Menzingen moated castle
The moated castle Menzingen is a Renaissance moated castle in Menzingen , a district of Kraichtal in the district of Karlsruhe in north-western Baden-Württemberg . The complex, which already existed in the Middle Ages , was renewed by the Lords of Mentzingen in the 16th century and destroyed in the Second World War.
history
In 1359 two castles were mentioned in Menzingen, which are probably the predecessors of the moated castle and the nearby Schwanenburg . According to this assumption, the moated castle goes back to the former deep castle . The early building history and the former appearance of previous buildings have not been handed down and can only be deduced from the structural features of the ruins. The lords of Mentzingen were the owners from the High Middle Ages. During the Peasants' War , the original low castle was destroyed by rebellious farmers.
Under Peter von Mentzingen (1498–1565) a new building was then built from 1529 to 1539 as a three-story, three-wing complex in the Renaissance style. Construction elements and wall parts of the old castle complex are still in the southern and southwestern areas of the complex.
The lords of Mentzingen moved their headquarters to Gondelsheim in the 17th century . In the early 18th century, the building was rebuilt under the brothers Maximilian and Benjamin von Mentzingen and in 1707 it was given the splendid coat of arms above the main portal . In the middle it shows the coat of arms of the Barons of Mentzingen (raven in a shield, swan as a helmet ornament), on the left the coat of arms of Maximilian's wife Margaretha Elisabeth Schaffelitzki von Muckadell, on the right the coat of arms of Benjamin's wife Sophia Charlotte Klenke von Renckhausen. The Menzing moated castle was uninhabited from 1723 to 1790. Then the building was increased, the wooden drawbridge was replaced by a solid stone bridge and the castle was inhabited again.
In 1913 the historian Hans Rott wrote that the moated castle in Menzingen had "of all moated castles in the Kraichgau (...) preserved its characteristic structure in the best and purest way" . During the Second World War, a clock and a coin collection from the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg were moved to the moated castle. On April 2, 1945, however, the castle was destroyed in a fighter-bomber attack during the last weeks of the war. Only parts of the foundation walls protruded from piles of rubble up to four meters high. Since the stone bridge had also partially collapsed, access to the ruins on the northern outskirts of Menzingen was not possible. Apart from excavations after the buried coin collection in 1947, it remained untouched for several decades, during which it was overgrown with trees and undergrowth. The adjacent farm yard of the castle was meanwhile continued to be managed. One of the buildings that have been preserved is a large historical stable.
In 1991 the stone bridge was first repaired and access to the ruins was created for further work. With the support of the owner, Dominicus Freiherr von Mentzingen, an initiative of the Heimat- und Museumverein Kraichtal was founded, which opened up the ruins through many years of voluntary work by clearing rubble and forestry work. Later, with the support of the State Monuments Office and the Monument Foundation of Baden-Württemberg as well as the owner, more extensive security measures took place. The masonry was strengthened and the north-east tower, which was also undermined by floods and therefore extremely vulnerable to collapse, was stabilized. The first phase of renovation was completed in spring 2002, and the facility was open to the public again for the first time on the 2002 Open Monument Day . Further renovation measures are to be carried out on the ruin; it is only accessible as part of group tours.
literature
- Hajo Rheinstädter: The moated castle Menzingen in the middle of the history of the Kraichgau .
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 38.5 " N , 8 ° 46 ′ 16.2" E