Krayenburg

North wall of the ruins of the palace

The Krayenburg is a ruined castle in the district Tiefenort in Wartburg district of Thuringia, which took place in 1155 first documentary mention.

Location

The ruins of the summit castle is located on the now wooded, highly visible top of the cone-shaped protruding from the Werra Krayenberges which expire after three pages steeply into the valley and only from the east, over a 1500 m long driveway Tiefenort is reachable by vehicles today. Furthermore, there are some trails of flag -pebble creek.

History

The Krayenburg is one of the oldest stone castle systems in the Werra valley, it was probably on the site of a pagan mountain sanctuary.

Wallburg

In the 8th century Charlemagne gave the Great possessions in Dorndorf and around to the monastery of Hersfeld, they had to be protected by fortifications. There on the ridge, about 200 m east of the castle still clearly recognizable remnants of an older Wallburg, which may date from prehistoric times.

Hersfelder castle

The Krayenburg 1155 is first mentioned as a " castrum " of the monastery of Hersfeld. The noble family of Frankenstein held the castle as a fief Hersfelder and built it into one of the most important Romanesque plants in the medium from Werra. 1184 bestägtigte Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa possession. The castle had a high esteem in the kingdom and was a Asylort. In 1270 the castle offered Margaretha von Staufen, a daughter of Emperor Frederick II, refuge, as these fled to the breakdown of her marriage to Albert II of the Wartburg.

Protection bailiwick of the monastery Frauensee

Within sight of the castle, the monastery Frauensee originated in a vast, sparsely populated forest district north of the castle. The protection of this important Cistercian nunnery also Krayenburg was determined. After a dispute with the monastery of Fulda, the Lords of Frankenstein lost their feudal rights to the castle, which often changed hands as a result. Hersfeld Abbey pledged 1407 Krayenburg and surrounding possessions to the Thuringian Landgrave. In 1567 they came to Ernestine duchy of Saxony and was more land divisions from 1596 to the Duchy of Saxe -Eisenach and later the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar- Eisenach.

Residence of the Counts Beichlinger

The counts of Beichlingen who took over the castle from 1516 to 1567 as Lehnsinhaber, had previously held a small autonomous rule in Inner Thuringia. The Krayenburg was her last place of residence. From 1567 to 1879, the castle was the seat of the " Office Kraynburg ". The Krayenburg itself was the Thirty Years War to the ruins.

Expiration of the castle

1640 Empire invaded Croatian troops in the castle, and plundered them. Then she fell and was used as a quarry for the needs of the population. 1703 Headquarters moved to Tiefenort, just a Ranger stayed behind in the walls.

Goethe visited 1782 Krayenburg and drew them. At that time, by the powerful Roman system only ruins left. 1850, the Romanesque columns were removed from the windows of the palace and placed in the garden of the Commander Wartburg. Today the original building stock only small remnants remain. Parts of the palace, the inner and outer annular wall, the cellar and a cistern have survived the centuries.

Krayenburgverein

The association Krayenburggemeinde built in the 1920s on the site of a hermitage, a sandstone building with facilities and accommodation and a round lookout, which was repeatedly increased. After the castle after the Second World War was to "public property" and become the community Krayenburg was dissolved under state pressure, she served in GDR times as a party school and Jugendwerkhof. On the mountain, a striking transmitter of the post was created. After reunification, the association founded new and contributed decisively to the renovation and expansion of the castle as a hotel and a restaurant with.

Rehabilitation

The ruins of the palace was as a result of centuries of structural neglect statically unstable and had to be stabilized in the 1990s, this also first excavations and investigations were carried out. In the northern part of the castle more transmission facilities were built.

Structural remains

From the castle several arches and the prominent even with the north wall Palas remained. Also to be found in the grounds remains a staggered section attachment to the access road, ditch and the main castle. The castle site is now a ground and monument in the church Tiefenort.