Location: Hesse Map
Construction: started in 1222
First owner: Diether IV of Katzenelnbogen
Official site
Auerbach Castle is located in the Southern Hesse region in Germany. The original Auerbach Castle was constructed on the site by Emperor Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1222 it was completely reconstructed by Diether IV of the Katzenelnbogen dynasty. During the Thirty Years' War the Auerbach Castle was badly damaged, greatly undermining its military role. Its last straw was Franco-Dutch War (1672–1679), when in 1674 French Marshal Turenne stormed the military citadel killing civilians that looked for safety inside its ruins. Military fortifications of the Auerbach Castle fell in disrepair. It underwent renovations in the late 1980's and open to the public.
Auerbach was first mentioned as Urbach in the
Lorsch Codex “Laureshamensis” around 784. The centuries after that
lie in the dark of history. Through the marriage of Hildegard von
Henneberg, parts of the Bergstrasse came to Heinrich II. Von
Katzenelnbogen around 1135, who was given over by King Konrad III in
1138. was raised to count. Auerbach now belonged to the County of
Katzenelnbogen with the main town of Katzenelnbogen. The County of
Katzenelnbogen was divided into the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen,
located on the Rhine around Sankt Goar, and the Upper County of
Katzenelnbogen, located in southern Hesse.
The castle was
built in the 13th century by the County of Katzenelnbogen. Probably
from 1222 onwards, the Auerbach Castle was built on the Auerberg
(Urberg) by Count Diether IV. Von Katzenelnbogen. The plan for the
construction of an impregnable castle complex - a stronghold - for
the Katzenelnbogischen properties south of the Main and to secure
the road toll on the important north-south connection along the
mountain road through Zwingenberg had matured for a long time. The
suitable location was the tip of the "small Melibokus" (or Mal (s)
chen), the Auerberg (Urberg) above Auerbach (Urbach). In the
following years the most important fortress in the Upper County of
Katzenelnbogen was built. The first documented mention of the castle
on the Urberg dates from 1247 and the first document that was made
on the Urberg from 1257.
The chapel "Zur Not Gottes" was
originally one in the 11./12. The hermitage was built in the 18th
century next to a source in the valley between Melibokus and
Auerberg, which is considered to be medicinal. In the first half of
the 13th century, the builders of Auerbach Castle built a place of
pilgrimage next to the hermitage, "To the Einsiedeln", which was
renamed in 1452 to "In need of God".
In 1479 the County of
Katzenelnbogen and with it the Auerbach Castle fell to the
Landgraviate of Hesse due to inheritance, through the death of the
last Count Philip I the Elder. In the 16th century, the castle lost
more and more of its strategic importance, as more powerful, in
particular more far-reaching, weapons and artillery lost their
impregnable effect. In the period that followed, only the population
of the neighboring towns of Zwingenberg and Auerbach sought dubious
protection within their walls. Even in the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648) it was no longer used for military purposes and an old
chronicle says "At the Auerberg House (Auerbach Castle) nothing is
left, but everything was burned and taken away by soldiers in 1634".
In 1674, during the Franco-Dutch War (1672 to 1679), the castle was
stormed by an army under the French Marshal Turenne, a massacre
committed among those seeking protection and the castle grounds set
on fire. In 1693 again, mainly French troops under General Lorges,
moved to and through the Bergstrasse. The devastation caused on the
castle was so bad that the Auerbach Castle was left behind as the
ruin as we know it today. Anything that was not nailed down was used
in the village and taken from the castle.
The abandoned
castle complex was subsequently left to decay.
In 1820 the
north tower of the main castle collapsed. As a result, the partial
reconstruction and securing of the ruins began, which continues to
the present day. The north tower was rebuilt in a slightly different
form; it was more similar to the south tower that was still in its
original form. The area of the maiden Zwinger was also restored
accordingly.
In 1888 an inn was built in the forecourt of the
main castle, which was open all year round.
From the 1950s
on, the south tower was no longer accessible because the wooden
staircase was no longer safe.
In 1989 a new building was
started to become a panoramic restaurant, which was opened in 1990
and further increased the attractiveness of the castle ruins. The
restaurant specializes in medieval gastronomy.
Every year on
April 30th the Walpurgis Night takes place. In the summer months
there is a cultural highlight in the open-air theater in the castle
courtyard.
In 2007 the staircase in the south tower was
renewed and made accessible to the public again.
Viticulture
The Katzenelnbogen family was already involved in
viticulture on the Bergstrasse. In 1258 the Grafenweinberg is
documented below the castle, and in 1318 the vineyard Reuchte. In
1410 the grape variety was named "Urbergen Wyne".
Today the
vineyards at the foot of the Auerberg are part of the "Auerbacher
Rott" area of the Hessische Bergstrasse wine-growing region.
Design
The triangular shape of the core castle is still
clearly recognizable in today's ruins. The kitchen building, the
castle man's apartment, the stables and the forge leaned against the
wall between the north and south towers, facing the inner courtyard.
In the shield wall between the north and former east towers, the
former entrance to the inner castle was protected by a keep. Between
the east and south towers, the Palas, with its basement and three
storeys and the former castle chapel, leans against the wall towards
the inner courtyard.
The main castle is surrounded by a
circular wall that encloses the inner or maiden kennel. The front
courtyard, or kennel, is surrounded by another curtain wall. On the
south side of this circular wall is the entrance to the castle
complex, which is protected by an outside kennel with a left wing
wall and leads downhill in a north-easterly direction to the former
gatehouse (no longer available). The castle complex was protected
from the north-eastern mountain ridge, the only flat access to the
Urberg, by a deep moat with a drawbridge.
On October 18,
1356, a huge earthquake shook the Upper Rhine Rift. The keep
collapsed and fell on the eastern and southeastern facilities.
In the years that followed, around 1370, huge renovation and
expansion measures began at Auerbach Castle. The keep was
demolished, the entrance to the main castle relocated and the
northern shield wall closed and raised. The entrance to the main
castle is now on its south corner, protected by the south tower and
inner kennel. In place of the east tower, a bastion, a
four-meter-thick, quarter-circle-shaped wall construction, was
built. The bastion, the first of its kind in Germany, was supposed
to protect the castle from stone guns from the north-eastern, only
accessible direction. Presumably the north and south towers were
also raised.
The "Feste Urberg" was thus expanded by the
Counts of Katzenelnbogen into one of the most modern castle
complexes of its time.
In the eastern corner of the inner
courtyard is the castle fountain, which was carved 62 m deep into
the rock.
On a shield wall of the castle complex stands a
more than 300-year-old, approximately seven-meter-high Scots pine.
The undemanding plant takes root on the building at a lofty height
and covers part of its water requirements through the air humidity,
which condenses on the needles and drips to the ground. Due to the
very poor living conditions, the tree has remained relatively small
and looks like a bonsai that has grown too big.
The pine is
one of the most distinctive tree shapes in Germany and in 1988
graced the fifth edition of the eight-part collection plate series
Uralte Giant, which the artist Ernst Wetteroth designed with the
expert advice of Hans Joachim Fröhlich.
Miscellaneous
Visiting the castle complex is free of charge. Since the spring of
2007, the southern tower has also been open to the public again
after extensive restoration.
In an online survey carried out
by Hessischer Rundfunk in 2009, Auerbach Castle was voted the most
popular building in Hesse. In second place came the King's Hall of
the Lorsch Monastery, about eight kilometers away.