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Founded: 1215-1240Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)
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The ruins of Lützelhardt Castle atop Seelbach’s local mountain of the same name, is the oldest historic monument in Seelbach.
Three castle buildings interlinked to each other, occupy the site and display a blend of Romanesque and early Gothic architecture. Particularly impressive are the remains of the main building with its Romanesque windows.
The castle complex was probably built by knights of the House of Zähringen who bore the name von Lützelhardt. It was erected between 1215 and 1240.
The exposed location of the castle served to guard the pass over the Schönberg. Only after a short period of use, the castle was destroyed by fire at the middle of the 13th century by the rivalling House of Geroldseck. Since 1990, the local Seelbach branch of the Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Association) has been responsible for the castle’s upkeep.
Legend has it that the destruction of the castle came about after the head of the House of Lützelhardt captured and shackled Baron Walter von Geroldseck and drove him through the forest for days on end. Von Geroldseck assumed that he was far from home when he was finally locked in a dungeon. Some two years later, the baron heard the faint sound of his castle’s horn and concluded that he wasn’t far from home after all, so he bribed the watchman, named Rublin, to help him escape. Following months’ of recovery, the baron sought vengeance and ordered the destruction of Lützelhardt Castle. And so it came to be that the castle was seized and burnt to the ground by the Geroldsecks in 1235.
The castle ruins can be visited year-round free of charge.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.