Otzberg Castle (german: Veste Otzberg) in the German state of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
is a medieval castle on the summit of the
Otzberg
Otzberg is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, located in the Odenwald forest region of Germany. It was founded in 1972 by the merger of six former independent municipalities.
Otzberg consists of seven villages: Habitzheim, Herin ...
in the
Odenwald forest at a height of 367 m above NN. On its northern slopes is the village of
Hering, which grew out of the
lower 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 ...
or
castellan's settlement. The history of castle and village is therefore closely interwoven.
History
The region around the Otzberg probably belonged to the territory that King
Pippin
Pippin or Pepin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Pippin (comics), ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986
* Pippin (musical), ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life ...
gifted in 766 A.D. to
Fulda Abbey
The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastic ...
, together with
Groß-Umstadt
Groß-Umstadt is a town in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany. It is near by Darmstadt and Frankfurt on the northern border of mountain range Odenwald and is on the south-eastern edge of Rhin ...
.
Otzberg Castle was probably built in the late 12th/early 13th century.
At this time, Abbot
Marquard I of Fulda secured the abbey estates and built castles that were visible from a long way as a sign of his influence.
: ''...Here is a site for a castle…''
[Die Gesta Marcuardi, in: Traditiones et Antiquitates Fuldenses, Fulda, 1844]
He transferred the castle to
Conrad of Hohenstaufen
Conrad of Hohenstaufen ( – 8 November 1195) was the first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine.
His parents were Frederick II of Swabia (1090–1147), Duke of Swabia, and his second wife Agnes of Saarbrücken, daughter of Frederick, Cou ...
, brother of the
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...
, as ''
vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
''. Conrad was Count Palatine of the Rhine.
The ''castrum Othesberg'' was first mentioned in the records in 1231. In this document the
Archbishop of Mainz,
Siegfried III, also the overseer of
Fulda Abbey
The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastic ...
, guaranteed to
Count Palatine Otto II the arrangement agreed in the previous year, the details of which are unknown.
In 1244 the ''castellanos de odesbrech'' are mentioned for the first time: the castellans or ''
Burgmannen'' of Otzberg Castle. The fortifications must have been sufficiently developed that five castellans and their servants were able to occupy it. The castellans built houses in the village of Hering, so-called "castellan's houses" or ''Burgmannenhäuser''. Of these only parts of the house owned by
Gans of Otzberg have survived.
In the early 14th century, the resources of Fulda Abbey ran out so, in 1332, Prince-Abbot Henry VI of Hohenberg enfeoffed Otzberg Castle and the Fulda part of
Umstadt for 4,600 pounds of
Heller to Werner of Anevelt and Engelhard of
Franckenstein, who carried out building work at Otzberg to the tune of 200 pounds.
In 1374 Fulda redeemed the estate again, but enfeoffed in the same year ''Otsperg die burg'' ("Otzberg the castle"), ''Heringes die stat darundir'' ("Hering the town below it") and half of Umstadt for 23,875
guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
s to
Ulrich of Hanau, who also carried out work on the castle, for 400 guilders.
In 1390 the abbey sold Otzberg and Hering and the half of Umstadt with the
Hanau fief, which had meanwhile increased in value to 33,000 guilders, to Count Palatine
Rupert II.
In 1504 the
Bavarian Feud partly involved Otzberg. In the dispute over the Landshut succession,
Emperor Maximilian imposed the
imperial ban
The imperial ban (german: Reichsacht) was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or t ...
on
Count Palatine Philip for a breach of the ''
Landfrieden
Under the law of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''Landfrieden'' or ''Landfriede'' (Latin: ''constitutio pacis'', ''pax instituta'' or ''pax jurata'', variously translated as "land peace", or "public peace") was a contractual waiver of the use of legiti ...
''. Landgrave
William II of Hesse seized Otzberg by force. After the
Reichstag of Constance in 1507, Electoral Palatinate received the ''
Amt'' of Otzberg back again and did not enfeoff it again. But weapon technology had changed so that the castle could no longer simply be held by castellans. In 1511, a ''
Zwinger
"" () is a German word for outer ward or outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the post-classical and early modern periods to improve the defence ...
'' was built, the inner wall was strengthened and a new gatehouse built.
In the mid-16th century a stone
town wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
was built around the
lower 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 ...
(the village of Hering).
In 1621, during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, a Bavarian corps of 2,000 men and imperial and Spanish troops camped in the area of Otzberg-Umstadt and besieged Otzberg Castle. A year later, in 1622, the garrison surrendered the castle. The castle and ''amt'' of Otzberg as well as half of Umstadt went back to Hesse in 1623 as compensation for war damage suffered.
In 1647 the
French took the castle. They based themselves at the castle and helped themselves to the food and provisions. As a result of the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648 Otzberg was returned to the Palatinate.
Although the whole of the Palatinate was in French hands during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, the two ''Ämter'' of Otzberg and Umstadt remained Electoral Palatine. At that time the Palatine Archives were stored at Otzberg Castle, in which one can read the property claims for a new era.
With the stabilisation of the political situation, Otzberg Castle lost its military importance for the Palatinate. From 1711 active service soldiers were gradually replaced by disabled veterans, sot that from 1720 the castle became purely an invalids garrison, which guarded the prisoners incarcerated there.
![Veste_Otzberg_1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Veste_Otzberg_1900.jpg)
In 1802 the Electoral Palatine ''Oberamt'' of Otzberg went to the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse bet ...
, which used it from 1803 as a state prison.
