Eltz Castle (Deutsch:
Burg Eltz) is one of the most famous and beautiful medieval castles in Germany.
It is nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier,
Germany. Eltz castle, the Palace of Bürresheim and the Castle of Lissingen are
the only castles on the left bank of the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate which
have never been destroyed. These castles were preserved even during wars 17th
and 18th centuries and the French Revolution.
 |
The Castle of Eltz was built was built in a
strategically important location on the road connecting the Eifel and Moselle
with Mayfeld, which was always one of the most important trade routes of the
German Empire. The castle is surrounded on three sides by the Elzbach River, a
tributary on the north side of the Moselle. It is situated on a 70 meter high
rock of elliptical form that gives it a commanding view of the Elzbach Valley
and River Eltz. The builders took into account the natural conditions of the
oval crag and this explains the strange shapes and floor plans of some of the
rooms.
| Name:
Eltz Castle or Burg
Eltz
Location:
Wierschem
District: Mayen-Koblenz
State: Rhineland-Palatinate
Country:
Germany
Type: Hill castle Architectural style: Romanesque, Baroque Start of construction: 12th century Condition: opened to the public |
In 1268, some three generations later, the Eltz
family split into three separate branches, as a results, the castle was divided
between the three brothers: Eliey, Wilhelm and Theodoric, where they lived
together with their families. Thereafter, each branch built own houses and
towers within the castle over the next 400 years. Thus, Burg Eltz became a
Ganerbenburg (castle of joint heirs) in which several families shared common
areas of the castle including the courtyard and the chapel while also
maintaining their own private living quarters. Today, the Lion Or branch of the
Eltz family remains as the sole owner of the castle. The castle consists of
eight towers with living quarters grouped around an inner courtyard.
 |
In the years 1331-1336, during the so-called
"Eltz feud", there was only one military conflict in the 900 years
history of the castle. On June 15, 1331, the knights from various castles
including Eltz Castle rebelled against the territorial policy of Elector
Baldwin of Trier, Archbishop of Luxembourg, and formed an alliance. Later that
year, Eltz castle was siege by the forces of Baldwin. For the siege, Archbishop
of Trier ordered to build on the side of the cliff a siege fortress Truttselts
and to bombard the castle with heavy stone balls. The walls of the Truttselts fortress
have survived to our time. All castle entrances were blown up, so that the
castle was cut off from resupply of food. After two years of siege, the
garrison, weakened by starvation, was forced to surrender the castle. In 1354,
Emperor Charles IV gave Eltz castle as fief to Elector Balduin. Thus, the free knights
of Eltz castle became the vassals of the Elector and took the castle from him
as feudal tenure.
 |
|
Eltz
castle and fortress Truttselts
|
In the 15th century there was an
especially busy flurry of building activity. In 1472, the Rübenach house on the
western site was completed under Lancelot and Wilhelm zu Eltz-Rübenach.
Incidentally, the name of Eltz-Rübenach goes back to the stewardship of Rübenach
near Koblenz which had been acquired by Richard vom Silbernen Löwen (Lion
Argent) in 1272. The name is still used today by the Barons of Eltz-Rübenach.
Between 1490 and 1540, the Rodendorf house was
built. On its facade there is a vaulted portico standing on three pillars. The
name of Eltz-Rodendorf goes back to the marriage of Hans Adolf zu Eltz to
Katherine von Brandscheid zu Rodendorf in 1563. In 19th century, near
the portico on the outside wall there was lined with a mosaic of the Madonna.
Kempenich houses in a castle was built from
1604 to 1661 years. Their successful architectural composition and beauty of
the fachwerk completes picturesque appearance of the courtyard of the castle.
Under the massive tower staircase, there was a draw-well, which supplied water
the whole castle.
During the Palatinate wars of succession from
1688 to 1689 a large number of the Rhine castles were destroyed. Eltz castle
preserved unscathed due to its owner Hans Anton zu Eltz-Üttingen, which had the
highest officer rank in the French army.
In the 19th century, during the
romantic period with its resurgent interest in all things medieval Graf Karl zu
Eltz busied himself with the restoration of his family castle. In 1845-1888
years for large-scale construction work was spent considerable amount of DM 184,000,
which in today’s money is about €6 million. The restoration was carried out
very carefully and preserved historic architectural appearance.
 |
|
This is a file from www.photos4travel.com, Author: Batikart
|
The complete story of the castle’s construction
stretches over more than 500 years. All the architectural styles from the
Romanesque to the early Baroque merge in Eltz castle to form a symmetrical
whole. The settlement of the castle consists of several closely packed
residential towers grouped around the inner courtyard. Up to 100 family members
lived in more than 100 rooms with probably about the same number of servants in
the outbuildings along the river, now destroyed.
The present owner of the castle, Dr. Karl Graf
von und zu Eltz, known as Faust von Stromberg, lives in Eltville/Rhine. The
family has had its main German residence there since the beginning of the 19th
century. Dr. Karl Graf von und zu Eltz represents the 33rd generation of the
House of Eltz. He has undertaken the task of maintaining this national monument
for the public, to preserve its structure and, following family tradition, pass
it on to the 34th generation.
From April 1 to November 1, in the castle there
are daily sightseeing tours of approximately 40 minutes.
In the preparation of this article, were partially used materials
of websites: www.burg-eltz.de,
wikipedia.org and great-castles.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment