The

ruins 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 ...

of Werdenfels Castle (german: Burg Werdenfels) stand about 80 metres above the Loisach valley between

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Ob ...

and

Farchant Farchant is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Transport The district has a railway station, , on the Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen railway The Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen railway is a single tr ...

in the county of

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

. The

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 ...

was used until 1632 as the administrative centre of the

County of Werdenfels The County of Werdenfels (German: ''Grafschaft Werdenfels'') in the present-day Werdenfelser Land in South Germany was a county that enjoyed imperial immediacy that belonged to the Bishopric of Freising from the late 13th century until the secularis ...

, but began to fall into disrepair thereafter. The castle ruins are freely accessible and are a popular hiking destination with a good view of

and the

Wetterstein Mountains The Wetterstein mountains (german: Wettersteingebirge), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmisch-Partenki ...

Location

The castle is located at an elevation of northwest of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on an eastern spur of the

Kramerspitz Kramerspitz (or The Kramer) is a mountain overlooking the Garmisch side of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. It forms the most visible western boundary of the Loisach River Valley. It stands across the valley from the Wank Wank may re ...

in the

Ammergau Alps The Ammergau Alps (german: Ammergauer Alpen or ''Ammergebirge'') are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Bavaria (Germany) and Tyrol (Austria). They cover an area of about 30 x 30 km and begin at the outer edge ...

. It stands about 80 metres above the valley floor and is easy to reach on well-signposted paths. The rocky terrain falls steeply from northwest to southeast into the valley, whilst southwest of the castle the land climbs rapidly. This typical castle situation enabled long-distance surveillance of the important trading route in the valley, but it was not possible to protect it directly as the castle was just too far away.

History

The foundation date of the castle has been hotly disputed in castle research circles. However, it was probably built between 1180 and 1230. Its owner and the purpose of the original fortification are also unknown. In 1249, ownership of the

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

was transferred to the

Prince-Bishopric of Freising The Prince-Bishopric of Freising (German: ''Hochstift Freising'') was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1294 until its secularisation in the early years of the 19th century. The Prince-Bishopric of Freising should ...

and it was occupied with guardians (''Burghütern'') or governors (''Pfleger''). In 1294 Count Berthold III of Eschenlohe gave the Bishopric part of his county and was appointed as the castle guardian. After the creation of Freising territory, the

, the castle served as the administrative and jurdical centre. However, not all governors took up residence in the castle. The county was generally regarded as ''"the best part of the Imperial Principality of Freising"'' (Carolus Meichelbeck). It supplied ''"chamois and red deer venison and game... wood, marble"'' that could be transported on the rivers

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...

and Loisach directly to the cathedral town. In the 15th century, Freising had to enfeoff the castle several times due to financial difficulties. The structural condition of the castle seems to have deteriorated to the beginning of the 17th century such that the governor's seat was moved in 1632 into a new administrative building on the ''Wang''. From 1676 the fortress was exploited as a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

. For example, numerous stone blocks from castle were re-used for the new baroque parish churches of

and

. As part of the seizure of church land in the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative ...

, the castle and county went to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. Its population of roughly 5,000 which had hitherto enjoyed

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...

found it difficult at first to get used to their new masters. An 1806 document by a Munich official complains that ''"many Werdenfelßer still have no Bavarian heart!"'' In 1822 the Bavarian

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, Ignaz von Rudhart, acquired the ruins, since when it has been privately owned. In 1905-06, the walls were secured and partially rebuilt. After the tops of the walls were secured in 1961/63, further restoration finally began in 1986; this has continued sporadically since.

Description

The construction material for the castle was the local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, which was quarried in the ''Schlosswald'' ("Castle Wood") above the fortification. Of interest here are the remains of six ring-shaped

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take p ...

s which were archaeologically investigated in 1997. To the south and west a shallow

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

guards the position. The approximately square, elevated

inner ward 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 ...

(27.6 × 24.8 metres) has two

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 buil ...

s to the north and west dating to the 14th and 15th centuries. 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 German ...

'' rose at or over the northwestern corner of the inner ward, but was completely demolished around 1728/30 leaving a pile of rubble today. The tower was also used in the 15th and 16th centuries as a

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

. Better preserved are the north side and an internal wall of 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, ...

'' (24.8 × 11.4 metres)All dimensions from '' Zeune'' and the stonework of the two outer wards with its – largely renovated – Mittertor'' ("Central Gate"). The partially preserved north wall of the ''palas'' is pierced on the ground floor by three large pointed arches whose actual function remains a puzzle. In its last phase of expansion, the castle was probably more of an administrative seat than a fortification and would not have withstood a serious siege for very long. The wall thicknesses only average about 90 centimetres and the main direction of attack was not reinforced or protected by

flanking tower A flanking tower is a fortified tower that is sited on the outside of a defensive wall or other fortified structure and thus forms a flank. From the defensive platform and embrasures the section of wall between them (the curtain wall) could be ...

s. The most defensible part of the castle was the high medieval ''bergfried'' of which little is known apart from a few 17th and 18th century illustrations. Werdenfels Castle's weaknesses as a fortification had been noted by castle researcher,

Otto Piper Otto Piper (1841–1921) was a German architectural historian who, with August von Cohausen (1812–1896), is regarded as one of the two founders of scientific research into castles. Life Otto Piper was born on 22 December 1841 in Röckwitz, t ...

. He recognised that the fortress ''"so far as the remaining walls are concerned, conspicuously lacks the positions and facilities for a sustained defence''“. As a result of his research he finally came to the conclusion that the ruins ''"no longer correspond to the older castle"''. The associated domestic yard lay to the south, below the castle in the valley roughly where the old district office (''Amtshaus'') is today (''Schwaige Wang'').

Literature

* Heinrich Spichtinger: ''Werdenfels, Geschichte einer Burg''. – Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1991. * Josef Ostler, Michael Henker, Susanne Bäumler: ''Grafschaft Werdenfels 1294 - 1802''. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1994. * Michael Weithmann: ''Ritter und Burgen in Oberbayern - Streifzüge ins mittelalterliche Land zwischen Alpen, Donau, Lech und Salzach''. Dachau, 1999, . * Joachim Zeune, Heinrich Spichtinger: ''Burg Werdenfels – Kleiner Führer''. – Garmisch-Partenkirchen, ca. 2000. * Werner Meyer: ''Burgen in Oberbayern - Ein Handbuch von Werner Meyer''. Verlag Weidlich, Würzburg, 1986, , pp. 129-131.

References

External links

Ruins of Werdenfels
at burgenseite.de {{Authority control Werdenfels Buildings and structures in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) Heritage sites in Bavaria