Weidelsburg

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Weidelsburg
Weidelsburg - East Palas

Weidelsburg - East Palas

Alternative name (s): Weidelburg, Weidelberg, Wedelsberg, Wedelberg, Vedelberc
Creation time : 1111 to 1121 (various documentary mentions)
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Wall, palace and tower remains, arches, kennels
Place: Wolfhagen - Ippinghausen
Geographical location 51 ° 16 '22.5 "  N , 9 ° 8' 39.5"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 16  '22.5 " N , 9 ° 8' 39.5"  E
Height: 492.3  m above sea level NHN
Weidelsburg (Hesse)
Weidelsburg
Weidelsburg (right) and Naumburg in the 17th century (Matthäus Merian: Topographia Hassiae, 1655)
View from the east to the west Palas
Restored masonry
View from the Weidelsburg towards west-northwest, u. a. with Hohem Dörnberg (center left) and Hohem Habichtswald (center) in the background

The Weidelsburg is the ruin of a hilltop castle near Ippinghausen in the Kassel district and is considered the largest castle ruin in North Hesse .

There are documentary mentions from the years between 1111 and 1121, which refer to a castle castrum alstat, with which the Weidelsburg should be meant. The castle had been uninhabited and dilapidated since the late 16th century. The remains of high walls, palas and towers, arches and large parts of the Zwinger have been preserved . The ruins can be seen from afar and thus forms a landmark of the Wolfhager Land, which includes part of the Waldecker Forest .

Geographical location

The Weidelsburg is located in the western part of the Habichtswald Nature Park on the wooded Weidelsberg ( 492.3  m above sea  level ), which rises in the Waldecker Wald south of the Ippinghausen village and Wolfhagen district of Ippinghausen on the Elbe tributary of the Eder .

The ruin stands in the former triangle between the Landgraviate of Hesse , the County of Waldeck and the Kurmainzer enclave Naumburg , as well as on the old tribal border between Franconia and Saxony .

history

overview

After the predecessor castle "castrum Alstat" emerged in 1121 from a list (1111 to 1137) of donations from the Mainz Cathedral , the Weidelsburg, whose date and builder are not exactly known, was first mentioned in 1225. It was built as a fortified castle to protect the traffic routes and the Ludowingian border across from Waldeck and Mainz .

In 1266, the noble free Wittekind von Naumburg , canon in Magdeburg and canon in Halberstadt , with the consent of his nephews, sold Weidelsburg, Naumburg Castle and the court of Elben ("Hagebuche") pledged to the Naumburgers by the Landgraves of Hesse to Archbishop Werner von Mainz . A sales offer for 1500 marks in silver made to the Hessian Landgrave Heinrich I the year before was not carried out. Soon afterwards, in 1273, the castle was destroyed by the latter in the archbishop's dispute with Landgrave Heinrich. The parts that are still preserved today come from the reconstruction that began around 100 years later.

In 1380, Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse and Count Heinrich VI. von Waldeck rebuild the Weidelsburg, but had to stop work two years later because the Archbishop of Mainz, Adolf I von Nassau, asserted older rights. It was only seven years later that Archbishop Adolf arranged for the Lords of Hertingshausen to rebuild it . In the ongoing feud between Mainz and Hesse, the castle was besieged and partially destroyed by Landgrave Hermann II in 1402/03.

1431 Reinhard von Dalwigk was by Archbishop Konrad III. von Dhaun appointed the new Mainz bailiff at the castle. As a breach of the peace he was besieged there twice, in 1443 and 1448, by the troops of Landgrave Ludwig I and Archbishop Dietrich Schenk von Erbach , forced to submit and punished, the second time, among other things, by being permanently expelled from the Weidelsburg. The legend of the Hessian woman loyalty , which is also attributed to some other women of the time, is linked to this expulsion .

The castle soon lost its strategic importance as a result of the peace policy of the Hessian landgrave. It was abandoned towards the end of the 16th century at the latest and has been in ruins ever since, probably after a fire.

Castle renovations were carried out with great structural and financial effort from 1930 to 1935 (around 8,000 m³ of rubble were removed), 1979 to 1987 and 2008 to 2011.

Legend of Goliath and the giant stone

The giant Goliath from Homberg an der Efze hurled the giant stone to destroy the Weidelsburg. The stone slipped off his little finger and missed its target. Then the giant shed bloody tears because he had lost his reputation as a castle conqueror. He sat down on the giant stone on the Heiligenberg (southeast of Naumburg ), and out of grief forgot to eat and drink. Then he passed away. You can still see the depression where the giant is said to have sat after his mistake.

Opportunities for viewing

From the viewing platform (at a height of approx.  500  m ) on the east palace of the castle ruins, which can be reached on forest paths on the Weidelsberg , the view of the West Hessian mountain and depression region falls, among other things, of large parts of the Waldecker Forest and the neighboring Habichtswälder Bergland to the east its characteristic basalt peaks: in the north to north-northeast you can see over Ippinghausen and, further back, over Wolfhagen to the Elsbergrücken and Malsburger Wald . In the northeast you can see the island-like Isthaberg with the Hinterhabichtswälder peaks behind it (with the Great Bear Mountain ), which also extend into the eastern field of vision. In the eastern directions also are the north-south high Habichtswald on which the telecommunications tower Habichtswald perched, the Hoofer door with behind the horizon in Kaufunger Forest recognizable Bilstein and Langeberge be seen. To the southeast, the view extends across Naumburg to the distant Knüllgebirge and to the south to the Kellerwald beyond the Edersee . In south over west to north-north-west directions it falls on the elongated Waldecker Forest . Beyond this, the Rothaar Mountains can be seen in the southwest to the west and the Egge Mountains in the north-northwest .

gastronomy

In the former yard for horse stables of the Weidelsburg, a gastronomic stand with a refuge is integrated, which is open when the flag on the mast is waving in the East Palas.

photos

  • Remnants of an inner courtyard tower

  • Remains of a fortification tower

  • View from the East Palas into the inner courtyard of the castle ruins

and display information about the image
View from the Weidelsburg over the Habichtswald Nature Park to the east; on the left the Hohe Habichtswald , on the right the Langenberge ; in between the Hoofer Pforte with the Schauenburger Burgberg and beyond it on the horizon the Kaufunger Wald with the Bilstein ; in front Altenstädt

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The Weidelsburg , in: Eco Path Archeology Naumburg , on eco-pfade.de
  2. ↑ Landgrave regests online  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / cgi-host.uni-marburg.de   at cgi-host.uni-marburg.de
  3. ↑ a b History → The history of the castle , at the support association for the preservation of the Weidelsburg, on weidelsburg.de
  4. ↑ The Weidelsburger Weibertreue a relief dedicated at the north gate, where the lady of the castle shows how she wears her husband on the back of the castle. Her safe conduct, including her possessions, "as much as she could carry" was assured.
  5. ↑ Weidelsburg information board at the hiking car park (north slope)

literature

  • Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 35 f.
  • Rolf Müller (Ed.): Palaces, castles, old walls. Published by the Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89214-017-0 , p. 385 f.

Web links

Commons : Weidelsburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Weidelsburg  - travel guide