Altraderach Castle (german: Burg Altraderach), also called the Old Castle (''Alte Burg'') or Little Heathen Palace (''Heidenschlösschen''), is a levelled

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the area between Unterraderach and Raderach. The still easily visible ''

burgstall A ''burgstall'' is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed.

'' lies in the parish of

Kluftern Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Krei ...

in the borough of

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

in the county of

Bodenseekreis Bodenseekreis ("Lake Constance district") is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south-east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west, clockwise) Konstanz, Sigmaringen and Ravensburg, and in Bavaria, Lindau district. T ...

in the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

History

The castle was built in the 12th century by the lords of Raderach and first mentioned in 1160, when Werner of Raderach witnessed the transfer of

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

to St. Blaise Abbey,Alois Schneider: ''Burgen und Befestigungen im Bodenseekreis'', p. 555 and was abandoned around 1250.Burg Altraderbach
at ''alleburgen.de''

Description

The main area of the castle measures about 20 by 21 metres and is surrounded today by an easily recognisable, circular

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches a ...

, whose outer boundary is marked by an outer rampart or embankment (''Wallrippe''). On the steep eastern hillside, the circular ditch transitions directly into the slope; on the other sides, the remnants of an outer bank can still be made out. The flat northern side of the site is guarded by a high embankment and a roughly 2.5 metre deep ditch, which is interrupted at the northwestern corner of the site. Clearly there was a (probably more recent) entrance between this corner and the western section of embankment. On the western side the embankment is markedly lower, but still easy to make out, on the south side it has slipped to form a terrace with a slight eminence. Local accounts locate the story of

Christoph von Schmid Christoph von Schmid (15 August 1768 Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria – 3 September 1854 Augsburg) was a writer of children's stories and an educator. His stories were very popular and translated into many languages. His best known work in the English-sp ...

's ''Rosa von Tannenburg'' (the Old Castle representing the Tannenburg) and the demolished New Castle (Fichtenburg) in Raderach. As a result there is a road called the ''Fichtenburgstraße'' in Raderach and a ''Tannenburgstraße'' in nearby Unterraderach.

References

Literature

* Alois Schneider: ''Burgen und Befestigungen im Bodenseekreis''. In: Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (publ.): ''Fundberichte aus Baden-Württemberg''. Vol. 14. 1st edn., E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1989, , , pp. 552–555.

External links

* {{Authority control Friedrichshafen