Wellheim Castle () is a former fortification in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

(county of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

). The ruins of the old rock castle stand dominantly on Jurassic rocks above the market town of Wellheim in the ancient

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

valley (the Wellheim dry valley). It was abandoned in the 18th century and partially demolished.

Description

The Romanesque upper bailey was built in a spectacular location on a wild, deeply clefted rock formation above the market town of Wellheim. Of its former ''

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

'' and the other buildings of the main castle, only parts of the exterior walls and enceinte remain. The ''palas'' was sited in the east, a balcony (''Söller'') linking it to a residential building in the south. In the north rises the mighty, quadratic tower of the bergfried, made of rusticated

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

blocks with channelled joints. The roughly 35-metre-high tower is topped by a later, brick, upper storey (with round arch window openings) that once had a saddle roof. The original tower was topped by crenellations, that can still be made out from the stonework. The round arched, walled up elevated entrance is on the south side. Today the castle courtyard is filled with rubble to a depth of a metre and overgrown; formerly the entrance was about six metres about the level of the ground. The north wall had to be rebuilt in 1935, because many of the ashlars had been removed since 1836 for use as construction material. The walls are made of double-skinned

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

masonry with mortar and rock filling. In 1857 an entire storey of the ''palas'' had to be demolished as it was in danger of collapse. The enceinte runs down the slope to ring the middle bailey. Here, too, there was once a smaller, quadrangular building of which only a few remnants have survived. Below that is the lower bailey. The enceinte here appears to have been repaired several times. Outside a small tower enabled grazing fire to be brought to bear. The wall remains of the two small rooks near the gate were used as livestock sheds. Of the gateway itself only a gap in the wall remains today. In the 15th century, a ''zwinger'' was built in front of the lower ward. Its northern point was guarded by a

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

. The local road to Gammersfeld runs along the northwestern part of the external

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

today. The moat is secured on the steep eastern hillside by a retaining wall, which was reinforced on the outer side by a square flanking tower.

Literature

* * Bert Braun: ''Chronik Marktgemeinde Wellheim'', Spardorf, 1981. * Heinz Mittel: ''Führer durch das Wellheimer Tal und seine Geschichte'', Ingolstadt, 1981. * Werner Meyer: ''Burgen in Oberbayern - Ein Handbuch von Werner Meyer''. Verlag Weidlich, Würzburg, 1986, , pp. 99-102. * Brun Appel, Rudolf Böhm: ''Burgen und Schlösser – Kreis Eichstätt im Naturpark Altmühltal''. Herausgegeben vom Landkreis Eichstätt, Hercynia Verlag, Kipfenberg, 1981, pp. 50-51.

External links

Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun

at burgenseite.de {{Authority control Castles in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Eichstätt (district) Hill castles