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46-644: The Rudelsburg was a point of conflict between the bishops of Naumburg and the Margraves of Meissen belonging to the House of Wettin . The castle occasionally served various noble families as a residence, until it was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and thereafter fell into disrepair. In the early 19th century the Rudelsburg became a popular tourist destination thanks to the romanticisation of mountains and

92-475: A border fortification and was extended around 1150, with the addition of the central and outer keeps. Not far away on the western knoll is the ruin of Saaleck Castle . Rudelsburg was officially mentioned for the first time in 1171 under the name Rutheleibisberg. Heinrich III, Margrave of Meissen , received the castle from the Bishop from Naumburg in 1238 as recompense for services to the church and installed there

138-489: A large-scale Prussian military exercise in the area in 1853, the provincial classes invited King Frederick William IV to breakfast at the castle. The drinking hall in the inner courtyard, which was built in the same year, is probably a product of this visit. The hall took the form of a roofed seating area that was open to the courtyard and replaced the old straw roof that had been held up by simple tree trunks. In 1863, Hermann Allmers from Rechtenfleth near Bremen composed

184-482: A number of families belonging to the nobility of service (retainers to a lord whose status was far above that of the peasantry but who nonetheless did not belong to the ranks of the high nobility). A source from 1271 names 12 different castellans . A priest is mentioned for the first time in 1293. During a dispute with the noble Curtefrund, the citizens of Naumburg led by their captain Johann von Trautzschen laid siege to

230-439: A process was held at the Rudelsburg on 4 June 1616. At the time, a caretaker still lived in the castle, which was accessible via a narrow road. The courtyard was covered in grass. Besides a small room with a wooden pulpit, the usable remains of the castle included the dungeons with their very strong doors. Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1640, Swedish troops set fire to the Rudelsburg. Following this third destruction,

276-540: A rocky shell limestone ridge, approximately 85 metres (279 ft) above the river Saale and above Saaleck, a suburb of Bad Kösen in the Burgenlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt , Germany . Since 2010, the area has been part of the municipality of Naumburg . Archaeological finds seem to indicate that an early Bronze Age settlement existed on the site of the Rudelsburg, which has been attributed to

322-631: A second time in 1450. The inner keep was burnt to the ground during this incident. At the division of the lands of the House of Wettin in 1485 , the Rudelsburg was attributed to the Albertine line. Rudolph von Bünau auf Teuchern and Günther von Bünau auf Gröbitz sold the Rudelsburg and the surrounding outworks to Hans Georg von Osterhausen in 1581 to cover their debts. The castle, which had been barely maintained until then, began to fall into decay during this period. Although Groitzsch still describes

368-759: The Elbe river. Later named Albrechtsburg , the castle about 965 became the seat of the Meissen margraves, installed by Emperor Otto I when the vast Marca Geronis ( Gero 's march) was partitioned into five new margraviates, including Meissen, the Saxon Eastern March , and also the Northern March which eventually became the Margraviate of Brandenburg . During the tenth century, the Meissen margraves temporarily extended their territory into

414-654: The German Democratic Republic (GDR). The owner, a member of the nobility, lost his possessions, and the castle was attributed to the town of Bad Kösen. The student organisations which found themselves on the territory of the GDR moved to the west. The KSCV’s congress was held from 1954 to 1994 in Würzburg , near to the Fortress Marienberg . The Rudelsburg and Bad Kösen were but a memory for

460-791: The Milceni lands up to the Kwisa ( Queis ) river and the border with the Silesian region of the Early Polish state . The eastern lands around Bautzen ( Budissin ), later known as Upper Lusatia , were ceded to the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave according to the 1018 Peace of Bautzen ; in 1076 they passed to the Duke of Bohemia as an Imperial fief. From 1089, the Meissen margravial title became

506-527: The Unetice culture . The discovery of the Nebra sky disk attracted public attention to this prehistoric civilisation and its elevated culture and provoked interest in the settlements in the region of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia . The political, religious and economic importance of such settlements has not yet been established, but is the focus of intense research. The Rudelsburg castle was established in 1050 as

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552-548: The Wartburg , discussions began as to whether the Rudelsburg should also be restored. These discussions were further provoked by a storm in December 1868, which brought down parts of the perimeter walls. Work to restore the perimeter walls in the west and in the south began in 1870. The partial reconstruction of the castle began a year later under the leadership of the master builder, Werner, from Bad Kösen, using plans drawn up by