In 1818 Otzberg Castle was abandoned as a military location.
On 25 July 1826 the Finance Ministry in Darmstadt issued a decree that the tower of the castle, the commandant's house with its small stables, the doctor's house, the stable near the Marketenderei, the well house and the new barracks (''Bandhaus'') should be preserved. All other buildings should be sold for demolition.
In 1921 the ''Bandhaus'' was converted into a
youth hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...
.
In the 1950s a forestry office and a restaurant were housed in the commandant's house. This arrangement continued until the mid-60s when the place was rented to various tenants to run the restaurant.
In 1985, a museum the Collection of Folk Art in Hesse (''Sammlung zur Volkskunde in Hessen'') moved into the ''Bandhaus''. In 1996 the ''Korporalshaus'' was rebuilt. It has since been used as a museum building and location for the ''
Standesamt
A Standesamt (German, plural "Standesämter") is a German civil registration office, which is responsible for recording births, marriages, and deaths.
Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states ...
'' of the municipality of Otzberg.
Military
The occupants from the outset were soldiers; in the 14th century, six men lived there; around 1471 there were 14 people. Specialised paid soldiers first appeared in the 16th century when the place was converted into a defensible fortification.
Description
![Lageplay Veste Otzberg2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Lageplay_Veste_Otzberg2.jpg)
The appearance of the fortress is dominated by its double concentric walls built in the 16th century and oval in shape, and the ''
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 Germ ...
'' which is of
Romanesque origin. Its character is still that of a fortress from the time after the introduction of artillery, typical castle features, like towers are entirely missing.
''Bergfried''
The ''bergfried'', also known locally as the ''Weiße Rübe'' ("White Beet", also the name for the wild turnip), is the oldest building in the castle. On clear days the visitor can see the whole of the county of
Darmstadt-Dieburg
Darmstadt-Dieburg is a Kreis (district) in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Offenbach, Aschaffenburg, Miltenberg, Odenwaldkreis, Bergstraße, Groß-Gerau, and the district-free city of Darmstadt, which it surrounds.
Histor ...
and as far as the city of
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and the
Taunus
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range span ...
hills from the top of the 17-metre-high keep.
Well
The
castle well
A castle well was a water well built to supply drinking water to a castle. It was often the most costly and time-consuming element in the building of a castle, and its construction time could span decades.
The well – as well as any available cis ...
dates to about 1320 and is one of the deepest wells in Hesse. After recent excavations the depth of the well has now been estimated as about 50 metres. Next to it is a 1788
treadwheel
A treadwheel, or treadmill, is a form of engine typically powered by humans. It may resemble a water wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference (treadmill), or by a human or animal standing ...
that made it considerably easier to raise water.
Commandant's house
The commandant's house (''Kommandantenhaus''), in which the castle pub is housed today, was built in 1574 together with several other new buildings.
''Palas''
The ''
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 ...
'' houses the Otzberg Museum – Documenting the history of Veste Otzberg.
Barracks/cabinet room
The old
cabinet room was later used as a barrack. Due to the Hessian demolition decree (''hessischen Abrissverfügung'') of 1806 it was one of the few buildings that was destroyed at Otzberg Castle. Today, only the wall foundations remain.
Corporal's house
The "corporal's house" (''Korporalshaus''), rebuilt in 1996 is used as a registry by the municipality of Otzberg.
File:Otzberg.jpg, The Otzberg - north side
File:Torhaus 1 Veste Otzberg.jpg, Gatehouse to the castle
File:Torhaus 2 Veste Otzberg.JPG, Gatehouse to the exit
File:Brunnen Veste Otzberg.JPG, Well house
File:Bergfried Veste Otzberg.jpg, The ''bergfried''
File:Veste_Otzberg_Kommandantenhaus.jpg, Commandant's house
File:Kemenate Veste Otzberg.jpg, Barracks/cabinet room
File:Koroaralhaus Veste Otzberg.jpg, "Korporalshaus"
File:Veste_Otzberg_Suedbauten.JPG, "Korporalshaus" and ''palas''
File:Palas Veste Otzberg.jpg, The ''palas''
File:Veste_Otzberg_Palas.jpg, South side of the ''palas''
Literature
* Wolfram Becher: ''Name und Ursprung der Burg Otzberg.'' In: ''Der Odenwald. Zeitschrift des Breuberg-Bundes'' 26/1, 1979, pp. 3–26.
* Thomas Biller: ''Burgen und Schlösser im Odenwald. Ein Führer zu Geschichte und Architektur.'' Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 2005, , pp. 189–192.
* Thomas Steinmetz: ''Zur Frühgeschichte der Burg Otzberg''. In: ''Der Odenwald. Zeitschrift des Breuberg-Bundes''. 51st annual issue (2004), Heft 2, , pp. 43−57.
* Axel W. Gleue: ''Otzberg Burg-Festung-Kaserne''. Otzberg, 2003.
* Rudolf Knappe: ''Mittelalterliche Burgen in Hessen: 800 Burgen, Burgruinen und Burgstätten.'' 3rd edn. Wartberg-Verlag. Gudensberg-Gleichen, 2000. , pp. 540−542.
* ''Schlösser, Burgen, alte Mauern.'' Herausgegeben vom Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden, 1990, , pp. 287–289.
External links
Otzberg Castleat burgenwelt.de
Otzberg MuseumDFG project Renaissance Palaces in Hesse
References
{{Castles in Odenwald
Hill castles
Castles in Hesse
Museums in Hesse
Odenwald
Electoral Palatinate