Burg Jesberg - Jesberg, HE-DE - Castles on Waymarking.com

Towards the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century, the construction of the weir system on the 280 m above sea level. NHN high Schloßberg started over Jesberg. On April 2, 1241 the brothers Ludwig and Wortwin von Linsingen sold the castle and the court "Lenswideshusen", later known as "Jagsperg" or "Jagesburg", to Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz, but received them back as a Mainz fief. The castle was located on the old Fritzlarer Straße, one of the oldest trade routes in Hesse, which connected the Wetterau with the Fritzlar / Gudensberg area, and became - next to Fritzlar, Naumburg and the Heiligenberg near Felsberg - a main base of Mainz Power in Lower Hesse. The castle was mortgaged repeatedly over the next two centuries; Lien holders and Burgmannen were among others. Members of the Ministerial families “von Falkenberg”, “von Linsingen”, “von Gilsa” and “von Grifte”.

Around 1350 the castle was badly damaged; the exact reasons are not known, but are likely to be found in disputes between Mainz and the Landgraves of Hesse. When the lords of Linsingen became vassals of the Hessian landgrave in 1400, a Mainz contingent besieged the castle and took possession of it. From 1425 to 1426, under the guidance of Fritzlar Ministerial Happel Katzmann, the castle fortifications were almost completely renewed (with the exception of the Romanesque keep), considerably expanded and reinforced by digging a moat. In 1427 the castle was involved in the ultimately decisive war between Landgrave Ludwig I of Hesse and Archbishop Konrad of Mainz, when the Mainz troops under Count Gottfried von Leiningen after their defeat on July 23, 1427 on the Großenengliser Platte near Fritzlar (between the Kalbsburg and Holzheim) fled to Jesberg before they were beaten a second time near Fulda on August 10th.

In the Hessian fratricidal war of 1469 between Landgrave Ludwig II of Hessen-Kassel and Heinrich the Rich of Hessen-Marburg, Kurmainz stood on Heinrich's side. Jesberg Castle was defended by the Mainz castle man von Linsingen, but after a long siege and bombardment by 500 Bohemian mercenaries recruited by Ludwig and 300 mounted men, who also burned Borken and Schwarzenborn, it was stormed and almost completely destroyed. The defenders are all said to have lost their lives. The castle was not rebuilt until 1524.

In 1586 the castle and court became Hessian for good. With this, the castle lost its strategic value and fell into disrepair. Stones from castle walls and wall towers were used as building material for Jesberg houses. In 1721 the Hessian branch of the "von Linsingen" family died out and the castle and the fiefdom fell back to the Landgraviate of Hesse.

Around 1820, the merchant Appell bought the remains of the castle and saved the complex from complete destruction.

The Jesberg community acquired the ruins and the Schlossberg site in 1964. From 1980 to 1987 the castle ruins with the keep and the remaining parts of the hall, cellars and curtain walls were restored. A circular hiking trail, a parking lot, a music pavilion, sanitary facilities, a tower staircase and a viewing platform were created. The keep is freely accessible daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. from April to October and offers a good view of Jesberg and the Kellerwald.

Source: German Wikipedia, translated via google
(visit link)

Accessibility: Full access Condition: Completely ruined Admission Charge?: no Website: Not listed

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