Bandits on the Bergstrasse - Tannenberg Castle

Alois Meixlsperger: Zeichnung Burg Tannenberg 1399

Another site on the Bergstrasse that is worthy of a visit is Tannenberg Castle. Once the home of bandits and brigands, its ruins now speak of past days when knights, lords and ladies inhabited the mountains overlooking the Bergstrasse. The castle makes a nice break when hiking from neighbouring Seeheim and walkers both young and old will enjoying exploring its ruins. The SJ1 circular trail, detailed below,  will take you to the castle and back down to Seeheim in about two hours. 

History

The von Münzenberg Coat of Arms

At the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, the area which is now Seeheim, Bickenbach and Alsbach-Hähnlein belonged to the noble Bickenbach family; however, in about 1150, one of the Bickenbach daughters married a von Münzenberg and thus endowed her husband with the northern part of the von Bickenbach territory, including Seeheim and the Tannenberg. By 1210, Kuno von Münzenberg had begun construction on Tannenberg castle and was already calling himself “von Tannenberg”. His son Ulrich I von Münzenberg continued to fortify and enlarge the castle, due in large part to the subordination of Lorsch Abbey to the Archbishop of Mainz, something that made the nobles in former abbey territory nervous of their own fates.   

Upon the death of Ulrich I, the castle passed to his son, Ulrich II.  When Ulrich II died without heirs, ⅚ of the castle then passed to the husband of his sister, Isengard, who had married Philipp I von Falkenstein.  The remaining ⅙ of the castle was inherited by the husband of his other sister, Adelheid, who had married Reinhard I von Hanau.  Due to splintering caused by inheritance, the Tannenberg castle soon became what is known as a Ganerbenberg, a communally-owned castle, and by 1382 there were seventeen owners, though most did not live at the complex. They were represented instead by their Burgmann, a position similar to that of a castellan in English castles.

In August 1379, eighteen knights met at Tannenberg castle to work out a peace treaty and protective alliance. Included in the party was Werner Kalb von Reinheim, a notorious brigand who was the administrator of the castle at the time, and Count Wilhelm II von Katzenelnbogen.

In 1397, Harmut von Kronberg was a ⅛ share owner and administrator of the castle; however, he decided to further enrich himself by ambushing and robbing traders who passed by on the Bergstrasse. Von Kronberg went so far as to take hostages, whom he held for ransom in the dungeon at the castle.  He became such a nuisance that the town of Wetterau, Frankfurt, the archbishops of Mainz and Trier and the Elector Palatinate banded together to oust him from the Tannenberg. The group laid siege to the castle for 25 days, and heavy fighting commenced. Von Kronberg, along with approximately 60 followers, were able to hold off the first round of attacks with use of primitive firearms.

Steinbüchse Cannon Ball

The tide turned, however, when Von Kronberg’s opponents brought in a large gun known as the Frankfurter Steinbüchse. The gun weighed 3,500 kilograms and required 20 horses to move it.  The Steinbüchse shot cannon balls with a diameter of 50 centimeters each, weighing 170 kilograms. Though the gun inflicted quite a bit of damage to the castle, it was actually a powder explosion that brought down the Bergfried, resulting in Von Kronberg’s capitulation.  This incident was one of the first in which a German castle was damaged to any large extent by artillery. After the siege, the castle was never rebuilt and was then used as a source of stone by the nearby residents.

Castle Layout

The castle’s inner bailey was built on the highest point of Tannenberg mountain and was surrounded by a defensive courtyard, which was strengthened by two bulwarks on the western and southwestern sides. The inner bailey was protected by a ring wall, and, on its northeastern side, by an outer bailey and dry moat.  The entrance to the castle complex was in the south through an outer castle gate, which led into the forecourt.  Access to the inner bailey was from the north by way of  a gate tower in the ringwall.  To the right of this entrance lay a chapel, and to the left were two residential buildings and a freestanding, round Bergfried.

The oldest building in the complex was the so-called “Münzenbergbau”, which at one time was the only building inside the ringwall. There was also a cistern, which was replenished by rainwater. Renovations to many of the structures within the castle complex were carried out by volunteer workers after the Second World War.

Circular Trail to Tannenberg

From the Seeheim town hall, follow the SJ1 sign into the Schlosspark. From there a trail leads into the forest to the Elsbach valley. Turn right, walk down the street a little bit and then turn left to Goldschmidts Park.  The trail will then lead you through the park to the Lufthansa conference hotel. From there, the path leads steeply uphill to the castle ruin of Tannenberg.  In the valley, keep to the right and then change shortly before the Brandhof to the other side of the valley and go up to Heiligenberg Palace. Follow the trail through the park, and then go down to Jugenheim and from there back to Seeheim. The total hike lasts about two hours.

Sources:

“Bibliothek.” Geschütze, www.regionalgeschichte.net/bibliothek/glossar/alphabet/g/geschuetze.html.

“Raubritterburg Auf Dem Tannenberg Zerstört!” Ravanas Plejadium, 10 June 2017, www.plejadium.de/raubritterburg-auf-dem-tannenberg-zerstort/.

Tuerk, Rainer. “Auf Dem Alemannenweg Ein Odenwaelder Wandererlebnis.” Auf Dem Alemannenweg Ein Odenwaelder Wandererlebnis, Brunnengraeber, 2009, pp. 67–69.