Lords of Eppstein

Transcription

Breuberg Castle may look underwhelming from afar, but when it was built, probably shortly after 1200, the hill it was built on was completely bare. The first owners of this castle called themselves the Lords of Breuberg, but the family died out in 1323, and the really complicated part of Breuberg’s history began. Ownership of the castle was split between different families: one half went to Konrad von Trimberg, and quarter each went to the Counts of Wertheim and the Lords of Weinsberg. But only thirteen years later, Wertheim had three quarters, the rest divided between von Trimberg and the Lords of Eppstein. The following year, a contract had to be drawn up clarifying exactly who owned how much and who was responsible for the upkeep of what. But bit by bit, Wertheim bought the rest, and by 1497 were the sole owners until the family died out fifty years later, when it was divided equally between the Counts of Erbach and the Counts of Stolberg-Königstein. But Stolberg-Königstein then sold their share to the Counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim, who later became Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. This was a problem in the Thirty Years’ War, because Erbach was Protestant and Löwenstein Catholic. At first, Erbach took the whole castle, but then Löwenstein took it all back. After that, the castle became less important militarily, was eventually bought by the German Youth Hostel Association, which then became part of the Hitler Youth, and so the castle became state property until after the war, when the Allies ordered it to be handed to the province of Hesse. The youth hostel is still there. While we were there, the town of Breuberg was holding its first “Day of the Forest”, showing off forestry-related techniques and technology, both modern and ancient. The hill Breuberg Castle was built on was carved out by simple erosion, but nearby Veste Otzberg was built on an extinct volcano, as evidenced by the basalt columns that feature in the landscape. Like Breuberg, Otzberg was built in the thirteenth century by the Abbot of Fulda, to defend the possessions of the abbey. And like Breuberg, Otzberg’s history is complicated. In 1332, the abbey ran out of money, and so mortgaged the castle, along with part of the town of Umstadt, to Werner von Anavelt and Engelhard von Frankenstein (and yes, that was his real name), but redeemed it in 1374, only to mortage it again in the same year to Ulrich of Hanau, this time not just with half of Umstadt but also the entire village of Hering, and subsequently to sell it all to Rupert II, Elector Palatine. Things went quiet until 1504, when the then Elector Palatine, Philip, was issued an imperial ban for breach of the peace and the castle was taken by force by Landgrave William II of Hesse. But only a few years later, the Electoral Palatinate took it back and refused to part with it. Then came the Thirty Years’ War, when the castle was taken by Imperial and Spanish troops, and given back to Hesse along with Hering and half of Umstadt by way of reparations. Twenty-five years later the French captured it but lost it again to the Palatinate the following year. After that, it became a home for invalided soldiers before being used by the state of Hesse-Darmstadt as a prison, then parts of it were sold, a youth hostel briefly moved in, and now... ...it’s a tourist attraction.