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Construction
Construction of Rötteln Castle
castle ruins in Lörrach, Germany
- 11th century – 11th century
- Europe
Construction
castle ruins in Lörrach, Germany
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Rötteln Castle (German: Burg Rötteln), located above the Lörrach suburb of Haagen, lies in the extreme southwest corner of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, just 10 kilometres (6 miles) north-east of the Swiss City of Basel. The fortification was one of the most powerful in the southwest, and today, it is the third largest castle ruin in Baden.
The castle remains are located on a prominent wooded hill 422 metres (1,385 feet) above sea level. The keep lies on a spur projecting from the steep-sided east side of the lower Wiese valley.
The castle has probably existed since the beginning of the 11th century. The first documented mention of a lord of Rötteln, one Dietrich von Rötteln, the bailiff of St. Albans near Basel, is 1102. This year is also considered the date of the founding of the city of Lörrach. In 1204 Dietrich III of Rötteln died, having amassed a large holding in the Wiese valley. His sons held high offices; Walter I von Rötteln was the Kapitular (a priest who is authorized to say the mass in a cathedral and perform other duties of a bishop) of Konstanz and Basel,
Luithold I von Rötteln was the bishop of Basel, Konrad I von Rötteln was the founder of the city of Schopfheim, which was important to the later formation of the Markgräflerland. The first documented mention of the castle itself is from the year 1259.
Luithold II von Rötteln, the last male of his line, gave the lordship of Rötteln to the Margrave Rudolf I of Hachberg-Sausenberg and his heiress Agnes von Rötteln in the year 1311. As a result, the Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg also became lord of the former domain of Rötteln. The Margrave then moved from Sausenburg Castle to Rötteln Castle to more easily administer his new domain and appointed a bailiff to oversee Sausenburg.
Luithold II von Rötteln died on 19 May 1316, and the passing of Rötteln to Hachberg-Sausenburg was an important step in the eventual formation of the Markgräflerland. In 1332, the castle was besieged by the people of Basel because the Margrave Rudolf II stabbed the mayor of Basel during an argument. The conflict was resolved at the last moment through an agreement to settle the argument. Arrowheads, crossbow bolts, and other finds near the castle attest to this siege.
The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed large portions of the city and the castle suffered severe damage.
In 1444, the domain of Badenweiler passed from the last Count of Freiburg, John, to the son of Margrave Wilhelm, Rudolf IV von Hachberg-Sausenberg. The combination of the three dominions, Rötteln, Sausenburg, and Badenweiler formed the foundation of the Markgräflerland.
During the reign of Rudolf IV (1441-1487) the castle had its heyday. At the court of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy he had risen to high dignity. In 1454 the Duke was his guest on Rötteln castle. The unique splendor of the Burgundy court inspired the Margrave. Around 1470 the palace was expanded and architecturally enhanced. In 1474 a visitor reported that tapestries based on the Burgundian model were produced on the castle.
In 1503 Philip of Hachberg-Sausenberg died and based on an agreement on reciprocal inheritance Philips lands in the Breisgau - including Rötteln castle – came in the hands of the Margrave of Baden. During the German Peasants' War (1525) revolting peasants briefly took possession of the castle but do not damage this place.
During the Thirty Years War the castle was affected in the years 1633–1638. In May 1633 Imperial forces led by Ernesto Montecuccoli took possession of the castle, which belonged to the Protestant Frederick V of Baden-Durlach an ally of the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Montecuccoli was supported by Herman Fortunatus a member of the catholic branch of the House of Baden. Two months later Swedish-Protestant army headed by Otto Louis of Salm-Kyrburg-Mörchingen reconquered Rötteln Castle. Following the Battle of Nördlingen (1634) the Swedish were forced to withdraw their garrison and were replaced later on by an Imperial garrison again. Right after the Battle of Rheinfelden in March 1638 the French-allied mercenary army led by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar conquered the castle whereby causing severe damages.
The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) affected the Breisgau-region in the last phase when François de Créquy a Marshall of the French King Louis XIV conquered Freiburg im Breisgau at the end of 1677. Based on the fortifications of Freiburg and Breisach Créquy raided this region in the following year and tried to take over the fortified city of Rheinfelden. On the road to Rheinfelden a detachment of his army attacked Rötteln by using kartouwen and the Imperial garrison surrendered after a short time on 29 June 1678. Afterwards the French troops burned down the castle as they have done it this year with many castles and villages in the region – in fact Créquy followed a scorched-earth policy.
The castle ruins were thereafter used as a source of building stone (quarry). Further damages were caused by nature.
The Black Forest Society of Baden (Schwarzwaldverein) began to survey the ruins in 1884 in order to preserve them. Since 1926, this has been the concern of the Röttelnbund e.V. club based in Lörrach-Haagen. Today the ruins have been restored to approximately their condition after the destruction in 1678.
The site of the castle extends from northwest to southwest over a distance of almost 300 metres (980 ft). The widely spread castle can be roughly divided into the fore-castle and upper castle. To the west, a bastion-like point extends for the placement of light artillery. Passage from the fore-castle to the upper castle is by means of a drawbridge. The upper castle, with its powerful keep, is the oldest part of the castle. Archaeological finds from the castle and grounds are on display in the museum located in the courtyard of the castle.
