Moated castle Friedewald (Hesse)

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Friedewald moated castle
Panorama of the Friedewald castle

Panorama of the Friedewald castle

Alternative name (s): Friedewald moated castle
Creation time : probably in the 13th century
Castle type : Niederungsburg, location
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : clergy
Place: Friedewald
Geographical location 50 ° 52 '49.9 "  N , 9 ° 51' 24.5"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 52 '49.9 "  N , 9 ° 51' 24.5"  E
Height: 380  m above sea level NHN
Moated castle Friedewald (Hesse)
Friedewald moated castle

The ruins of the Friedewald moated castle are located in the municipality of Friedewald , in the eastern district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg in Hesse .

location

The moated castle borders the old village center in Friedewald to the south and lies at an altitude of 380  m above sea level. NHN . Only a few meters south of the castle, the terrain rises to the Dreienberg ( 525  m above sea level ).

history

Gate construction of the moated castle

Friedewald was at the intersection of two old roads , on the one hand the Geleitstrasse through the Kurzen Hessen between Frankfurt and Leipzig and on the other hand a trade route between Bremen and Nuremberg . It is therefore assumed that the castle grounds were settled early on. During excavations in the castle courtyard in 1983, a shard was found in a layer of fire that was assigned to the 11th or 12th century. The first stone building, the foundation walls of which were found in today's castle courtyard, was also discovered. It is dated to the 13th or 14th century.

Thick tower and the north side of the moated castle

The area belonged to Hersfeld Abbey by the 10th century at the latest . The stone building mentioned above probably belonged to a poorly fortified abbey castle. The Friedewald office was mentioned for the first time in 1302 when the abbot gave the place to the Hessian landgraves as a fief. As early as 1306, the landgraves received the right of escort on the road through the Kurzen Hessen. The office around the castle developed into a Hessian enclave in the Hessian area in this century. In 1392 the castle served the landgraves as an administrative seat and hunting lodge .

In 1476 the Landgrave Heinrich III. von Hessen-Marburg took over the ownership shares of the Lords of Milnrode . The water castle was then rebuilt by the landgrave builder Hans Jakob von Ettlingen . It was from him that the design of the castle, which is still recognizable today and used at the time, comes from. It was a transitional form between the design of the High Middle Ages with a high (central) tower ( keep ) and the design of the Late Middle Ages of a bastion with a square basic shape and four low, but strongly fortified corner towers. The "Big Tower" had four floors, and the roofs of all four towers were made with high pointed helmets and oriel turrets. A comparable tower that still stands today and was also built by Ettlingen is the Junker Hansen Tower in Neustadt .

After the Landgrave bought the shares of the Lords of Altenburg in 1489 and the latter became the sole owner of the castle, the renovation work began in the outer bailey , which lasted until around 1500. These renovations were also carried out by Ettlingen. Ettlingen also rebuilt the Hauneck and Herzberg castles , and partly rebuilt the Schweinsberg , Marburg and Neustadt castles .

Friedewald Castle in 1605, pen drawing by Wilhelm Dilich

In 1551, a meeting of princes took place here with the aim of liberating Landgrave Philip I. At that time Philip was a prisoner of the German emperor Karl V. At the end of the 16th century a strong fortification was no longer necessary at this place (partly because of the declining importance of the above-mentioned old road). Landgrave Wilhelm IV therefore had the moated castle expanded in 1580 and Moritz had the outer castle expanded in the manner of a castle around 1600. The outer bailey was a three-wing building (farm building) that opened towards the moated castle. Outside the outer bailey, in the south, Moritz had the Senghaus built with the game kitchen and the hunter's apartment.

Between the outer bailey and the moated castle, the castle courtyard opened up with a three-bowl fountain from 1605. The fountain is attributed to the Kassler court sculptor Wilhelm Vernukken. This fountain still stands today and was put back into operation in 1968. It can also be found on the Friedewald coat of arms.

During the Thirty Years' War , the castle was conquered by changing occupiers. In the Seven Years' War in 1762 General Stainville (French Army) destroyed the moated castle. It was not rebuilt, and the outer bailey served as the official seat and courtroom. The forestry office was also located here until recently.

The northern and southern stables of the outer bailey are still standing . The southern wing now serves as a museum. A modern new building that houses a hotel forms the western wing.

When visiting the moated castle, you can climb the thick tower, which offers a good overview of the entire complex and the surrounding area.

literature

  • Elmar Brohl : Fortresses in Hessen. Published by the German Society for Fortress Research eV, Wesel, Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2013 (=  German Fortresses  2), ISBN 978-3-7954-2534-0 , pp. 85–90.
  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg publishing house. Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 181.
  • Monika Vogt: Opening the door to modern times. Encounters with Philip the Magnanimous in Hesse. Ed .: Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen / State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen , Wiesbaden 2003, pp. 36–38.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , pp. 125–127.
  • K. Sippel: The Wasserburg Friedewald, the “Nadelöhr” and the deserted Hamundeseiche in the Seulingswald , guide sheet to three medieval and early modern monuments in the district of Hersfeld, Rotenburg, Wiesbaden 1994, ISBN 3-89822-048-6 . 12 pp.

Web links

Commons : Wasserburg Friedewald  - Collection of images, videos and audio files