Wartburg
Wartburg Castle | |
---|---|
Wartburg | |
Former names | Wartberg |
General information | |
Type | Castle |
Town or city | Eisenach |
Country | Germany |
Coordinates | 50°57′58″N 10°18′23″E / 50.96611°N 10.30639°E |
Construction started | c. 1067 |
Renovated | 19th and 20th centuries |
Landlord | Wartburg Stiftung |
Criteria | Cultural: iii, vi |
Reference | 897 |
Inscription | 1999 (23rd Session) |
The Wartburg (German pronunciation:
Wartburg is the most visited tourist attraction in
Etymology
The name of the castle is probably derived from German: Warte, a watchtower, in spite of a tradition which holds that the castle's founder, on first laying eyes on the site, exclaimed, "Warte, Berg—du sollst mir eine Burg tragen!" ("Wait, mountain—you shall bear my castle!").[3] It is a German play on words for mountain (Berg) and fortress (Burg), coupled with a further play on warte (wait) and Warte ("watchtower").
Location
Wartburg is located on a 410-metre (1,350 ft) precipice to the southwest of, and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. The hill is an extension of Thuringian Forest, overlooking Mariental to the south-east and the valley of the Hörsel to the north, through which passed the historical Via Regia.[4]: 149 The Rennsteig passes not far to the south of the castle.
History
The castle's foundation was laid about 1067 by the Thuringian count of Schauenburg, Louis the Springer ( Ludwig der Springer ), a relative of the Counts of Rieneck in Franconia. Together with its larger sister castle Neuenburg in the present-day town of Freyburg, the Wartburg secured the extreme borders of his traditional territories.[5] Louis the Springer is said to have had clay from his lands transported to the top of the hill, which was not quite within his lands, so he might swear that the castle was built on his soil.
The castle was first mentioned in a written document in 1080 by Bruno, Bishop of Merseburg, in his De Bello Saxonico ("The Saxon War") as Wartberg.[6]
During the Investiture Controversy, Louis's henchmen attacked a military contingent of King Henry IV of Germany. The count remained a fierce opponent of the Salian rulers, and upon the extinction of the line, his son Louis I was elevated to the rank of a Landgrave in Thuringia by the new German king Lothair of Supplinburg in 1131.
From 1172 to 1211, the Wartburg was one of the most important princes' courts in the German Reich. Hermann I supported poets like Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach who wrote part of his Parzival here in 1203.[4]: 149
The castle thus became the setting for the legendary
At the age of four, St.
: 4In 1247,
In 1320, substantial reconstruction work was done after the castle had been damaged in a fire caused by lightning in 1317 or 1318. A chapel was added to the Palas.[10]: 15, 18
The Wartburg remained the seat of the
From May 1521 to March 1522,
From 1540 until his death in 1548, Fritz Erbe , an Anabaptist farmer from Herda, was held captive in the dungeon of the south tower, because he refused to abjure anabaptism. After his death, he was buried in the Wartburg near the chapel of St. Elisabeth.[11] In 1925, a handwritten signature of Fritz Erbe was found on the prison wall.
Over the next centuries, the castle fell increasingly into disuse and disrepair, especially after the end of the Thirty Years' War when it had served as a refuge for the ruling family.[10]: 7
In 1777, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stayed at the Wartburg for five weeks, making various drawings of the buildings.[6]
On 18 October 1817, the first
With the permission of the absent chaplain
This event and a similar gathering at Wartburg during the
During the rule of the
Drawing on a suggestion by Goethe that the Wartburg would serve well as a museum,
The reign of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach ended in the
After the end of World War II, Soviet occupation forces took the renowned collection of weapons and armour. Its whereabouts still remain unknown.
