Burg Castle (Solingen)

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Burg Castle
Schloss Burg
Schlossburg 2-v2.jpg
Burg Castle in 2010
North Rhine-Westphalia location map 01.svg
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Burg Castle
Location within North Rhine-Westphalia
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Red pog.svg
Burg Castle
Location within Germany
Burg Castle (Solingen)
General information
Location Solingen, Germany
Coordinates 51°08′15″N7°09′10″E / 51.13750°N 7.15278°E / 51.13750; 7.15278
Website
www.schlossburg.de

Burg Castle (German : Schloss Burg), located in Burg an der Wupper (Solingen), is the largest reconstructed castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and a popular tourist attraction. Its early history is closely connected to the rise of the Duchy of Berg.

Contents

Early history

At the beginning of the 12th century (after 1133), Count Adolf III of Berg built Schloss Burg on a mountain overlooking the river Wupper. The old castle of the counts, Castle Berge in Odenthal near Altenberg, was abandoned. The original name of the new castle was Castle Neuenberge (Newmountain), or in Latin, novus mons, novum castrum, or novi montis castrum. Not until the 15th century, after significant reconstruction as a hunting castle, did it receive its current name reflecting its palatial extension.

His great-grandson, Count Adolf VI of Berg took part in the Fifth Crusade and died during the siege of Damietta in Egypt in 1218. Since the late count had no male descendants his younger brother, Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne, took over the reign of the county needing two feuds to win the inheritance dispute with Duke Waleran III of Limburg. As count Engelbert II of Berg he built the palas of Burg castle 1218–1225. Engelbert was a very powerful man, not only archbishop and count, but also advisor and chief administrator to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and guardian and tutor of the later king Henry (VII) of Germany. But he also made enemies and on 7 November 1225, he was murdered by his nephew Friedrich von Isenberg.

The War of succession for the Duchy of Limburg influenced the history of the castle. Count Adolf VIII of Berg participated successfully in the decisive battle of Worringen on 5 June 1288. After the battle, the opposing archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, was kept prisoner in the castle. Adolf VIII now was able to proceed to elevate his town, Düsseldorf, to a city and was able to control traffic on the Rhine river. In the 13th and 14th centuries Schloss Burg remained the main residence of the counts of Berg. Five years after King Wenzel elevated Count William to the position of a duke in 1380, Düsseldorf became the capital of the Duchy of Berg. Schloss Burg continued to serve as a hunting castle and was used for ceremonial events, hence it became a "Schloss" (representative castle). Thus in 1496, Maria of Jülich-Berg was engaged as a child to John of Cleves-Mark (later John III, Duke of Cleves). Their wedding took place 14 years later at Burg and led to the unification of the duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The second daughter of this couple was Anne of Cleves, briefly married to Henry VIII of England. [1]

Decay

In 1632 Swedish soldiers laid siege to the castle. After the Thirty years war, in 1648, Imperial troops destroyed the fortifications of the castle including the keep, walls, and gates. In 1700, the main building was partially reconstructed and subsequently used for administrative purposes. 1849, the castle was sold to be scrapped, decayed, and became a ruin.

Restoration

The architect Gerhard August Fischer from Barmen proposed in 1882 the reconstruction and submitted drawings and plans based on old documents, primarily using the castle's appearance in the 16th century. Since 1890 the castle reconstruction committee has led the restoration of the castle over the next 24 years. Painters from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf participated. With the erection of the Battery Tower in 1914 the work seemed complete.

On the night of 26 November 1920 a large fire destroyed much of the castle. Subsequently, visitors had to pay entry fees and the money was used to restore and rebuild the castle again. Reconstruction lasted from 1922 to 1925. In 1929 the Engelbert monument by the sculptor Paul Wynand was dedicated to honor the builder and archbishop.

Today's appearance does not exactly match the condition documented by Erich Philipp Ploennies in about 1715. The reconstructed castle of today is a major public attraction. It also contains the Museum of the Bergisches Land. The castle church is popular for weddings. The castle is also home to the Memorial for Deportation and the Memorial of the German Eastern Provinces with church bells from Königsberg and Breslau. In addition, commercial shops for souvenirs are located on the grounds.

The surroundings offer hiking trails to the forests and to Unterburg, that is where the village is located, at the foot of the mountain. There you can buy the Burger Brezel, a local pretzel specialty; the pretzel bakers even have a monument. A chairlift (Seilbahn) connects Unterburg and the castle.

Burg used to be an independent township until it became part of Solingen in 1975.

Trivia

Linguistically, "Schloss Burg" would be translated as "palace castle" - a tautology, yet in German "Schloss" refers to a representative building and "Burg" to a fortification - an oxymoron.

Literature

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diederik III count of Limburg Hohenlimburg and Broich</span>

Diederik III of Limburg Hohenlimburg, born around 1328, was the eldest son of Everhard II van Limburg Hohenlimburg and Juta of Sayn. Twenty years later he followed the 9th of August 1364 his grandfather Diederik II count of Limburg Hohenlimburg. In 1366 Diederik III became the Amtmann of Angermünde, the district between Duisburg and Düsseldorf. As the successor to lord Diederik III of Broich, who five years later would become his father-in-law. He also was Voght of the Rellinghausen Abbey. On 3 July 1371 Diederik married Ludgardis (Lukarda) daughter of Diederik of Broich and Katharina of Steinfurt. Lukarda was heiress of the Lordship Broich. At his wedding, he received a dowry of 1,600 old gold shields.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engelbert of Altena-Isenberg</span> Bishop of Osnabrück

Engelbert of Altena-Isenberg was appointed Propst at St. George's Church in Cologne around 1220 and then Dompropst von Osnabrück in 1222. On September 4, 1223 Engelbertus, Osnabrugensis ecclesie maior prepositus he became Engelbert I bishop of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück. and reigned during two periods, the first from 1224 - 1226 and the second from 1237 - 1250.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diederick IV, Count of Limburg Hohenlimburg Broich</span>

Dietrich IV of Limburg Hohenlimburg, born around 1375, was the second son Diederik III count of Limburg Hohenlimburg and Broich and Lukardis of Broich. He had an older sister Elisabeth and brother Willem I. Elisabeth married Dietrich IV of Volmestein. Willem married Metza of Reifferscheidt Erbin of Bedburg. Dietrich IV married Henrica of Wisch on 3 February 1415. Her father bannerlord Hendrik of Wisch and mother Elisabeth of Bronkhorst belonged to the most important nobility in Gelre. The bannerlords of Wisch had their castle Wisch on the old IJssel near Terborg.. Henrica had one younger sister Elisabeth married to Johan of Volmarstein. This created a double family ties between the Lower Rhine families Of Limburg, Of Volmarstein and the Gueldrian Of Wisch.

References

  1. Scarisbrick, John (1997). Henry VIII. p. 370.