Saaleck (Naumburg)
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Saaleck is a village in the former municipality of
Bad Kösen Bad Kösen () is a spa town on the Saale river in the small wine-growing region of Saale-Unstrut, Germany. It is a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt. Bad Kösen has a population of around 5,300. Since 1 Januar ...
, since 2010 part of the town of
Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
in the district of
Burgenlandkreis Burgenlandkreis () is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established as Landkreis Burgenland by the merger of the former Burgenlandkreis and Landkreis Weißenfels as part of the reform of 2007. ...
in the German state of
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...
. The castles Saaleck and Rudelsburg next to the village have been proposed by Germany for inscription in the List of
World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. The World Heritage nomination Naumburg Cathedral and the High Medieval Cultural Landscape of the Rivers Saale and Unstrut is representative for the processes that shaped the continent during the High Middle Ages between 1000 and 1300: Christianization, the so-called “Landesausbau” and the dynamics of cultural exchange and transfer characteristic for this very period.


Location

The village of Saaleck lies about 4 kilometres west (and upstream) of
Bad Kösen Bad Kösen () is a spa town on the Saale river in the small wine-growing region of Saale-Unstrut, Germany. It is a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt. Bad Kösen has a population of around 5,300. Since 1 Januar ...
. The village is managed by the town
Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
, some 14 kilometres away, and has a population of roughly 300. Above the village is Saaleck Castle and the castle of Rudelsburg. The River Saale flows past the settlement and gives its name to the village because, at this point in the Saale valley, it turns a corner (''Ecke''). Saaleck is surrounded by rocky slopes about 80 metres high. The castles Saaleck and Rudelsburg are situated in
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...
at the heart of Germany.


History

The castles of Rudelsburg and Saaleck are situated in the immediate vicinity with each other. These castles were built to secure the assets within the territory. Rudelsburg castle was owned by the bishops of Naumburg while Saaleck castle was founded by the Schenken von Saaleck, a noble family dependent on the Landgrave of Thuringia, Landgraves of Thuringia. By directly facing each other, the castles of Saaleck and Rudelsburg are symbols of the rivalry among the regional competing powers in the High Middle Ages. Both castles served as strategic outposts above the nearby fords to collect taxes and rights along the Via Regia and the main trade routes that added to the wealth of the region in the 12th century.


Rudelsburg

Rudelsburg Castle was constructed around 1170 during the term of Bishop of Naumburg, Bishop Udo II of Naumburg (1161 – 1186). In 1238, Bishop Engelhard (1206 – 1242) gave the castle (castrum et oppidum) to Margrave of Meißen, Margrave Henry of Meissen (1221 – 1288) as a fief. It marked the border of the realm of the Naumburg bishops. Rudelsburg Castle is a two-part complex comprising a small inner bailey in the west and a large-area outer bailey stretching over the entire plateau. Directly behind the gate there is a square-shaped Romanesque castle keep. This type of castle keep is rarely to be found. The square-shaped castle keep from the 12th century with battlements measures 20 metres and is the symbol of the castle, which can be seen from afar.


Saaleck

The ruins of Saaleck Castle rest on a low tongue of a range of hills about 65 metres above the Saale River, which is flowing around three of its sides. The surviving structures suggest that the castle was erected in the late 12th century, 12th and early 13th century. The small, two-part castle complex was limited in size also by the natural characteristics of the terrain. It used to be composed of an upper castle (inner bailey) and a lower castle (outer bailey). Local shell limestone was used as building material.


Today

The silhouette of the castles Saaleck and Rudelsburg in very short distance to another has become one of the most prominent emblems of the reception of the Middle Ages since the period of Romanticism.


See also

* World Heritage Convention * World Heritage Site * World Heritage Committee * High Middle Ages * Cultural landscape, Cultural Landscape


References


Notes


External links


Video of the cultural landscape of Naumburg
{{Authority control Burgenlandkreis Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Naumburg (Saale) 1147 establishments