Altes Schloss (Affalterthal)

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Altes Schloss
Egloffstein-Affalterthal-"Altschlossberg"
Burgstall Altes Schloss (Affalterthal)02.JPG
View of the burgstall from the east (November 2013)
Germany adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Altes Schloss
Coordinates 49°42′39″N11°16′00″E / 49.710927°N 11.266804°E / 49.710927; 11.266804 Coordinates: 49°42′39″N11°16′00″E / 49.710927°N 11.266804°E / 49.710927; 11.266804
TypeHill castle on a spur
CodeDE-BY
Height458.9 m above  sea level (NN)
Site information
Condition burgstall (no above-ground ruins)
Site history
BuiltProbably High Middle Ages
MaterialsQuadermauerwerk
Garrison information
OccupantsUnknown

The burgstall of the Altes Schloss ("Old Castle" or "Old Palace") is the site of an old castle near the village of Affalterthal in Bavaria, that was probably built in the High Middle Ages for the nobility. It lies within the municipality of Egloffstein in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim.

<i>Burgstall</i> German castle site, ruin

A burgstall is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed. It has no direct equivalent in English, but may be loosely translated as "castle site". Variations in the literature include Burgstelle, Altburgstelle, die Burgställe (plural), Burgstähl (archaic) or abgegangene Burg. In German castle studies, a burgstall is a castle that has effectively been levelled, whereas a "ruin" (Ruine) still has recognisable remnants of the original castle above the level of the ground.

Castle Fortified residential structure of medieval Europe

A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace.

Bavaria State in Germany

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a landlocked federal state of Germany, occupying its southeastern corner. With an area of 70,550.19 square kilometres, Bavaria is the largest German state by land area comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With 13 million inhabitants, it is Germany's second-most-populous state after North Rhine-Westphalia. Bavaria's main cities are Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg.

Contents

The site of the former spur castle is freely accessible.

Spur castle castle on a spur

A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that uses its location as a defensive feature. The name refers to the location on a spur projecting from a hill. Ideally, a spur castle would be defended on three sides by steep hillsides, with the only vulnerable side the one where the spur joins the next hill.

Location

The small, former hill castle site is located in the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park, about 850 metres west-northwest of the church in Affalterthal at a height of 458.9 m above  sea level (NN) on the summit of the Altschlossberg, [1] about 15 kilometres east of Forchheim. [2]

Hill castle castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain

A hill castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German Höhenburg used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles are thus distinguished from lowland castles (Niederungsburgen).

Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park nature park in Bavaria, Germany

Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park is a nature park in North Bavaria. The nature park was established in 1995 and it covers an area that is almost coextensive with the natural region major unit of Northern Franconian Jura, the park being slightly larger.

Normalnull

Normalnull or Normal-Null is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked "Meter über Normal-Null". Normalnull has been replaced by Normalhöhennull.

Very close by stands Egloffstein Castle and the ruins of Thuisbrunn and Schlossberg castles. To the northwest near Oberzaunsbach is another burgstall , also named the Altes Schloss. [3] To the north near the village of Äpfelbach are the remains of a large pre- and early historical fortification on the Heidelberg. [4]

Egloffstein Castle castle

Egloffstein Castle is a former high mediaeval, aristocratic castle, that stands immediately west of the eponymous village of Egloffstein in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the German state of Bavaria.

Thuisbrunn Castle castle

Thuisbrunn Castle is located centrally within the parish of Thuisbrunn in the municipality of Gräfenberg in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia. After having been destroyed and rebuilt several times, the castle is now in private ownership.

Schlossberg Castle (Haidhof) castle

The burgstall of Schlossberg Castle, also called the Burgstall on the Flöss or the Heidenstein, is a now levelled, probably high mediaeval, nobleman's castle. It is situated above Haidhof, a village in the municipality of Gräfenberg in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the south German state of Bavaria.

History

Nothing is known of the history of the little castle. According to the Nuremberg Castle researcher, Hellmut Kunstmann, the lords of Egloffstein, who were influential in this area, could have built it. Another possibility is that Otto of Affaltert, who is mentioned in 1133, might have occupied the castle. However, he is a witness to a document between Upper Palatine ministeriales , so he could also have come from the region of Upper Palatinate and would not be the castle lord.

Nuremberg Castle fortification

Nuremberg Castle is a group of medieval fortified buildings on a sandstone ridge dominating the historical center of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.

The House of Egloffstein is an ancient Franconian aristocratic family (Uradel) with an eponymous family home in the hill region of Franconian Switzerland in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia. The family first appears in the records in 1187 with a Heinrich genannt Stuchs who is also the progenitor. The house belongs to the brotherhood of Franconian Imperial Knights.

In 1610 during the settlement of a boundary dispute over a forest at a place called Wolfsreuth, a Deutsches Schloss is mentioned, which probably refers to the Altes Schloss near Affalterthal. [5]

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection describes the site as "the probable prehistorical hill settlement and medieval burgstall of Altes Schloss" and has allocated it monument number D-4-6233-0081. [6]

Description

The former castle stood on a rocky summit, the highest point of a hill spur that pointed towards the northwest. On its northwestern and northeastern sides the spur is bounded by the valley of the Brunnengraben, where the steep drop of the hillside ensured that the castle was naturally well protected. On the southwestern side the spur is bounded by the Neugraben valley; here the slope is more moderate and drops in steps down to the valley, so that an enemy attack from this side was entirely possible. Towards the east the terrain drops about eight metres. Here a six to eight-metre-wide moat was cut out, which was protected by a rampart in front of it; the whole guarding the eastern side of the castle.

The plan of the site is roughly triangular and has an area of about 35 by 25 metres. On the castle plateau only a few traces of the old buildings have survived. On the northeastern side are two stone ramparts that run parallel to the edge of the plateau and which are separated by a roughly two-metre-wide and one-metre-deep ditch. The longer, outer rampart is ten metres long; the inner one is roughly eight metres long. In the west, in addition to the stone ramparts, is a round, two-metre-deep hollow, that is probably the cellar of a castle building. Immediately next to it are the remains of a rectangular foundation wall about 3 and 1.8 metres long, consisting of ashlar-shaped, rough-hewn stones. On the southern side, another, roughly 1.5-metre-deep rectangular hollow is discernible. It is enclosed on three sides by ramparts with mortar remains, so that this is possibly the remnant of a tower-like building.

The castle path probably ran below the tower-like building on the southern hillside along an old carter's drove, then turned north at the southwestern end of the castle plateau and then reached the castle approaches.

Burgstall Altes Schloss (Affalterthal)15.jpg
View over the castle terrain. In the foreground: the foundation of a tower-shaped building. Behind: the cellar hollow of another building (November 2013)

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References

  1. ↑ Topographic map, 1:25,000 series, Sheet 6233 Ebermannstadt
  2. ↑ Location of the site at Bayern Atlas
  3. ↑ Walter Heinz: Ehemalige Adelssitze im Trubachtal: Ein Wegweiser für Heimatfreunde und Wanderer, p. 191
  4. ↑ Führer zu archäologischen Denkmälern in Deutschland, Vol. 20: Fränkische Schweiz, p. 157
  5. ↑ Hellmut Kunstmann: Die Burgen der südwestlichen Fränkischen Schweiz, p. 238 ff.
  6. ↑ "Burgstall Altes Schloss auf der Seite des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege". Archived from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-16.

Literature

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