DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8058#0036
3o
and on that of the right one D. M. In the round recesses contain-
ing the clocks, there were formerly larger dialplates, reported
to have been made of metal, and were taken away by the French
in the Orleans-war. The present clock was made 1816 in Hei-
delberg , by a watchmaker of the name of Stieffel, and the dial-
plates are the gifts of different persons.
The former high pointed roof *) was burnt in the Orleans-
war, and the present one substituted in its room, probably about
the year 1118, under the government of Charles Philip.
The entrance to the castle could be secured by means of a
portcullis, whose iron spikes are still visible in the ceiling, and
several gates.
Underneath this tower there is a deep souterrain, to which
access might be had by means of a spiral staircase in the wall,
at a. It was divided into two compartments by joists supported by
stone pillars, and served for a dungeon, having a privy at the top,
at the entrance. The stairs b communicate with the upper apart-
ments of the tower, which, according to the manner in which
they are contrived, especially as it should appear, from the privy
being carried down through the whole tower, seem to have served
for prisons of different degrees. There is a junction-passagelead-
ing from the first apartment to the high rampart, and from there
another passage led, by a wooden corridor on the outside, to the
building of Rupert, and to a door by which one could come to
the stairs in the tower. The cramps with which the corridor was
fastened are still to be seen at the top, in the wall.
In the Orleans - war this tower was undermined at its west-
ern base, in various points, in the lowermost souterrain, and at
the entrance facing the castleyard, and Febr. 16, 1689, at 6
o'clock in the morning, blown up with gunpowder, when the
*) Vid. Tab. VI. I.
whole corner in the ditch below, was knocked off, the arch of
the gate and part of the stairs came down, and the whole west-
ern corner got a crack extending from the fosse up to the first
story.
The freestone over the entrance, which are marked E,,
and after the Orleans - war were replaced, mark the spot at which
the tower, at the entrance to it, was blown up. About the year
1506, there was on the site of, or very near this tower, another
one built, which Lewis V. caused to be pulled down, when the
square tower and the wall were erected *).
22. The building of Rupertus (Tab. IV. X. III.),
one of the oldest buildings of the castle. Rupertus III., who
was elected king of of the Romans in 1400, erected it about
the same time upon part of the western castlewall. Lewis V.
made, in 1543, considerable alterations in this building, which
were partly completed by his brother Frederic II., and render
the original remains of it difficult to be distinguished.
The imperial eagle is cut out in basso-relievo at the top,
on the left. It holds in its talons two escutcheons, upon which
the Palatine lion and the Bavarian pointed buns are represented.
At the top, on the right hand, you see a slab inserted by
Frederic II. after the restoration of this building had been finished.
The Palatine coat of arms is cut out at the top, and underneath
is the following inscription:
TAUSEND VIER HUNDERT JAR MA ZELT
ALS PFALTZGRAF RUPRECHT WAR ERWELT
ZU BOMSCHEM KONIG UN HAT REGIRT
UFF ZEHEN JAR, DARZU VOLUFIRT
*) Leod. p. 48.
and on that of the right one D. M. In the round recesses contain-
ing the clocks, there were formerly larger dialplates, reported
to have been made of metal, and were taken away by the French
in the Orleans-war. The present clock was made 1816 in Hei-
delberg , by a watchmaker of the name of Stieffel, and the dial-
plates are the gifts of different persons.
The former high pointed roof *) was burnt in the Orleans-
war, and the present one substituted in its room, probably about
the year 1118, under the government of Charles Philip.
The entrance to the castle could be secured by means of a
portcullis, whose iron spikes are still visible in the ceiling, and
several gates.
Underneath this tower there is a deep souterrain, to which
access might be had by means of a spiral staircase in the wall,
at a. It was divided into two compartments by joists supported by
stone pillars, and served for a dungeon, having a privy at the top,
at the entrance. The stairs b communicate with the upper apart-
ments of the tower, which, according to the manner in which
they are contrived, especially as it should appear, from the privy
being carried down through the whole tower, seem to have served
for prisons of different degrees. There is a junction-passagelead-
ing from the first apartment to the high rampart, and from there
another passage led, by a wooden corridor on the outside, to the
building of Rupert, and to a door by which one could come to
the stairs in the tower. The cramps with which the corridor was
fastened are still to be seen at the top, in the wall.
In the Orleans - war this tower was undermined at its west-
ern base, in various points, in the lowermost souterrain, and at
the entrance facing the castleyard, and Febr. 16, 1689, at 6
o'clock in the morning, blown up with gunpowder, when the
*) Vid. Tab. VI. I.
whole corner in the ditch below, was knocked off, the arch of
the gate and part of the stairs came down, and the whole west-
ern corner got a crack extending from the fosse up to the first
story.
The freestone over the entrance, which are marked E,,
and after the Orleans - war were replaced, mark the spot at which
the tower, at the entrance to it, was blown up. About the year
1506, there was on the site of, or very near this tower, another
one built, which Lewis V. caused to be pulled down, when the
square tower and the wall were erected *).
22. The building of Rupertus (Tab. IV. X. III.),
one of the oldest buildings of the castle. Rupertus III., who
was elected king of of the Romans in 1400, erected it about
the same time upon part of the western castlewall. Lewis V.
made, in 1543, considerable alterations in this building, which
were partly completed by his brother Frederic II., and render
the original remains of it difficult to be distinguished.
The imperial eagle is cut out in basso-relievo at the top,
on the left. It holds in its talons two escutcheons, upon which
the Palatine lion and the Bavarian pointed buns are represented.
At the top, on the right hand, you see a slab inserted by
Frederic II. after the restoration of this building had been finished.
The Palatine coat of arms is cut out at the top, and underneath
is the following inscription:
TAUSEND VIER HUNDERT JAR MA ZELT
ALS PFALTZGRAF RUPRECHT WAR ERWELT
ZU BOMSCHEM KONIG UN HAT REGIRT
UFF ZEHEN JAR, DARZU VOLUFIRT
*) Leod. p. 48.