598-693: The honor of the Saxon House of Wettin and remained as the dynasty's possession ever since. In the 13th century the Meissen margraves acquired the former Pleissnerland territory and upon the War of the Thuringen Succession 1247–1264 also the adjacent Landgraviate of Thuringia in the west. Finally in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike was enfeoffed with the Saxe–Wittenberg lands down

644-562: The Elbe (' Upper Saxony '), an electorate according to the Golden Bull of 1356 . While the Wettin rulers eventually moved their residence to Dresden , the Meissen margraviate merged into their electorate and became known as the 'Cradle of Saxony'. After the abolition of all German monarchies in 1918 and the death of Friedrich August III , the last king of Saxony, in 1932, further heads of

690-528: The French fleet (1338-1346). The citizens of Naumburg burnt down the Rudelsburg during their siege, and there were deaths and injuries on both sides. It seems that the castle was not rebuilt, as it is not mentioned in any official document for several decades after this event. The next mention of the castle dates to 1383, when the Schenk family from Saaleck belonging to the House of Vargula are named as masters of

736-529: The GDR. The first congress took place in Bad Kösen in 1995. The Rudelsburg was once again put to use for this purpose, which required extensive work to restore the castle. Bad Kösen's infrastructure also had to be upgraded, for the congress was now much larger than it had even been before the war. The monuments at the Rudelsburg have also been successively restored since unification. These works have been financed by

782-820: The KSCV's new self-confidence. As a consequence, the annual meeting at the Rudelsburg became more sedate and ceremonial. Speeches held at the monuments and patriotic songs were fixtures in the annual Pentecost programme in the German Empire. In the Empire and the Weimar Republic , life-size copies of the Rudelsburg monuments were made and sold to interested buyers in Germany and Austria. In 2007, these laboriously produced objects are still to be found from time to time in antique shops. In 1913, Paul Schreckenbach wrote

828-612: The KSCV, with donations from individual student bodies, but also with donations from individual members. List of Margraves of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen , a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire . King Henry the Fowler , on his 928–29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a hill at Meissen ( Mišno ) on

874-442: The Rudelsburg as arx pulcherrima ("most beautiful castle") in his 1585 work Descriptio Salae fluvii eidemque adjacentium urbium, arcium etc. ( Description of the river Saale and the surrounding towns, castles, etc. ), a record from 1612 indicates that the lord marshal of Osterhausen employed a stonemason and a carpenter to provide "necessary support of the sagging beams, girders and rafters". According to Osterhausen court records,

920-598: The Rudelsburg from 22 April to 30 July 1348. The sources relate that an “instrumentum” was brought to bear during the siege that could shoot Greek fire . This must have been some early form of gunpowder and is thought to be one of the first records of the use of firearms in a siege in Germany . The only earlier recorded use of ordnance dates back to the siege of the town of Meersburg on Lake Constance by Ludwig von Bayern in 1334. The oldest reports in all of Europe are from Italy ( Florence 1326, Cividale 1331) and from

966-488: The Rudelsburg was abandoned on 14 April 1641 and the inhabitants moved to the nearby Kreipitzsch property. The nobles from Creutz(en) are believed to have been the owners of the Rudelsburg from 1671 to 1771. In 1690, they tried to establish the status of the (uninhabited) castle as a possession owing direct allegiance only to the emperor ( Reichsunmittelbarkeit ) in a court process in the imperial court in Wetzlar . In 1770,

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1012-407: The cantor emeritus, Johann Friedrich Förtsch, described the Rudelsburg as follows: “The inner courtyard is covered in the rubble of the various ceremonial halls, chambers, weapon and storage rooms, kitchens, underground vaults, cellars and corridors, which have collapsed. It is thus impossible to say how everything used to be arranged.” Nonetheless, ever more visitors came to the Rudelsburg. During

1058-536: The citadel, seated in Rottelsburg. A loan certificate of the Dukes of Saxony, who belonged to the House of Wettin , dated 2 April 1441 names the brothers Rudolf, Günther and Heinrich von Bünau as the owners of the Rudelsburg. Apparently they owned no land other than that on which the castle stood. During the fratricidal war between Friedrich and Wilhelm of Saxony , the Rudelsburg was besieged and destroyed for

