Naumburg Castle (Erbstadt)

Naumburg Castle is a castle that emerged from a former Benedictine monastery south of Erbstadt, a district of Nidderau, in the Main-Kinzig district in Hesse.

The castle stands on a hill in the Wetterau, on the northeastern edge of the Rhine-Main area, north of Frankfurt am Main, east of the Taunus and southwest of the Vogelsberg. It is thus located in an old cultural landscape, which also shows prehistoric and early historical traces of settlement. In the immediate vicinity was a Roman manor (Villa rustica).

The monastery had a Romanesque three-aisled basilica and somewhat set apart from it stood a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The latter was older than the basilica and probably the first church of the monastery.

The Cyriacus Monastery Naumburg is first mentioned in 1035 as castello Nuwenburg. Later it was dedicated to the Holy Cross. In 1086, Henry IV gave the property to Rüdiger Huzmann, Bishop of Speyer. His successor, Günther von Henneberg, transferred the already existing Benedictine provostry to Limburg Abbey on the Haardt in 1149.

The monks of the monastery usually came from noble families of the Wetterau. The monastery thus had good material endowments. An outstanding relic was a splinter from the wood of Christ's cross.

In the German Empire, the monastery belonged to the Freigericht Kaichen.

Since the 13th century, the Vogtship over the monastery lay with the Lords and Counts of Hanau. Since 1354, they could claim free board and lodging during a stay there. Several times in times of war, the monastery's archive was secured in a castle of the Lords and Counts of Hanau, and the Hanau Count settled disputes between the monastery and its neighbors.

The destruction of the complex in the turmoil of the Landshut War of Succession was followed by a reconstruction in 1505, no longer by Limburg Abbey on the Haardt, but by Seligenstadt Abbey, which subsequently also claimed spiritual sovereignty over Naumburg.

From 1514, a richly illustrated book is preserved in the Hessian State Archive Marburg, the Salbuch of Naumburg Monastery. It was created on the occasion of the surveying and demarcation of the monastery's property in the Freigericht and contains depictions of the event, the Imperial Castle Friedberg, various saints, coats of arms of the Friedberg Burgrave and various castellans as witnesses, as well as Naumburg Monastery. At the same time, however, monastic life in Naumburg was already in advanced decline: the monks no longer celebrated divine service or held hourly prayers, but engaged in "nothing but eating, drinking, gambling and whoring," as a contemporary complained. The decline of monastic life is mentioned in the introduction to the fable Of a Miller and Donkey by Erasmus Alberus, which is set in the Hainmühle below Naumburg, albeit with a good shot of Protestant polemics.

The decline of the monastery led to its being bought by the County of Hanau-Münzenberg in 1561 and then pledged to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel in 1642. For details, see: Kellerei Naumburg.

Privatization

Prince Georg of Hesse-Kassel bought the former monastery complex, had it demolished and built a hunting lodge between 1750 and 1754. The richly decorated entrance portal also dates from this period.

After the demise of the Electorate of Hesse in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Naumburg also fell to Prussia. The complex was acquired by the municipality of Erbstadt and sold on to private hands in 1882. Subsequently, ownership and use of the castle changed several times. From 1949, the complex was then used as a retirement home – under various sponsorships – until 1972.

In 1973, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Christengemeinden Deutschlands (ACD) (today: Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden) bought the castle and set up a conference and meeting center there. In 1981, the "1st National Training Camp (NTC)" of the Christian scouting organization Royal Rangers (RR) took place at Naumburg Castle. This is considered the official start of RR work in Germany. In addition, from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the castle housed the "School for Discipleship and Missionary Community Services - Evangelium Offensiv (EO)".

Since 1997, Ingrid Schiener and Julia Singh have renovated the property. From 1997 to 2002, there was a café there called "Café Provisorisch".

Naumburg Castle is now back in private hands. The castle building is almost uninhabitable and its existence is endangered. Tours of the castle do not take place. There is only a plaque with important data about this building at the entrance gate.