Freienfels Castle (Ruin)

Freienfels Castle can be characterized as a high medieval fortification that is still strongly adapted to the shape of the mountain, but also shows a late medieval element in its compactness. The courtyard is divided into two height levels by an artificially raised terrain step running in a north-south direction. Whether there was a predecessor building that only encompassed the upper level is discussed in research but has not been proven.

Its attack side towards the village and thus towards the south is protected by a deep, approximately 20-meter-wide neck ditch and additionally by a shield wall with an inserted keep. Today there is a dam over the neck ditch, over which the new access road leads directly to the gate. The former access ran via a steep path from the Bornbach valley and through the bottom of the ditch.

The keep - like the entire castle built of rubble stone - has an almost square floor plan (6 x 7 m) with walls up to 3.5 m thick, is 19 m high, and can be considered the main defensive structure. In addition to the ground floor, accessible from the courtyard side and probably serving as a storage room, it has four more floors, some of which are covered with barrel vaults. While the first floor provides access to the battlements of the shield wall, the second of these floors is equipped as a living area with a window with benches facing the courtyard, a fireplace, and clay plaster on the walls. The two uppermost floors, the last of which is only preserved in rudimentary form, again served defensive purposes and show loopholes on various sides. The floors were not accessible via stairs but via ladders.

The shield wall adjoining the keep in the southern and eastern directions is occupied by battlements - some even two-story - which have loopholes facing the courtyard and the field side, as well as a latrine bay. On the courtyard side of the southern part of the tower, the entrance hole, reachable via a ladder at the height of the second floor, is still visible. To the east, the curtain wall adjoins the shield wall, whose inner side is characterized by four high, successive niches with inserted so-called "fishtail loopholes," which could be used by crossbowmen with appropriate wooden installations.

In the northeast follows a three-quarter round shell tower, which originally had the task of monitoring the path leading up from the valley from the southeast and flanking the residential tower, but was later integrated into it, as a broken-out window equipped with benches suggests. The conversion probably took place during the restoration of the "rather dilapidated castle" before the von Schönborns moved in. From this shell tower, one reaches, via a small gate that may originally have been conceived as an escape route, the outer bailey in front of the curtain wall, which could also be used as a herb garden and children's playground.

On the north side of the castle, one encounters the three-story residential building, the palas. On the transverse wall adjoining the original shell tower, it still shows chimney shafts, which may indicate a kitchen building. Remains of a fireplace are also to be found on its western gable wall, as well as those of another latrine bay on the third upper floor. The long wall of the residential building clearly shows the so-called "scaffolding holes" on the courtyard side, resulting from the attachment of scaffolding.

Below the residential building are a large cellar (approx. 14 x 5m) accessible via a steep staircase, with a barrel vault and hitherto unexplained openings, as well as two other smaller, but buried cellars to the left of it and to the right above it with transversely lying barrel vaults.

To the west, the castle courtyard is enclosed by a wall, now only 1.5 meters wide and low, with deep-set loopholes, which meets the square gate flank tower in the south. This still two-story (formerly probably three-story) tower, open to the courtyard side, is equipped with loopholes facing the field side and a fireplace and could have been the guard's room. Together with the mighty keep, this significantly smaller tower frames the approximately seven-meter-long wall on the attack side, into which the pointed, approximately 4.5-meter-high gate is set.

The castle included the farmstead located at the end of the former village, the still preserved "Remerstheger Mill" in the valley, as well as meadows, forests, orchards, and vineyards.

In addition to its status as a historical monument, the castle has received protection status for wartime according to the Hague Convention.

After the state of Hesse was no longer willing to cover the costs for the castle ruin in its possession, it was offered for sale. Thereupon, in 1994, the "Förderverein Burg Freienfels" (Association for the Promotion of Freienfels Castle), currently with 120 members, was founded by citizens of Freienfels. The ruin became the property of the association on July 1, 1996.

The aim of the association is to preserve the castle ruin in its current appearance. The main source of income for the association is the surplus from the admission fees of the annual Freienfels Knight Games. The event is one of the largest non-commercial events of its kind. It attracts several thousand visitors annually.

The association received well-founded expert support, especially from Michael Losse (formerly University of Marburg), who prepared an expert opinion. In it, he addressed the necessary preservation measures and discussed proposals for the public presentation of Freienfels Castle.

The association has so far commissioned a comprehensive expert opinion with photo documentation of the condition of the ruin after its acquisition, drawn up a renovation plan, obtained mortar analysis and mortar recommendations for grouting the walls, and commissioned damage mapping and a geophysical ground investigation for underground wall remains and wells.

In 1997, the association began installing a lighting system and renovating the bridge. In the following year, the staircase in the keep was renewed, the floor of the middle keep level was renovated, and the castle cellar was roofed. In 1999, the existing clay plaster was renovated, the curtain wall and the eastern shield wall were sealed and partially renovated, as well as the inside of the third and fourth floors in the keep. In 2000, the wall renovation continued with the southern shield wall, the staircase there, and the floor, as well as the outer wall. The keep received a viewing platform and at the same time a renovation of the wall crown. After minor and preparatory work in 2001, external wall renovations of the eastern gable wall, the half-shell tower, the north side of the palas, and the inside of the eastern gable wall and the upper shell tower followed in 2002. The remaining palas walls and an intermediate ceiling of the building were the main focus of work in 2003. In the following year, the ceiling in the palas above the so-called butter cellar was extended according to historical specifications. The west gable, the western ring wall, and parts of the gate flank tower were also repaired. In 2005, the butter cellar was the main focus of work. It was cleared of rubble and renovated.