1104-446: The equally state-owned limestone factory in Bad Kösen. The first attempts to revive the old student traditions began in the GDR in the 1960s. Much however had already been forgotten, and information and materials first had to be collected in secret. In the early years of the 1980s, the first new fraternities in the GDR were founded, at first secretly and then ever more openly. The Rudelsburg and other traditional meeting points featured in

1150-509: The famous song An der Saale hellem Strande (On the bright bank of the Saale) whilst resting at the castle during a hike along the river in 1826: In this song, the castles on the Saale are decaying ruins that serve only to inspire the imagination. There is as yet no mention of drinking and celebrations or of the Rudelsburg as a venue for events. The attractiveness of the castle rose however with

1196-750: The first monument erected by members of the students’ corps was unveiled. The Gefallenensäule (English: Pillar to the Fallen) was established in honour of those members who had fallen in the Franco-Prussian War . The Emperor William I Obelisk was unveiled in 1890, followed in 1896 by the Young Bismarck Memorial. The last of this first round of monuments was erected in 1926 in honour of those who fell in World War I. ( See below: Monuments ) The partial reconstruction by Mothes,

1242-478: The founding of the German Empire in 1871 and the erection of the monuments in the area near the outer keep marked a completely new phase in the history of the Rudelsburg. While youthful appreciation of nature and the romantic scenery had been pivotal in the first half of the century, the Rudelsburg now became a symbol for the members of the KSCV. The KSCV was a strong ally of the state, which was reinforced by

1288-470: The historical novel The last Rudelsburger , which is set in the 14th century and which reflects the conservative Prussian values of his time. There were no student meetings at the Rudelsburg during World War I , but the tradition was restarted after the end of the war. In 1926, the Löwendenkmal (English: Lion Monument) was unveiled with great pomp. This ceremony was seen as a symbol of the members of

1334-524: The house and pretenders to the throne have used the title Margrave of Meissen . William III, Duke of Luxembourg William III (30 April 1425 – 17 September 1482), called the Brave (in German Wilhelm der Tapfere ), was landgrave of Thuringia (from 1445) and claimant duke of Luxemburg (from 1457). He is actually the second William to rule Thuringia, and in Luxembourg; he was

1380-490: The members of the students’ corps. The Rudelsburg decayed further during this time, as did the monuments that had been erected there. Some larger metal pieces were melted down and reused. As it was common to take the names of tourist attractions to designate products produced in a particular area, the name “Rudelsburg” was used to name a car radio produced in the state-owned radio factory in Halle and various products produced in

1426-508: The membership of both of the most important political decision-makers of the time, Otto von Bismarck and Emperor Wilhelm II . With the founding of the Verband Alter Corpsstudenten (English: Federation of old members), the KSCV, which had until then only counted students amongst its members, had a new source of income in the form of contributions from the “old men”. The Rudelsburg became a platform for celebrations of

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1472-461: The oldest union of German student fraternities. The site of the KSCV's annual meeting was soon moved to Bad Kösen, and a meeting took place in the Rudelsburg for the first time in 1855. From this time until World War I , the Rudelburg served every year as a social meeting point during the annual meeting in Bad Kösen. In 1867, following the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the restoration of

1518-409: The owner of the Rudelsburg ordered that the walls of the outer keep be torn down in order to reuse the stones for construction on the property, but a worker was permanently injured in an accident, and this was interpreted as a bad omen. The work was stopped. The outer keep was almost completely destroyed at this point in time, and it is probably only as a result of this accident that the ruined inner keep

1564-482: The plans of the GDR students. On 20 June 1987, the fraternity Salana Jenensis organised the first ceremonial drinking session of the GDR student fraternities at the Rudelsburg. At the first such meeting, just 19 participants were present, some of whom had arrived by using rafts or bath tubs made of zinc to travel along the Saale. This was to be a reference to the tradition of boat trips on the Saale which can be seen in many old depictions. This ceremonial drinking session

1610-571: The rise of hiking as a pastime. From 1855 onwards it achieved national renown as the annual meeting place of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband , the oldest union of student fraternities with delegates from all German-speaking countries . The Rudelsburg still maintains a particular attraction for visitors and lies on the Romanesque Road ( Ger : Straße der Romanik ), a tourist route . Rudelsburg sits atop

