#castles #medieval #history #legends
The fascinating history of the castle, begins at the beginning of the 14th century. It was built by the influential knights of Windeck. The beautiful castle complex is worth a visit. There is a legend, or more precisely a horror story, about the castle: The Ghost Wedding of Lauf.
We tell its exciting story in 5 minutes.
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The Lords of Windeck were once an influential knightly dynasty. They built the castle above Lauf probably at the beginning of the 14th century. It was first mentioned in a document in 1325.
The family separated into two independent lines due to disputes. However, both had the same coat of arms and cannot always be clearly separated in history. Because of their different interests, it happened again and again in the course of the centuries that the two parts of the family faced each other as opponents.
In the so-called Schleglerkrieg from 1394 to 1396 the Neu-Windeckers supported the Strassburgers. Thereby their castle, which is also called Laufer Castle, served as a base against Alt-Windeck.
Only around 1466 the family settled their disputes. In that year Berthold von Neu-Windeck married Anna von Alt-Windeck.
Around 1500 Sebastian von Windeck had to pledge part of the castle to Margrave Christoph I of Baden. The Margraves in turn gave their part as a fief to the Lords of Dürrmenz from 1520 to 1570.
In 1592, Jakob von Windeck, the last male heir of the family, died. He died of an illness in Venice on the return journey of his Junker journey, which had led him to Palestine.
The fiefs thus reverted to the Empire and the Margraves of Baden. The remaining property went to the two sisters in equal shares. Alt-Windeck went to Ursula and Neu-Windeck to Elisabeth.
However, the castle was already described as a ruin in 1580. Nothing is known about the reason why it was abandoned.
The complex is trapezoidal and built in Gothic style. It had a three-story palace, a small residential building, knights' apartments, stables, and a 20-meter-high keep, in which there were three dungeons. In addition, the complex had a chapel dedicated to the Three Kings, mentioned in a document in 1377. The whole area was surrounded by a strong ring wall with a fortification.
There is also a legend about this castle: The legend of the ghost wedding at Lauf.
It is about a young knight who gets lost in the decaying walls of the already abandoned castle. There he meets a beautiful young woman with whom he falls head over heels in love and asks for her hand in marriage.
She immediately takes two rings and a rosemary wreath from a secret compartment. She leads the knight, who is beginning to feel uncomfortable, together with two suddenly appearing old men, to the castle chapel.
On one of the tombs there lies an archbishop. When the bride touches him on the head, he slowly rises and goes to the altar, on which the candles light by themselves.
When the knight is asked if he wants to take the young woman as his wife, he begins to tremble like aspen leaves. Suddenly he hears the crowing of a rooster from a nearby farm.
With a cry the bride, the bishop and the old men disappear. A violent gust of wind causes the chapel and castle to shake and the knight faints.
When he wakes up, he is lying in the grass of the castle courtyard and his horse is grazing next to him. As fast as he can, he swings himself into the saddle and flees from the cursed place.
26 авг 2024
