Tannenberg Castle (Ruin) (Jugenheim)

Tannenberg Castle was a small oval hilltop castle with an open outer bailey and a cylindrical keep. Its favorable location on the western edge of the Odenwald allowed clear views of the Rhine Valley, the adjacent valleys, and to nearby castles (Starkenburg, Veste Otzberg). The castle was surrounded by a rampart and ditch system; the palas on the vulnerable east side was protected by a strong shield wall. In the 14th century, it was extended on the west and north sides by an outer bailey system with a wall and tower, in which residential, storage, and stable buildings were found. Another outer bailey on the east side remained unfinished. Access was secured by a drawbridge and two gate systems. The castle's furnishings were comparatively very comfortable. Based on the finds, it is clear that it was equipped with flat glass windows, elegant Gothic tiled stoves ("Tannenberg type" from Dieburg potteries), and ornate floor tiles, which were rare at the time. Water supply was ensured by an internal cistern with a perfect gravel filter system and an external spring. Beautifully shaped everyday objects such as drinking cups ("Tannenberg jug") and ceramic cooking pots, as well as very elaborately decorated horse bridles, also indicate a knightly life, at least temporarily. Today, parts of the ring, outer bailey, and outer bailey walls, building foundations with wall and cellar remains, and the stump of the cylindrical keep are still preserved. A castle model and interesting finds can be found in the Bergsträßer Museum Seeheim-Jugenheim (Sundays 3-5 p.m.).

For years, an association has been trying to uncover and secure the castle walls and to maintain the entire complex in a condition worth visiting.

The excavations in 1849 by Hefner and Wolf and their subsequent exemplary publication are among the pioneering achievements of archaeological research. It is the earliest investigation of medieval archaeology. During excavation work, among other things, the bronze Tannenberg handgun, one of the oldest known firearms in the world, was found. It is now in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg.

Excavations in October 2002 in the castle courtyard by Prof. Dr. Norbert Wand and students from the University of Mainz, as well as members of the Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Seeheim and the Museumsverein Seeheim-Jugenheim, with the aim of uncovering the remains of the castle chapel, yielded the following results:

• Foundations of the chapel with altar foundation and an adjoining room were uncovered.
• All parts were supplemented up to surface level with existing natural stones, so that walls and altar foundation are now visible in the lawn.
• The building is rectangular and measures approx. 9 x 5 m in a northeast-southwest direction. The southern part of the building is the Chapel of St. John the Baptist; the adjoining room is separated to the north by a thinner wall. Door elements were not found.
• The arrangement of the building parts in the castle model in the permanent exhibition "The Medieval World of Tannenberg Castle and the Region around Seeheim-Jugenheim" in the Bergsträßer Museum Seeheim-Jugenheim must be corrected (The model dates from the 1970s.). There, the northern part is depicted as the chapel.
• The excavations also showed that the chapel was freestanding in the castle courtyard, i.e., not built against the western wall, and was covered with red bricks (monk and nun).
• This is a very remarkable result and almost a unique selling point of Tannenberg Castle, because in castle constructions of this size and importance, Christian places of worship were almost never arranged freestanding as a chapel in the rather narrow castle courtyard, but mostly on the upper floor, e.g., of the entrance building to the castle courtyard.
• The excavations did not unearth any chapel-specific finds.
• This is not surprising, as this area of the castle courtyard was covered in the 19th century with a wooden pavilion (with a view of the Seeheim Rhine plain), whose concrete foundations were excavated and removed in 2002. The appearance of this pavilion is known from a 19th-century sketch of the castle courtyard.
• Deep excavations under the chapel down to the Odenwald rock (approx. 1.5 to 2 m) revealed cuts containing several layers of burning. From this, it can be concluded that the Tannenberg was built (multiple times) even before 1210.
• Conjectures go so far as to attribute the first construction to the Carolingian period. This is supported by the fact that, on the one hand, during the securing work of the Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Seeheim from 1970, a wall was uncovered in the castle courtyard whose construction and masonry technique are much older than the other walls in the castle courtyard, and on the other hand, during work to uncover the southern outer bailey wall in 2009, an elaborate iron clasp was found (now restored in the aforementioned museum), which was dated by the supervising archaeologist Dr. Astrid Schmitt to the period between the 7th and 9th centuries.
• The excavation results were scientifically and very detailed recorded by Prof. Wand and students of the University of Mainz in numerous sketches, descriptions, and survey results. The finds were three-dimensionally assigned, labeled, and packaged. Original sketches and finds have been untraceable since Prof. Wand's death. The results are summarized in hessenARCHÄOLOGIE 2003 Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1912-5, pp. 132–135.