Harburg Castle in

Harburg, Bavaria Harburg (; Swabian: ''Horburg'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Wörnitz and on the southeastern edge of the Ries meteorite crater in the UNESCO Global Geopark Ries. The town is p ...

, in the

Donau-Ries Donau-Ries (''Danube-Ries'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, A ...

district, is an extensive mediaeval complex from the 11th / 12th century. Originally it was a

Staufer The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

castle and was owned by the princely House of

Oettingen-Wallerstein The House of Oettingen was a high-rank noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank of ...

. Since 2000 the castle belongs to the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein Cultural Foundation, which has the mission to preserve unique castle for the present and future.

History

The first written mention of Harburg can be derived from the mention of Cuno de Horburc ''(Kuno of Harburg)'' in sources on the foundation of the Benedictine monastery Berchtesgaden at the latest around the year 1100. Kuno of Harburg was half-brother of Berchtesgaden’s founder Berengar of Sulzbach and apparently owner of the Harburg at the end of the 11th century. The castle itself was first mentioned in 1150. At that time, the 13-year-old

Henry Berengar Henry Berengar (1136/7–1150), sometimes numbered Henry (VI), was the eldest legitimate son of Conrad III of Germany and his second wife, Gertrude von Sulzbach. He was named after his father's maternal grandfather, the Emperor Henry IV, and his mot ...

, son and co-king of King Conrad III and

Gertrude of Sulzbach Gertrude of Sulzbach (german: Gertrud; – 14 April 1146) was German queen from 1138 until her death as the second wife of the Hohenstaufen king Conrad III. Life She was the daughter of the Bavarian count Berengar II of Sulzbach (c.1080–1125 ...

, wrote a letter to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to his aunt, the Empress Berta of Sulzbach, and her husband

Manuel Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor ...

, in which he spoke of the

Battle of Flochberg The Battle of Flochberg (8 February 1150) was a victory for the royal forces of Henry (VI) of Germany over the House of Welf, led by Welf VI and his son, Welf VII. Henry's father, Conrad III, and Welf VI had gone on the Second Crusade togethe ...

against

Welf VI Welf VI (111515 December 1191) was the margrave of Tuscany (1152–1162) and duke of Spoleto (1152–1162), the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious family of the Welf. Biography Welf inherited the familial po ...

. He mentioned that at that time he was staying at Harburg Castle, which was at that time a Staufian

imperial castle An imperial castle or ''Reichsburg'' was a castle built by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, whose management was entrusted to '' Reichsministeriales'' or ''Burgmannen''. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles an ...

. In 1299 the castle was pledged by King Albert I of the House of Habsburg to the Counts of Oettingen. King

Conrad IV Conrad (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) up ...

lived on the Harburg Castle in 1239. Emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

confirmed the property of the Counts of Oettingen in 1418. In 1530 the historian

Hieronymus Wolf Hieronymus Wolf (13 August 1516 – 8 October 1580) was a sixteenth-century German historian and humanist, most famous for introducing a system of Roman historiography that eventually became the standard in works of medieval Greek history. Lif ...

was a clerk at Harburg Castle. After the extinction of the protestant line

Oettingen-Oettingen The House of Oettingen was a high-rank noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank of p ...

, Harburg Castle was transferred to the catholic line

in 1731. Since 2000, the castle belongs to the prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein Cultural Foundation.

Geographical location

The Harburg Castle is located high above the valley of the

Wörnitz River Wörnitz is a municipality in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Wörnitz, west of Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of th ...

on a steep mountain spur falling to three sides at the south-eastern entrance of the

Ries Crater Ries is the German word for a unit of paper ream, derived from the Arabic word ''rizma''. The term can refer to: Geography * Nördlinger Ries, a large circular depression in western Bavaria, Germany. * Ries (Graz), a district of the city of Graz ...

on the

Romantic Road The Romantic Road (german: Romantische Straße) is a "theme route" devised by promotion-minded travel agents in the 1950s. It describes the of surface roads between Würzburg and Füssen in southern Germany, specifically in Bavaria and Baden-Wü ...

. The castle was built without reference to an older valley settlement, a process that was extremely rare in the High Middle Ages. Only after the castle developed the town Harburg on the narrow valley floor between the Wörnitz and the castle rock. The enormous size of the core castle may also allow conclusions to be drawn about the revitalization of a pre-historic or early-historic

Hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Architecture

Grundriss Burg Harburg mit Gebäudeziffern

This

hill castle A hill castle or mountain 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 ...

is a completely preserved facility with a remarkable building complex from the Middle Ages. In the 15th century the fortress was extended with residential buildings. From the 16th to the 18th century further extensions completed a prince's residence. Under Prince Albert Ernest II of Oettingen-Oettingen (1669 – 1731), the castle was to be expanded into a residence in the 18th century. However, only one part, which includes the castle church, the prince’s building and the hall building, has actually been altered accordingly. The character of a fortified castle remained. Pretty unique is the particularly well-preserved, late-medieval ring wall with defensive corridor. The main castle is surrounded by a wall with six towers, which is one of the oldest buildings. It includes the bailiff's residence (today the restaurant and hotel), the

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

, the two

keeps A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

, the palace, the hall building, the well, the bakery (today the ticket office and shop) and the chapel. A little further down is the

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

with the commercial buildings, including the Red Stabels. It is said to have been sketched by Carl Spitzweg during a visit in 1858. Three gates lead into the interior of the castle. The Lower Gate controlled access to the enclosure with a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

. Since 1807 a stone bridge leads over the moat. Then follows the Inner Gate, which dates back to the

Staufian The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

period. It forms together with the Lower Gate an

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

. The main castle can be reached through the Upper Gate, equipped with a

portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...

. It could be lifted smoothly by chains in two side guides and lowered in case of danger.

Tourism

The interior of Harburg Castle can be visited daily as part of a guided tour from mid-March to early November. File:GER — BY — Schwaben — Landkreis Donau-Ries — Harburg (Burg, Äußerer Eingang) 2021.jpeg, Lower Gate File:D-7-79-155-1 Harburg Burg Inneres-Tor 108.jpg, Inner Gate File:Harburg Schwaben BW 5.JPG, Upper Gate File:Rote Stallungen Burg Harburg.jpg, Red Stables File:Panorama Burg Harburg 2.jpg, Inner Ward File:GER — BY — Schwaben — Landkreis Donau-Ries — Harburg (Burg, Garten) 2021.jpg, garden File:Holzauge.JPG, A wooden eye File:Wehrgang.JPG, The defensive corridor

References

External links

Burg Harburg
(official website of Harburg Castle)
Burg Harburg on the official website of Harburg

The House of Wallerstein
{{Authority control Castles in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Donau-Ries Royal residences in Bavaria