ruined
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
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 ...
of the
high medieval
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 1500 ...
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
. It is sited above the town of
Hausach
Hausach (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Huusä) is a town in the Ortenaukreis, in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Hausach was founded in the 13th century, below Husen Castle. In the 14th century, it became a possession of the County ...
in the county of
Ortenaukreis
Ortenaukreis ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Ortenaukrais; french: Arrondissement de l'Ortenau) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from north) Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottwe ...
in the German state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
.
History
The original hill castle, recorded for the first time in 1246 as ''castrum Husen'', was probably built here by the
dukes of Zähringen
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
in the 12th century. It later went into the possession of the
counts of Freiburg
The Counts of Freiburg were the descendants of Count Egino of Urach (d. 1236/7). They ruled over the city of Freiburg and the Breisgau (within the Margraviate of Baden) between approximately 1245 and 1368.
History
The Margraviate of Baden had ...
. In 1303, the castle went to the
counts of Fürstenberg
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
as a result of the marriage of Verena of Freiburg.
Count Henry IV of Fürstenberg had the castle extensively remodelled and expanded from 1453 to 1477. A
neck ditch
A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch, at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry and an
outer ward
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 ...
guarded the heart of the castle with its ''
palas
A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...
'' and ''
bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...
''.
The castle was the residence of the prince's
castellan
A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
s (''Burgvögte''). In 1632 it burned down and was rebuilt. In 1643 French-Weimar troops under Jean Baptiste Budes de Guébriant destroyed the castle.
Later the ruins were incorporated into fortified earthworks or ''
schanzen
A ''schanze'' () is, according to the specialist terminology of German fortification construction, an independent fieldwork, that is frequently used in the construction of temporary (not permanent) field fortifications.Rüstow: ''Militärisches Han ...
'' in order to defend the valley against enemy troops. In 1896 the ''bergfried'' was given
battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
s instead of the tower’s
conical roof
A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point.
Distribution
Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit ...
. In 1968 the town of Hausach purchased the ruins from the House of Fürstenberg. Today, parts of the ''palas'' wall, the so-called
battery tower
A battery tower was a defensive tower built into the outermost defences of many castles, usually in the 16th century or later, after the advent of firearms. Its name is derived from the word battery, a group of several cannon.
These, usually ro ...
and the ''bergfried'' survive.
File:Burg Hausach 3.jpg, The bergfried (May 2009)
File:Burg Hausach 7.jpg
Literature
* Kurt Klein: ''Burgen, Schlösser und Ruinen - Zeugen der Vergangenheit im Ortenaukreis''. Reiff Black Forestverlag, Offenburg, 1997, , pp. 32–33.