The Plassenburg fortress ( German: Plassenburg ) is the Hohenzollern fortress located on a hill above the city of Kulmbach (northern Bavaria ).
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Plassenburg, both a princely residence and a large fortress, is one of Bavaria 's most impressive historical buildings. The “Beautiful Courtyard” (Schöner Hof) with its richly decorated arcades is saturated with the atmosphere of a dominant residence of the times of the German Renaissance . External fortifications (walls, towers and bastions) are an illustration of the efforts that the princes required in order to remain politically independent during the Reformation . The strength and claims of the Burggraves of Nuremberg and the Margraves of Brandenburg are nowhere more evident than in this castle. From 1338/40 to 1791, the Plassenburg fortress was the official residence of the Franconian branch of the Gonenzollern dynasty and, after that, the Prussian fortress until 1806.
The magnificent architectural complex in the form that it currently has been built since 1557 for Margrave George Friedrich by the Kulmbach architect Caspar Fischer , after the original building located on this site was destroyed in the Second Margrave War . On the site of a small castle, which was founded before 1135 by the counts of Andex , Fisher created a representative complex consisting of four wings, fortified from the side of the hill with massive bastions. Today, Plassenburg, located high on a hill above the city of Kulmbach , is the cultural center of the Upper Main region. After the destruction of fortifications in 1806 on the orders of Napoleon, the castle served until 1928 as a prison and forced labor camp. During World War II, the fortress was used as a training camp.
Content
History
The first written mention of the fortress dates back to 1135 .
The fortress was built as a fortification, until the middle of the XVI century it was the administrative center of the principality of Plassenburg, which was owned by the Kulmbach (Bayreuth) branch of the Hohenzollern house.
In the years 1470-1471, Frederick II of Brandenburg lived in the fortress.
In the period from 1542 to 1550, an Italian architect with 150 Italian masons built three modern Italian bastions in the fortress.
In 1554, during the Second Margrave War, the fortress withstood seven months of siege, and then surrendered.
On April 29, 1604, Princess Maria of Prussia played a wedding in the fortress with Christian Brandenburg-Bayreuth .
In 1705, Erhard Ernst von Röder became commandant of the fortress.
In 1806, in the war of Napoleon against Prussia, Plassenburg was besieged for the last time in its history.
In 1810, the city of Kulmbach passed to the Bavarian crown, and the fortress was used as a prison and military hospital.
Currently, the castle of Plassenburg is used for exhibitions, museum and special collections. The Free State of Bavaria and the city of Kulmbach contain four different museums under one roof here.
Plassenburg Castle Museums
The Hohenzollern Museum in Franconia is located in preserved historical buildings of the 16th century with impressive interiors and furniture. The princes and kings of the Hohenzollern dynasty significantly influenced the course of German history. The museum in the castle of Plassenburg documents the history of this family, originally the Burggraves of Nuremberg , which intensified in Franconia and ruled here until 1806. Managing from two centers - Ansbach and Kulmbach / Bayreuth , they determined the development of Middle and Upper Franconia by supporting the Reformation, encouraging the resettlement of French Huguenot Protestants and conducting economic reforms. Franconia was for Hohenzollerns the economic and military base of expansion into Brandenburg and Prussia. When the Franconian hereditary line of the Hohenzollerns was cut short ( Karl Alexander Brandenburg-Ansbach , the last Margrave of the Franconian principalities Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth , secretly transferred them to Prussia), the Prussian kings took over the lands of Franconia, which they ruled over for 180 years. The museum, which is located in the inner chambers of the magnificent princely residence of the 16th century, illustrates the life of the princes of the Hohenzollerns of the Baroque era. The exposition traces the development of the dynasty from the Middle Ages, through two margrafs of the 17th and 18th centuries to Prussian rule and demonstrates the desire of the Prussian kings to preserve the Franconian heritage of their family. The museum was founded jointly by the "House of Bavarian History" and the State Collections of Bavaria with the participation of the Museum of the Bavarian Army.
The Museum "Army of Frederick the Great" contains samples of Prussian weapons and military equipment from 1700 to 1806. The museum in the most important Hohenzollern fortress in Bavaria has the largest collection of old Prussian weapons and military equipment from 1700 to 1806, which is on display in 32 glass cases. The exposition of the museum with documentary historical sources illustrates the external appearance and internal structure of the Prussian army, which changed the course of history on the battlefields of 18th-century Europe and focuses the attention of visitors, in particular, on the time of Frederick the Great (reign of 1740-1786). Details describe the daily life of the infantry and cavalry, as well as the social structure of the armed forces of Prussia. The main exhibits are firearms, sabers, banners and paintings. The museum was founded with the participation of collector and historian Bernd Windsheimer.
The German Museum of Tin Figures has the largest collection of tin figures in Germany, including a diorama with the largest figures in the world: The Destruction of Kulmbach on St. Conrad's Day, November 26, 1553.
The “Landscape Museum of the Upper Main Region” shows the history and nature of the city of Kulmbach and the surrounding region as an example of a large number of various exhibits.
Literature
- K. Bosl: Handbuch der Historischen Stätten Deutschlands - Bd. 7: Bayern , Stuttgart, 1961
- D. Burger: Landesfestungen der Hohenzollern in Franken und Brandenburg, Die Plassenburg Bd. 51, Kulmbach 2000, ISBN 3-925162-20-8
- H. Hennig: Die “Meranische Erbschaft” - Segen oder Fluch, Heimatbeilage zum Amtlichen Schulanzeiger von Oberfranken, Bayreuth 1992, Nr. 193
- E. Herrmann: Zur Geschichte der Plassenburg, Heimatbeilage zum Amtlichen Schulanzeiger von Oberfranken, Bayreuth 1982, Nr. 84
- H. Kunstmann: Burgen am Obermain unter besonderer Würdigung der Plassenburg, "Die Plassenburg" Bd. 36, Kulmbach 1975
- H. Stark: Die Plassenburg - “obergebirgische” Residenz und Landesfestung, in: J. Erichsen und E. Brockhoff (Hrsg.) Bayern & Preußen & Bayerns Preußen, Veröffentlichungen zur Bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur Nr. 41/99, Augsburg 1999
- S. Weigand-Karg: Die Plassenburg. Residenz und Hofleben bis 1604, Weißenstadt 1998, ISBN 3-926621-08-7
Links
- Landschaftsmuseum Obermain: Aus der Geschichte der Plassenburg
- www.burgen.de über die Plassenburg
- Grundriss bei www.burgenwelt.de
- Verein Freunde der Plassenburg e. V.