municipality Kefenrod in Hesse Wetteraukreis . Today the castle stables only show the remains of the castle hill and some parts of the wall, but these still suggest the layout of the former complex.

location

The castle was located at 326 m above sea level in the valley basin on the east bank of the Bracht east of today's village at the location of the later “Thalhof”, where the areas of the courts Reichenbach , Wolferborn and Wenings met. It served to protect the valley and to secure the “ Antsanvia (Hohen Straße)” from Mainz via Frankfurt and Fulda to Leipzig , called “Reffenstraße” in this section. The nearby courtyards and the village of Hitzkirchen, about 3 km south in the Brachttal, belonged to the castle as accessories .

history

The builder and time of construction are unknown. It is obvious that the castle, like Wächtersbach and Birstein, was built at the end of the 12th century by the lords of Büdingen to protect the wilderness area of ​​the Büdinger Forest .

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1333, when the castle belonged to Hermann III. von Lißberg , called von Brachta, is noted. The castle was at this time in addition to the family castle Lißberg the second center lißbergischer rights in the courts Wolferborn and Wenings where the Lißberger and the Isenburg due to pledges by the Empire extended deposit owned occupied. However, the Lords of Lißberg could not hold their ground against their more powerful neighbors in the long term. Bracht Castle therefore saw repeated changes of ownership through pledges and fiefdoms : the Burgraves of Gelnhausen , the Fulda Abbey , the Archbishopric of Mainz and in the first quarter of the 15th century then the Lords of Rodenstein (as self-appointed heirs of Friedrich von, who died in 1399 as the last of his line) Lißberg).

In 1416 the Archbishop of Mainz, Johann II, enfeoffed the Counts of Weilnau and the Lords of Rodenstein with half of Bracht Castle; Co-owners at this time were the Weilnauer and the Lords of Thüngen . In 1420 the ore monastery owned three eighths of the castle as a result of the Weilnau sale. In 1421 the Lords of Rodenstein pledged their part of the castle to the Lords of Hanau . The Counts of Weilnau zu Birstein and Kurmainz were also at times owners or partial owners of the castle in changing constellations. The truce of 1425 was signed by the archbishopric of Mainz and those of Hanau, von Eppstein , von Isenburg, von Weilnau and von Rodenstein. In 1438 Kurmainz still held an eighth as pledge from the Counts of Weilnau and Diether l. von Isenburg bought the remaining eighth of the Weilnauer in the same year. Mainz later pledged its eighth to the Lords of Eppstein, then sold it to Ludwig II of Isenburg in 1462. Now only the Rodensteiners as Lißberg allodial heirs and the county of Hanau-Münzenberg were additional partners.

The castle was destroyed in 1462 during the Mainz collegiate feud when Count Ludwig II of Isenburg supported his brother Diether , who was elected Archbishop of Mainz in 1459, in his fight against Adolf von Nassau . The Counts of Hanau-Münzenberg sold their share to the Counts of Isenburg in 1500 .

The castle was not rebuilt after 1462 and fell into disrepair. Foundations were uncovered around 1960. The moat remained as a "moat" until the stream was straightened and land consolidation in the years from 1952 to 1956.

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 2nd Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1995, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 351.
  • Hans Philippi: Territorialgeschichte der Grafschaft Büdingen (= writings of the Hessian Office for History and Regional Studies. 23), Marburg 1954, p. 170
  • Gustav Simon : The history of the rich house of Ysenburg and Büdingen , Verlag Brönner, Frankfurt am Main, 1865, p. 77 ff.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The section through the Büdinger Forest was so named because it led over the Großer Reffenkopf (298 m above sea level).
  2. ↑ Burgbracht ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.rhein-main-wiki.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rhein-main-wiki.de
  3. ↑ Kefenrod community - historical development ( memento from March 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) on www.findcity.de
  4. ↑ Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, Adel und Burgen - Investigations on the Wetterau in the Staufer period , In: Büdinger Geschichtsblätter 21, 2008/2009, p. 120.
  5. ↑ a b Die Edelherren von Lißberg on www.lissberg.de
  6. ↑ a b Uta Löwenstein: Grafschaft Hanau , In: Ritter, Grafen und Fürsten - secular dominions in the Hessian area approx. 900-1806 (= Handbook of Hessian History 3 = Publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse 63), Marburg 2014, ISBN 978- 3-942225-17-5 . P. 209.
  7. ^ Burgbracht ( memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on burgenlexikon.eu