To be privately owned
CastleHildburghausen-Weitersroda
Weitersroda Castle
Weitersroda Castle is a knight's castle built in 1478 in the district of the same name in Hildburghausen in South Thuringia.
The oldest parts of the castle date from the 15th century. The western three-story part of the elongated building can be attributed to this first construction phase. The northwest facade facing the village is characterized by a stair tower and a gate passage and is completed in the southwest by a stepped gable and a bay window. The bay window includes a cross-rib vault on the first floor and a star vault on the second floor. The spiral staircase in the stair tower is built in historical spindle construction and consists of solid sandstone steps. Three main window forms can be found in the tower: small, simple unglazed round windows, which can be closed by half-cut stone cannonballs, square windows, which are rhomboidally beveled to follow the stair pitch, and at the very top of the tower, directly below the roof truss, there are three glazed round windows. Due to the wall thickness of the tower, the window openings each form deep window niches. The reveals of the doors leading from the tower to the respective floors and also other door and window reveals in the Renaissance building are stepped and fluted and decorated with volutes and partly with twisted fluted columns in the lower part. A second round tower in the west collapsed in the mid-20th century and was not rebuilt. This part is largely built of natural stone masonry, which gives the complex a castle-like character. Inside, on the first floor of the Renaissance part, a cloister runs along the window front on the courtyard side, which is divided into niches each with a pair of windows. This is separated from the individual rooms by a half-timbered wall. The half-timbering of this wall is characterized by unusual carving. From the castle courtyard, this part of the building is accessible through a 17th-century diamond ashlar portal, which leads into a hall with a cross vault and a central diamond ashlar column.
In the northeast, the Renaissance part is continued by a newer two-story building with a solidly bricked ground floor and a half-timbered upper floor. A sandstone portal bears the year 1890. To the east, on the courtyard side, some foundation walls and a cellar access of the former castle brewery adjoin. Other later additions have also been removed in the meantime. The western end of the castle courtyard is formed by a modern stable building.
Building records of the Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen in the Meiningen State Archives prove that Weitersroda Castle was integrated into a large-scale construction project at the end of the 17th century on the occasion of the elevation of the House of Saxe-Hildburghausen to ducal status. This project, known as "Henriettenthal", included, in addition to the present castle, the "prayer hall" now used as a village church and a hunting lodge, which was located directly opposite, on the other side of today's Schloss-Strasse. Of this, only the eastern Baroque pavilion remained after its demolition in 1890, which was restored by wood sculptor Andre "Max" Müller and is now inhabited by him. Further north adjoins the former "pleasure garden", the extent of which can still be seen from some wall remains. This area has been used as building land for single-family homes since 2010.
History of Use
The current owner of the castle describes the history of use on his website as follows:
"The gallery of ancestors of the lords of Weitersroda shows a proud line of ingenious freaks and imaginative entrepreneurs, from the builder of the original complex, Eucharius von Hessberg, to the art-loving porcelain manufacturer Prince Eugen, to the brewery entrepreneur Carl Vetter - before the VEB Gebäudewirtschaft and the LPG "Befreites Land" used the castle during GDR times."
Current Events+
Residential Project and Cultural Revitalization of the Castle District
Since 2008, the castle has been owned by Prince Chaos II, also known as Florian Ernst Kirner. It is used, among other things, for an artistic-alternative residential project. In addition to preserving and maintaining the castle's structure, the castle residents aim to create conditions for great cultural diversity in and around the castle, in cooperation with cultural workers from the region and artists living further afield.
Great efforts were required to raise the necessary funds to secure the castle gable. Here, Prince Chaos II was able to receive municipal grants and funds from monument preservation. A benefit concert by Konstantin Wecker showed that the castle project is also perceived and supported with interest and goodwill by established artists. In October 2008, Prince Chaos II, together with Thomas Stöckerl (a castle resident), the Thai-American artist Ruth Pongstaphone, and the video artist Patrick Palucki, acquired a historic brewery and restaurant building from 1690 located opposite the castle, which is used for art exhibitions and offers space for various indoor events with a hall for about 300 guests. In the context of past projects, the name "Kunstbrauerei" (Art Brewery) has become established for this building.
The castle owner, himself a cabaret artist and singer-songwriter, also establishes various new traditions, such as the Paradiesvogelfest (Bird of Paradise Festival) at Weitersroda Castle, a singer-songwriter festival that offers not only singer-songwriter performances but also handicrafts, circus, and literary events. The festival begins on the last Thursday in May.
Another festival, the "Festival of Cultures," which took place for the first time at the end of August 2012, is also to be repeated in the coming years and become a fixed date in the castle's annual calendar. The Festival of Cultures, first held in 2012 with a stage program, a wide range of activities for children, a cooking workshop, and an international bazaar, was made possible by a generous grant from the state program for democracy, diversity, and tolerance. It was particularly popular with families with children and helped to effectively reduce inhibitions in the village. The initiator of this festival is Mohamed Zine Liyame, a castle resident who runs a shop for oriental handicrafts in Eisfeld.
The castle can be visited on Open Monument Day.
To better coordinate and promote existing and planned projects and measures in the Henriettenthal castle district, the establishment of an art and support association is imminent, which will focus particularly on the following:
- Wood art
- International cultural exchange
- Gay and lesbian life
- Positive youth culture
Cultural Pub "Simplicissimus" and Memorial Stone
Weitersroda Castle houses the cultural pub "Simplicissimus". The cultural pub consists of the bar area and an event hall. It is used for readings, lectures, film evenings, and smaller musical performances and is also an important meeting point within larger events.
The rooms of the pub are characterized by simple, bright cross vaults, complemented by lunette vaults, rising above continuous dark wooden wall paneling. The two northern arched windows of the bar area are adorned with a coat of arms of the Hessberg family and the Weitersroda local coat of arms. Historical artist photos are particularly striking as wall decorations, and in the connecting corridor, historical pictures of the castle and its former owners, as well as information about the castle's history, can be found. Moroccan lamps and cushions, among other things, create a special ambiance.
A historic tombstone stands on the castle grounds. The tombstone previously stood in Munich's Nordfriedhof, where Theo Prosel, his mother Therese, his sister Anna, and his grandson Jean-Marie were buried. Son-in-law Walther Diehl, however, is buried in another Munich cemetery. His name and the "Simpl-dog" were only added before the stone was transported to Weitersroda. All persons listed on the tombstone are ancestors or relatives of Prince Chaos II.
This memorial stone is closely related to the name of the castle's cultural pub, which refers to the artist pub "Simplicissimus", the Simpl (Munich). The "Simpl-dog" on the memorial stone was the logo of the Munich Simpl. The depiction goes back to the Simplicissimus founder and draftsman Thomas Theodor Heine. The typewriter mounted in front of the memorial stone is intended to refer to the literary merits of the family.
Mention of the Castle in Art and Music+
- Prince Chaos II sings about Weitersroda Castle in his song Weitersroda as his home fortress.
- A carved medallion on the weather shelter built by André "Max" Müller at the bus stop in the immediate vicinity of the castle shows the recreated historical views of both castles in the Henriettenthal castle district.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: Mobile Geschichte
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 50.4336, 10.7741