Reipoltskirchen Castle
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Reipoltskirchen Castle () is a
water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...
in the parish of
Reipoltskirchen Reipoltskirchen is an – a municipality belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. Geography Location Reipo ...
in the county of
Kusel Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-kno ...
in the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
. It is one of the best preserved water castles in the
Palatinate region The Palatinate (; ; Palatine German: ''Palz''), or the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz''), is a historical region of Germany. The Palatinate occupies most of the southern quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (''Rheinla ...
. The castle stands at a height of 208 metres above sea level (NN) on the site of an artificially created earth hillock around a rock spur on the
Odenbach Odenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhine ...
river.


History

As early as 1198, the first related nobleman, Meffried of Reipoltskirchen, is mentioned, so the castle could have existed at that time. However, the first record of a castle in Reipoltskirchen, ''castro Ripoltskirchen'', does not appear until 1276, when the fortification came into the possession of Theoderich (Dietrich) of Hohenfels. The "von Hohenfels" were a branch of the lords of Bolanden, who later called themselves "lords of Reipoltskirchen" in a new branch of the Hohenfels family. When the Hohenfels family seat was destroyed in 1351, the family of the older line probably temporarily sought refuge with their cousin, Conrad, in the water castle of Reipoltskirchen. The last Hohenfels of the older line sold the remainder of his estate due to poverty and "meagre sustenance" (''notturfft lipplicher narung'') and had to spend the rest of his life in a house belonging to the Neuenbaumburg near his relatives, the
Raugrave The Raugraves were a German noble family, which had its center of influence in the former Nahegau. They descended from the Emichones (Counts of Nahegau). History First family in the 12th until 15th centuries The family of the Raugraves (the ...
of Bolanden. In 1401, Nicholas Vogt of Hunolstein used the castle, which was part of the
dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...
of his wife, Ida of Erbach, as a base during an armed confrontation with
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
Charles of Lorraine. The duke besieged the castle and captured it. Nicholas, who also called himself Lord of Hunolstein, and his stepson, Eberhard of Hohenfels, Lord of Reipoltskirchen, concluded an expiatory treaty with Duke Charles on 27 March 1401. Temporarily, a quarter of the castle and estate had to be ceded to Lorraine. The Vogt of Hunolstein experienced additional humiliation and was appointed as administrator of the Lorraine share in the castle (''Sloss Ripoltzkirchen''). At the beginning of the 16th century the castle was probably expanded by the brothers John (ally of Francis of Sickingen) and Wolfgang of Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen. John II, to whom this extension had hitherto been attributed, was still a child at the time and only appears in the records from 1538 to 1570. The von Hohenfels line died out with John III (grandson of John II) in 1602. In accordance with a 1603 clause in the will by Countess Amalia, the mother of the last member of the Hohenfels family, the castle passed after her death in 1608 to her two brothers Emich and Sebastian, counts of Daun-Falkenstein. However, these two passed away without any descendants entitled to inherit (living heirs), so the castle and the estate of Countess Amalia went to her two nephews, sons of her sister, Sidonia, the Swedish counts John-Casimir and Sten (Steino) of Löwenhaupt-Rasburg, cousins (great cousins) of the Swedish king,
Gustavus II Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...
of the House of Wasa. Stens's half of the castle and estate went to the counts of Manderscheid-Kail by marriage and inheritance. In 1730, Count Francis William Caspar was able to acquire this half share from
Hillesheim Hillesheim () is the third largest town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hillesheim. Geography Location The town lies almost in the middle, halfway between C ...
. The other half of the estate of John-Casimir remained in the possession of the counts of Löwenhaupt-Rasburg until 1763 and was subsequently sold to Count Philip Andrew of Ellrodt. In 1770/1773, an attempt was made to sell Ellrodt's share of the estate to Palatinate-Zweibrücken, which failed, however, because of unnoted pre-emptive rights. In 1777/1778 the estate was managed by Count William Ernest Godfrey of Hillesheim and Princess Caroline of Isenburg, daughter of Palatine Elector, Charles Theodore in
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
. In 1797 the property was
expropriate Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
d as part of the French occupation. On 30 November 1808, the castle grounds and its buildings were auctioned off to Karl Baumann, the '' Maire'' of
Lauterecken Lauterecken () is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the '' Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein, to which it also belongs. Lauterecken bears the nickname ''Veldenzstadt'', after the comital famil ...
, merchant Heinrich Puricelli and farmer Johann Bacher. A short time later, in 1836, the buildings were described as ruinous because they were partly used as quarries. Around 1830, the
Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...
district archivist, Peter Gayer (1793-1836), captured the state of the castle in a sepia drawing, the second oldest known painting of the castle. The oldest depiction of the castle is by Freiherr Stephan von Stengel. It is an etching which he titled with "à ReipoldsKirchen" and signed with a French name "p. Et. de Stengel 1772 ". The castle is, depicted in a ruinous state, was probably drawn from the north. Stengel's etching could also combine views from different angles. Most of the heart of castle site was acquired in 1988 by the county of
Kusel Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-kno ...
. The castle underwent extensive renovation in 2005. Today it houses a restaurant, a registry office and an art school. The ''
bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...
'' is freely accessible and has been turned into a
viewing tower An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and wo ...
.


Baronetcy of Reipoltskirchen

Reipoltskirchen Castle was the seat of the eponymous imperially immediate ''
Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...
'' or
baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
. The ''Herrschaft'' eventually consisted of the following 15 villages: Michael Frey: ''Versuch einer geographisch-historisch-statistischen Beschreibung des königlich bayerischen Rheinkreises'' Band 1, Speyer 1837, S, 466
Google Books
Reipoltskirchen Reipoltskirchen is an – a municipality belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. Geography Location Reipo ...
, Berzweiler, Dörnbach, Finkenbach, Gersweiler, Hefersweiler, Moorbach,
Niederkirchen Niederkirchen is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North ...
, Nußbach, Rathskirchen, Reichsthal, Rölsberg, Rudolphskirchen, Schönborn and
Seelen Seelen is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north ...
.


Site

The surviving elements of the
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
castle are the 17-metre-high ''
bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...
'' and the curtain walls. The rooms added since the 1970s are used today as an art school.


References


Literature

* Martin Dolch, Hans-Joachim Kühn, Stefan Ulrich, Achim Wendt: ''Reipoltskirchen''. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit, Ulrich Burkhart, Rolf Übel (eds.): ''Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon''. Vol. 4.1. Kaiserslautern, 2007, pp. 227–240. * Alexander Thon, Hans Reither, Peter Pohlit: ''"Wie Schwalben Nester an den Felsen geklebt..." Burgen in der Nordpfalz''. Regensburg, 2005, . * à ReipoldsKirchen 1772 - Ein Schöngeist in diplomatischen Diensten. Druckgrafik und Zeichnungen von Stephan von Stengel. Published by Henner-Wolfgang Harling et al. Mannheim, 2008. (Publications of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum; 32) * Urkundenbuch Hunolstein II., No. 120, pp. 108 ff.


External links

* {{Ebidat, 5230
''Wasserburg'' on the website of the parish of Reipoltskirchen
Water castles in Germany Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Kusel (district)