The free place called Kapf in front of the entrance to the south gate served as a meeting place for the regional court—the court of appeals for the village courts. The provincial governor had the presidency. He was assisted by the landschreiber (deputy of the provincial governor and first law officer) and seven free men as judges. The seven came from respected families of the territorial estates (an early democratic institution with some rights of self-government). Death sentences pronounced by the regional court were promptly executed on the Kapf. After 1503, the Margraves of Baden converted the Kapf into a bastion formed as a star-shaped redoubt. On French orders, the bastion had to be dragged (destroyed) in January 1689. The stones were used by the French to build their fortress at Huningue (on the left bank of the river Rhein just before the city of Basel).
The outer bailey is entered via the south gate. The deeply staggered gatehouse consisting of three gates was also a tower. The apex of the portal contains a slab with the coat of arms of the builder-owner, Marquis Rudolf IV of Hachberg-Sausenberg (today just a copy). It is marked with the date 1468. The original of the coat of arms and the court table of the Kapf are exhibited in the Dreiländermuseum in Lörrach.
The outer bailey or lower castle was developed in the 14th and 15th centuries, though it had historically been a farmstead belonging to the castle. The outer bailey was surrounded by a high ring wall with flanking towers. On the west side, the defense system is well preserved. The area inside the wall was densely built with a broad lane halfway through. The overall picture of the outer bailey was characterized by facilities for the main functions of the place - agriculture, administration and military garrison. The farmstead, storage buildings, and lodgings for maids, servants, craftsmen and their families made a fortified village out of the outer bailey.
A 1377 document mentions an innkeeper living in the outer bailey. The inhabitants of the castle, artisans, peasants and travelers were invited to make a stop at the inn. The café on the grounds of the castle is a modern building but it is probably situated on the site of the medieval inn.
To the east, on the way to the inner bailey, there is the landschreiberei that was the most important institution of the administration of the Marquis of Baden. The landschreiberei housed the office and the archive and local officers kept in touch with the remote residence in Durlach (today Karlsruhe-Durlach). The striking four-story building dates back to the late Middle Ages. It was rebuilt by the Röttelnbund in 1985 and now houses event locations, the archive and museum, as well as the kiosk in the entrance area.
There is no other castle in the surrounding area in which the sophisticated access technology has been preserved as visibly. Since the upper or main castle is the heart of the whole system, it was specially protected. The upper castle is enclosed by a curtain wall with a defense walk. The upper castle features a moat which was created by removing the bedrock in between the inner and outer bailey. The wooden bridge to cross the moat is located at the only passage through the curtain wall.
At one time the moat was very deep and the connection between the lower and the upper castle was provided by a drawbridge. The old support pillars of the drawbridge carry the current steel bridge.
In addition to the main gate, the narrow manhole (today closed by a fence) grants access to individuals. This access was also fortified by a drawbridge. Above the apex of the main gate there is a sandstone slab sculpted with the coat of arms of the builders and powerful owners of the castle—the Margraves of Hachberg-Sausenberg.
Behind the main gate there are huge windowless walls. To enter the inner bailey of the upper castle, the three-gate safety installation must be passed. The gate defense tower, named Giller rises from the curtain wall on the left.
A castle is not only the ancestral home of a noble family and a center of power, but also the heart of an economic enterprise. From here, the widely scattered property was operated and managed. The alimentation and health of the numerous inhabitants of the castle had to be ensured even in the case of a long-lasting siege. Adequate storage was therefore indispensable. Large cellar rooms for storage were built within the castle.
Under the old building or manor house is a large wine cellar with a vault. Originally, the cellar had a simple wood-beamed ceiling. In the second half of the 14th century, Margrave Rudolf III carried out major reconstruction work on the manor house. It was probably at this time that the wooden ceiling of the cellar was replaced by a barrel vault—a series of arches placed side by side to form a barrel roof.
The gate defense tower, Giller, secured the only entrance to the upper castle especially before the expansion of the outer ward (lower castle). At times, it also served as a prison tower; inside, parts of jougs (iron collar), footcuffs, handcuffs, and stone weights have been found.
Originally, the Giller was shorter but during reconstruction work in 1926, a storey with battlements made of concrete was added.
A deep castle well was mentioned in 1420 that refer to a cistern. Since the water table in the area is deep and difficult to get to, surface water was collected in the cistern.
Cisterns of this kind are rare in southern Germany. The 8-to-10-metre-deep (26 to 33 ft) shaft was surrounded by a sheath of gravel and sand and sealed with a clay layer to the outside. Incoming surface water seeped through the filter material into the interior of the shaft and into the cistern. The water in the cistern had an exceptionally good quality.
The palas, or manor house, was the residence of the ruler and a prestigious building. It was built in three phases: the oldest part of the building is the southern, then the north side of the building was built, and, last, the portion of the building and close to the keep was constructed.
The palas has three storeys, but only the top floor went through all three phases of construction. It is clearly visible that the initial building was extended once and then again in later years.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Rötteln Castle”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.