Feuerstein Castle (german: Burg Feuerstein) lies at the edge of the so-called

Lange Meile The Lange Meile ("Long Mile") is a plateau (hence the name ''Auf der Langen Meile'' - "On the Long Mile" - is often used) in the Franconian Jura in south Germany which is up to about .

near

Ebermannstadt Ebermannstadt (; East Franconian: ''Ärmaschdood'') is a town in the district of Forchheim, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 10 km northeast of Forchheim and 25 km southeast of Bamberg. Districts *Breitenbach *Ebermannstadt *Gassel ...

in the county of Forchheim in the south German state of

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 lan ...

. It was built in 1941 by

Oskar Vierling Oskar Walther Vierling (born 24 January 1904 in Straubing, died 1986) was a German physicist, inventor, entrepreneur and professor in high-frequency technology. Vierling was an important inventor and engineer of electronic and electro-acoustic ...

as a laboratory for researching

High Frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten ...

technology and

electroacoustics Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typical ...

and was used until 1945 by 250 employees for research into weapons and communication technology as part of the German armaments programme during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At the end of the war the castle was seized by American soldiers, from 1946 it was rented by the

Archdiocese of Bamberg The Archdiocese of Bamberg (lat. ''Archidioecesis Bambergensis'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria and is one of 27 Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% of tho ...

under Jupp Schneider and sold in 1949. Since then the castle and the entire estate have been in use as a Roman Catholic youth and conference centre.

History

was looking for a central location for his laboratories. The choice fell on a hill called the Feuerstein. Its design as a castle blended well into the countryside of

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (german: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main i ...

and was chosen for camouflage reasons. During the war it was disguised as a hospital and had tiles in the form of a red cross on the roof, but actually housed a laboratory for secret

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

armament projects. After the end of the war it was abandoned and construction plans and documents were destroyed. Nevertheless, in 2011 a document came into the hands of cryptographer-historian, Norbert Ryska, from the American special unit, Ticom ( Target Intelligence Committee), which described the work of Vierling at Feuerstein Castle in more detail. According to this, Vierling worked for the Nazis on speech encoding methods, acoustic torpedo control, acoustic detonation of mines, anti-detection technology for

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s and in the fields of radio and electrotechnology. A relict of its construction period is the present wine cellar, formally a walk-in safe with a ten-centimetre-thick steel door. The charm of the castle comes not from any medieval origin, but from its wartime history and its young age. The castle has been expanded by dormitory accommodation, a dining hall, leisure facilities (Kegelbahn, table tennis, volleyball, hard court, sports field), conference rooms, camping sites, agriculture, a riding stable and a glider airfield. Today Feuerstein Castle is a modern youth facility owned by the Diocese of Bamberg. In 1999 Feuerstein Observatory was founded, 500 metres south of Feuerstein Castle Airfield. The observatory took the name of the castle. The tower of the castle is used by the observatory as a

microwave radio relay Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally lim ...

relay station to link it to the town of

in the valley. In this way the tower built by Vierling to test the first radio relay link continues to fulfil its original purpose.

The churches

In 1961 the Church of the

Transfiguration of Jesus In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

was opened. It consists of three spaces: the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

, the lower church and the upper church. The crypt is accessed by steps from the lower church and only dimly lit. It houses the eternal flame and the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

. On the sides of the tabernacle are twelve candlesticks which represent the twelve apostles. The lower church is dedicated to Mary, the "Mother of Wisdom". It has an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

, behind which is a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

portraying the

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lo ...

. The glass windows are kept dark and portray on one side the head of a beast of prey, fire, broken ears of corn and the reaper, and on the other side, people, a rainbox, the sun and angels' wings. Both the mural and the window are works by the artist, Alfred Heller, from Bamberg. After leaving the lower church, the path runs past windows that portray the fundamental attitudes of

Christian spirituality Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

: Oratio – Meditatio – Contemplatio ("prayer - meditation - contemplation"). The upper church was designed by the architect Heinzmann and cathedral master builder Schädel. It was consecrated in 1961 and constructionally anticipated the liturgical reform of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

a year later: the altar is positioned in the nave so that the priest can celebrate mass with the congregation.Siehe die ''Instruktion zur ordnungsmäßen Durchführung der Konstitution über die heilige Liturgie " Inter oecumenici"'', 26 September 1964, No. 91. The large glass wall portrays on its right-hand side, the Burning Bush () and on the left the sacrifice of Elijah (). The glass wall is a work by glass artist,

Georg Meistermann Georg Meistermann (June 16, 1911 – June 12, 1990) was a German painter and draftsman who was also famous for his stained glass windows in the whole of Europe. From 1930, Meistermann studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Wern ...

. The

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

were created in 2005 by a youth group.

References

External links

Feuerstein Castle
{{Coord, 49, 47, 08, N, 11, 09, 45, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BY, display=title Castles in Bavaria Franconian Switzerland Jugendburg Youth in Germany Ebermannstadt Nazi architecture 1940s architecture

History

The churches

See also

References

External links