Under communist rule during the time of the
In 1967, the castle was the site of celebrations of the GDR's national jubilee, the 900th anniversary of the Wartburg's foundation, the 450th anniversary of the beginning of Luther's Reformation and the 150th anniversary of the Wartburg Festival.[10]: 29
In 1983, it was the central point of the celebrations on account of the 500th birthday of Martin Luther.[10]: 29
Architecture
Palas
The largest structure of the Wartburg is the Palas, originally built in late Romanesque style between 1157 and 1170.[4]: 150 It is considered the best-preserved non-ecclesial Romanesque building north of the Alps.[10]: 11
The Palas features rooms like the Rittersaal and the Speisesaal which have been reconstructed as closely as possible to the original Romanesque style and which contain original structures (pillars or roof elements). However, many of the rooms mostly reflect the tastes of the 19th and 20th centuries and the image of the Middle Ages prevalent at the time: the Elisabeth-Kemenate was fitted with mosaics showing the life of St. Elisabeth (created in 1902–06) on behalf of
Other structures
The drawbridge and barbican offer the only access to the castle and have been largely unchanged since medieval times.[4]: 150
Vorburg is the area immediately inside the first gate. It dates to the 14th/15th century and is made up of several
The Lutherstube in the Vogtei, where Martin Luther stayed when he was in the castle, also features paintings by Lucas Cranach.[4]: 150
The Bergfried (
The Neue Kemenate (New Bower, 1853–1860) today exhibits the art treasures of the Wartburgsammlung, including paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and sculptures from the workshop of Tilman Riemenschneider.[4]: 150
The Romanesque Südturm or South Tower was built in 1318. Together with the Palas it is the oldest part of the castle. A dungeon is located below.[4]: 150
In 1999, UNESCO added Wartburg Castle to the World Heritage List as an "Outstanding Monument of the Feudal Period in Central Europe", citing its "Cultural Values of Universal Significance".[12]
For a while, the status of Wartburg as a World Heritage site was endangered by plans to build very tall wind turbines on Milmesberg near Marksuhl. However, in November 2013, the investor agreed not to build the turbines and a regional planning update has banned such structures within sight of Wartburg in the future.[13]
Today
Wartburg is a popular tourist destination, the most-visited site in Thuringia after Weimar.[4]: 148 It is accessible to visitors and guided tours offer access to the interior of the buildings. In addition, there is a museum in the castle. Children can ride donkeys up the hill. The Festsaal is used regularly for staging the opera Tannhäuser, as well as concerts and other events. There is also a hotel, located right next to the castle, originally built during the castle's reconstruction in the 19th century.[14]
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, visited the Wartburg castle, as well as the Bach House, on 14 May 1998 during his state visit to Germany.
Legacy
For centuries, the Wartburg has been a place of pilgrimage for many people from within and outside Germany, for its significance in
The Wartburgkreis is named after the castle, although Wartburg is located outside the district. Eisenach, originally part of the district, became kreisfrei ("district-free") in 1998.
Image gallery
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Wartburg c. 1890–1900, seen from the south-west
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The South Tower
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View of the courtyard from the South Tower
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Main gate seen from the first courtyard
References
- ^ "Wartburg Castle". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Löhr, Dirk (28 October 2016). "Wartburg Castle - the most visited Reformation site". DW. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Reported by Hilmar Schwartz, in Die Ludowinger. Aufstieg und Fall des ersten thüringischen Landgrafengeschlechts (Wartburg-Stiftung: Eisenach) 1993. Archived 17 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Though the source reports the incident, it states that written records cannot be found to that effect.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-8297-1175-3.
- ^ "SCHLOSS NEUENBURG in Freyburg an der Unstrut [offizielle Homepage] - English Site". Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of the Wartburg". Wartburg-Stiftung. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ [1] Archived 11 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 March 2008, Wartburg-battle
- ^ [2] Archived 30 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 March 2008, Wartburg-Krieg
- ^ [3] Archived 29 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 March 2008, St Elisabeth on the Wartburg
- ^ ISBN 978-3-7954-4060-2.
- ^ [4] Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 March 2012, Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online: Erbe, Fritz
- ^ [5] Archived 28 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine for its citation as an outstanding monument of the feudal period in central Europe
- ^ "Investor verzichtet auf Windkraftprojekt nahe Wartburg(German)". MDR Thüringen. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- ^ "Official Website (uses frames)". Wartburg-Stiftung. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ "Redirect". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009.
- ^ "Our Campus". Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.