1656-493: The royal building officer in Saxony, Oskar Mothes. During these works, the entrance and the bridge were repaired. The knight's hall with its staircase and side room were restored. A large breach in the wall was closed in the north-eastern corner and windows were cut in the old northern wall. A canon that had been captured in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War was placed on the bridge. These works were complete by Easter 1872. In 1872,

1702-527: The same period, the masters of the castle belonging to the family of the barons von Schönberg planted grapevines on the southern slope of the hill. One of the former vineyard workers, Gottlieb Wagner, known as “Samiel”, began to look after the ruins. From 1824 onwards, he offered food and drink from the Kreipitzsch property to visitors. Franz Kugler , a student from Stettin studying in Berlin , composed

1748-505: The services offered by Wagner, so much so that the head of the district authorities in Naumburg asked Friedrich von Schönberg, the owner of the property, if it would be possible to open it officially for visitors. Consequently, a road was even built up to the castle. Gottlieb Wagner opened the first tavern in the castle in time for Easter 1827, although it was only open on Sundays at first. When word got around about this development amongst

1794-584: The student song Dort Saaleck, hier die Rudelsburg (There Saaleck, here the Rudelsburg). Although Allmers was himself not a student, he traveled with students in the Saale valley, and his song speaks of the new life within the walls of the castle. In the middle of the 19th century, the Rudelsburg became a regular meeting point for students’ corps, whose umbrella organisation the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) had been founded in Jena in 1848, making it

1840-550: The students in Jena, they marched on the Rudelsburg and, cheering loudly, occupied it for three days. The owner of the castle was honoured with a torchlight procession. The completion of the Thuringian Railway in 1849, which improved the access to the Rudelsburg, coupled with the gastronomic offerings, further increased the attractiveness of the castle and brought in visitors from further abroad, including for example students from Leipzig and Halle an der Saale. During

1886-494: The students’ corps attachment to the old imperial system and was reported throughout Germany and beyond. The last meeting of the KSCV at the Rudelsburg before World War II took place in 1934. The 1935 congress ended with the dissolution of the group by the National Socialists . During World War II , there were efforts at some universities to re-establish individual student bodies in secret. These were to include

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1932-550: The third Margrave of Meissen named William. He was a younger son of Frederick I the Warlike , elector of Saxony , and Catherine of Brunswick and Lunenburg . On 2 June 1446 he married Anne of Luxembourg , daughter of Albert II, King of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary and Elizabeth of Luxembourg . On behalf of his wife, he became Duke of Luxembourg from 1457 to 1469. They had two daughters, Margaret of Thuringia (1449–1501) and Catherine of Thuringia (1453 – 10 July 1534), who married Duke Henry II of Münsterberg . William minted

1978-524: The umbrella organisation, the KSCV. To this end, a meeting was organised at the Rudelsburg in 1944, which ended with a ceremonial drinking session. Because of the chaos in the last months of the war, neither this new founding nor the attraction of the Gestapo ’s attention had serious consequences for those involved. After the end of World War II, the Rudelsburg was part of the Soviet occupation zone and later

2024-415: Was designed to keep together the inheritance of the family. In the 19th century, the Rudelburg became a meeting point for romantically-minded hikers, especially for students from Jena , Leipzig and Halle . By this time, the castle was desolate, and devoid of all infrastructure. There was no entrance into the courtyard of the central keep and there were no sealed rooms, just rubble and debris. In 1818,

2070-510: Was preserved. With the death of Friedrich Adolph von Creutz in 1774, the male line of the family was extinguished. This thwarted the plans to establish the Reichsunmittelbarkeit of the Rudelsburg. In the following years, the counts from Zech and the counts from Brühl are named briefly as the owners of the Rudelsburg. The family von Schönberg bought the castle in 1797 and established an entailment, i.e. an indivisible trust that

2116-483: Was the first officially registered traditional student meeting in the history of the GDR. From this year on, the Rudelsburg was the annual meeting point for the student fraternities which had been founded in the GDR before 1990. In 1990, they joined in the Rudelsburg Alliance. In 1990 (sometimes even before German Reunification ), the first student bodies began to return to their old university towns in

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