New Bolanden Castle (german: Burg Neu-Bolanden or ''Neubolanden'') is a

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 ...

spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...

and, today, a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...

.Landesvermessungsamt Rheinland-Pfalz: ''Der Donnersberg und Umgebung'', Topographical map 1:25,000 series, 4th edition, 1998, It stands at a height of on the 276-metre-high ''Schlossberg'' hill immediately east of the village of

Bolanden Bolanden is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

in the county of

Donnersbergkreis The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern (district), Kaise ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

History

The castle was built in the 13th century by the imperial

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...

of the House of

and is first recorded from 1258 to 1262. In the 14th century, as a result of the castle being partitioned, there were disputes over its divisions. In the mid-14th century, New Bolanden was transferred to

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

. Later, it entered the possession of the counts of Nassau-Weilburg and was expanded in the early 15th century. From 1475 to 1598, New Bolanden Castle belonged to the Electoral Palatine

secundogeniture A secundogeniture (from la, secundus "following, second," and "born") was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance in which the second a ...

Palatinate-Simmern The House of Palatinate-Simmern (german: Pfalz-Simmern) was a German- Bavarian cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. The house was one of the collateral lineages of the Palatinate. The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided i ...

before returning the Electorate. It was the residence of three dowager duchesses of the House of Palatinate-Simmern as a retirement retreat: from 1480 to 1486 of Margaret, daughter of

Arnold of Egmond Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen. Life Arnold was born in Egmond-Binnen, North Holland, the son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel. On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, succ ...

, Duke of Geldern, and widow of Duke

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

; from 1515 to 1521 of Johanna, daughter of

Count 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: ...

John III of Saarbrücken and widow of

Duke 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 ran ...

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

; from 1598 to 1621 of Anne Margareta, daughter of

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...

George John I of Palatinate-Veldenz and widow of Duke Reichard. The author of medical works who later became the city doctor of Frankfurt, Arnold Weickard, resided at New Bolanden as the personal doctor of Anne Margareta. During the

Peasants' War This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: ...

in 1525 the castle was plundered and eventually razed. The ruins were rebuilt into a residential ''

schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

'' and acted as a district office and dowager's seat. After being occupied by the Spanish (1620–1625) during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

the castle was destroyed in 1689 by the French during the

War of the Palatine Succession The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarc ...

and, around 1822, demolished to its presently surviving state.

Site

Of the rectangular castle on a

hill spur A spur is a lateral ridge or tongue of land descending from a hill, mountain or main crest of a ridge. It can also be defined as another hill or mountain range which projects in a lateral direction from a main hill or mountain range. Examples of ...

, only a few wall remains have survived. Large areas of the castle were demolished during the 19th century. A picture from the 17th century gives an impression of the castle. The remains of the

neck ditch A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

are still visible.

References

Literature

* Jürgen Keddigkeit: ''Neu-Bolanden''. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit, Ulrich Burkhart, Rolf Übel (eds.): ''Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon. Band 3''. Kaiserslautern, 2005, , pp. 674–683. * Gerald F. W. Müller: ''Secessit clarissimi viri ... primogenitus - Fragment einer Grabinschrift in der Klosterkirche Hane''. In: ''Donnersberg-Jahrbuch 2015 - Jahrbuch für das Land um den Donnersberg Jahrgang 38''. Kirchheimbolanden, 2014, , pp. 86–89

External links

* {{Ebidat, 2203, Neubolanden Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Heritage sites in Rhineland-Palatinate Donnersbergkreis