John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 914

In the middle ages, the Staufer emperors ruled the Holy Roman Empire.  One of these emperors, Barbarossa, built his imperial palace in Bad Wimpfen, a short distance from Guttenberg Castle.  As protection for the imperial palace, Barbarossa set up several minor castles along the Neckar River.  This is how Guttenberg Castle came into being in the 12th century.  The initial phase was simpler than today; the inner wall was initially the only major barrier.  The tower was not built until the 13th century.

The Staufer emperors installed the Lords von Weinsberg in the Guttenberg Castle, as administrators.  At first, their ranks were that of Knights, but they achieved higher honors by diligent work.  Engelhard von Weinsberg became an Elector and Archbishop of Mainz.  He endowed a chapel in 1393, under the castle.  Still later, another ring wall was built around the castle, with five guard towers in it.  Konrad von Weinsberg, Castle Administrator, was appointed as Imperial Treasurer, or Finance Minister, for the Emperor.  His job, in part, was to collect money, in the form of taxes, and it was harder then than today.  He went out on a limb and pawned Guttenberg Castle to raise the money to pay the Emperor's debts.  This was not a wise decision, as the administrators of his estate had to sell it to pay his debts.

Hans von Gemmingen paid 6,000 Rhenish Guilders for the castle, and it has remained in his family ever since.  Hans lived in the Kraichgau, in the village of Gemmingen, where he was born 1394.  The family owned property around Gemmingen, and performed services for the Emperor.  Hans studied hard and became a Doctor of the University of Heidelberg and later became a Judge.  He was not well endowed financially, as his family was modest, and he shared the ownership with his brother.  Hans was lucky, though, in his choice of a wife.  Katharina von Steinach was from the richest family in the area.  Her family gave Hans a tremendous dowry, which he invested, in 1449, in Guttenberg Castle, with all of its surrounding villages and rights.  Thereafter he was known as Hans "The Rich".  He was at this time 55 years old, but he lived for another 41 years to enjoy his investment.

Parts of the castle are now 800 years old.  What were the techniques that they used?  The bulk of the material is cut stone.  For a binder they used unslaked chalk.  No cement was used.  The principal trade in the construction was that of stone mason.  The individual masons cut their own symbol into the blocks they dressed.  The same symbols are often found in neighboring castles, and they have been found in Stauferian castles as far away as southern Italy.  Much of the labor was supplied by the men of the villages.  In Guttenberg Castle, more than 35,000 cubic yards of stones were used, which had to be quarried, transported, cut to measure, and laid.  Now consider that between 1200 and 1230, more than one thousand castles were built in this area of Germany.  There were no unemployed people in the area, though there may have been underpaid workers.
(29 Jun 00)