Frauenstein Castle (Ore Mountains)

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Frauenstein Castle
Burg Frauenstein
Frauenstein

BurgFrauensteinErzgebirge01.jpg

The ruins of Frauenstein Castle
Germany adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Frauenstein Castle
Coordinates 50°48′14″N13°32′22″E / 50.803958°N 13.539378°E / 50.803958; 13.539378 Coordinates: 50°48′14″N13°32′22″E / 50.803958°N 13.539378°E / 50.803958; 13.539378
Type hill castle
Code DE-SN
Height680 m above  sea level (NN)
Site information
Condition remains of tower and walls
Site history
Built around 1200
Garrison information
Occupants margraves, nobles

The ruins of Frauenstein Castle (German : Burg Frauenstein) are located on a 680 metres (2,230 ft) high granite rock on the crest of the Eastern Ore Mountains near the town of Frauenstein in the district of Mittelsachsen.

German language West Germanic language

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

Eastern Ore Mountains

The Eastern Ore Mountains form a natural region of Saxony that covers the eastern part of the Saxon Ore Mountains range. Together with the Western and Central Ore Mountains, it is part of the larger Saxon Highlands and Uplands region. Its southern continuation beyond the German border covers an area of roughly the same extent in the Czech Republic.

Frauenstein, Saxony Place in Saxony, Germany

Frauenstein is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Ore Mountains, 19 km (11.81 mi) southeast of Freiberg, and 33 km (20.51 mi) southwest of Dresden.

Contents

History

The castle, which was first recorded by name in 1272, was built as a border fortification between the March of Meissen and Bohemia. It protected the trade routes and the silver mining industry. The original inner ward measured just 30 x 15 m and incorporated a tower house. [1]

Bohemia Historical land in Czech Republic

Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. In a broader meaning, Bohemia sometimes refers to the entire Czech territory, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, especially in a historical context, such as the Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by Bohemian kings.

Tower house type of stone structure, built for defensive and habitation purposes

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.

In the period that followed a second tower house was erected. This was linked to the existing tower. In the final years of the 13th century the great hall and castle chapel were built. The construction of the great curtain wall was carried out in the first half of the 14th century. The margrave enfeoffed the castle in 1329 together with its dominion to the burgraves of Meissen.

Great hall

A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great chamber for eating and relaxing. At that time the word "great" simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence. In the medieval period the room would simply have been referred to as the "hall", unless the building also had a secondary hall, but the term "great hall" has been predominant for surviving rooms of this type for several centuries, to distinguish them from the different type of hall found in post-medieval houses. Great halls were found especially in France, England and Scotland, but similar rooms were also found in some other European countries.

Chapel Religious place of fellowship attached to a larger institution

The term chapel usually refers to a Christian place of prayer and worship that is attached to a larger, often nonreligious institution or that is considered an extension of a primary religious institution. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a college, hospital, palace, prison, funeral home, church, synagogue or mosque, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds. Chapel has also referred to independent or nonconformist places of worship in Great Britain—outside the established church.

Curtain wall (fortification) defensive wall of a fortification

A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers (bastions) of a castle, fortress, or town.

The parish of Frauenstein was granted town rights in 1411. In 1438 the Wettins largely destroyed the castle during a siege. The Margrave of Meissen then disputed the succession rights of the burgraves. The dispute had started when the Meinheringer line died out in 1426 and was taken over by the Vögte from the House of Plauen. The nobility of that house, the von Schönbergs, were given the castle in 1473. They had a palace ( Schloss ) built in the years 1585-1588 designed by the architect to the Elector, Hans Irmisch. On the completion of the palace, the castle remained unoccupied. Nevertheless, the chapel was renovated in 1615.

House of Wettin noble family

The House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors and kings that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.

<i>Schloss</i> type of stately home found in German-speaking regions

Schloss, formerly written Schloß, is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace or manor house. In the United Kingdom, it would be known as a stately home or country house.

The last Schönberg at Frauenstein sold his estate in 1647 to the prince-elector, John George I. The palaces was converted, first to a judicial office (Gerichtsamt) and later into a forestry office (Forstrentamt) and district court (Amtsgericht).

In 1728 a fire destroyed a large part of the town of Frauenstein and affected both the castle and the palace very badly. Because the castle, unlike the palace, was not being used, it was not rebuilt.

Today the 13th century tower house, known as Dicker Merten and the 1½ m thick curtain wall remain standing. The remaining rooms include the cellar, kitchen, castle chapel, prison, two parlours and several vaults. [2] Restoration work was carried out on the ruins in 1968, 1990 and 1992.

In 2007 an interest group was founded with the aim of keeping the castle accessible to the public and preventing it falling into private hands. From this group, the Society for the Preservation of Frauenstein Castle (Förderverein Burg Frauenstein e.V.) was founded in 2009.

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References

  1. Datenblatt zur Burgruine, accessed on 24 July 2009.
  2. erzgebirge-explorer.de, accessed on 24 July 2009.