Botenlauben Castle is a

ruined 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, deliberat ...

castle in Reiterswiesen, a district of the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n spa town of

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which bec ...

History of the castle

The castle was home of the

minnesinger (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who w ...

and crusader

Otto von Botenlauben Otto von Botenlauben or Botenlouben (1177, Henneberg – before 1245, near Bad Kissingen), the Count of Henneberg from 1206, was a German minnesinger, Crusader and monastic founder. Otto von Botenlauben was the fourth son of Count Poppo VI ...

and his wife

Beatrix de Courtenay Beatrix de Courtenay (died after 1245) was a Titular Countess of Edessa and Countess consort of Henneberg as the wife of Otto von Botenlauben. She was the eldest daughter of Agnes of Milly ( de) and Joscelin III, Count of Edessa, who sold Chastel ...

(founders of the Frauenroth cloister), who both stayed from 1220 to 1242. The exact year the castle was built is unknown, but it is generally accepted to be from around 1180. The name probably comes from the words 'Boto' (name of the architect) and ''Laube'' (meaning residence). In 1234, the castle came under the control of the

Bishopric of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, under Bishop Hermann I von Lobdeburg. In 1242, the castle became the administrative centre of the diocese's offices. It was eventually moved to Ebernhausen in 1525 following the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositio ...

, and then completely dissolved in 1670. During the Peasants' War, the castle fell victim to peasants from

Aura an der Saale Aura an der Saale is a municipality in the district of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Aura lies on the left bank of the Franconian Saale in Franconia about 7 km from the district capital of Bad Kissingen. It is the smal ...

. Legend has it that the peasants were admitted to the castle by its perfidious cook, who, however, was not rewarded with gold coins but blinded and killed by the peasants; since then, his ghost wanders about the castle in stormy nights chopping on his chopping board. Following the failed peasants' revolution, they were forced to rebuild the destroyed castle. In 1553, during the 'Margravial war', the castle was destroyed for the last time, and since the 17th century has served as a quarry to the residents of Reiterswiesen.

Tourism

Around 1830, this situation came to an end when people began to take an interest in the Romantic period and the Middle Ages (embodied definitively in 1881 when the ‘Botenlauben club’ was founded). From the beginning, the guiding principle was always to make the castle into a tourist attraction, which became more of an historical interest at the start of the 20th century. In the second half of the century, the castle underwent some restoration work. Today, life in the castle during the Middle Ages is remembered and re-enacted each year in September with the 'Burgfest'.

References

* Denis A. Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: ''Denkmäler in Bayern – Stadt Bad Kissingen'', pages 148–150, * Thomas Steinmetz: ''Burgruine Botenlauben''. In: Thomas Ahnert, Peter Weidisch (Hg.): ''1200 Jahre Bad Kissingen, 801-2001, Facetten einer Stadtgeschichte''. Festschrift zum Jubiläumsjahr und Begleitband zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung. Sonderpublikation des Stadtarchivs Bad Kissingen. Verlag T. A. Schachenmayer, Bad Kissingen 2001, * Edi Hahn: ''Bad Kissingen und seine Umgebung die schönsten Sagen, Legenden und Geschichten'', Bad Kissingen 1986, S. 15ff.

External links

Bad Kissingen

{{coord, 50, 11, 19, N, 10, 05, 15, E, region:DE-BY_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century Buildings and structures in Bad Kissingen (district) Castles in Bavaria Bad Kissingen Hill castles Ruined castles in Germany