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Hans von Trotha
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Hans von Trotha
Hans von Trotha, also known as Hans Trapp (c. 1450 – 1503), was a German knight and marshal of the prince-elector of the Palatinate. He also bore the French honorary title of a Chevalier d’Or. In 1480, the elector enfeoffed him with the two castles of Berwartstein and Grafendahn which lay in the South Palatine part of the Wasgau region within the Palatinate Forest. In local folklore he is known as Hans Trapp or, more rarely, Hans Trott.
Hans von Trotha was born into the aristocratic Trotha family who came from the area of the present-day county of Saalekreis, and was the fourth son of the Archbishop of Magdeburg's marshal, Thilo von Trotha. He was probably born in the mid-15th century in Krosigk (today in Saxony-Anhalt). His exact date of birth is not known, but he was the younger brother of Thilo von Trotha, the Bishop of Merseburg who was born in 1443.
Hans only had one son, Christoph, who succeeded his father as the lord of Berwartstein Castle. Because Christoph had no male issue, the line was extinguished upon his death in 1545 and the estate went to his son-in-law from the Alsatian House of Fleckenstein.
As one of the younger sons of an aristocratic family, Hans entered the service of the electors and counts palatine of the Rhine in Heidelberg as a young man in the late 1470s. The link to Electoral Palatinate probably came about as a result of Archbishop John of Magdeburg, the patron of Bishop Thilo von Trotha. Hans clearly proved himself, because by 1480 the Elector, Philip the Sincere, who was about the same age, gave him the hereditary fiefs of two castles in the Wasgau on hereditary, namely Berwartstein, "including its belongings", and Grafendahn.
Within four years, the Lord of Berwartstein had expanded it into a fortress, which was impregnable for its time. He achieved this inter alia by erecting the outwork of Little France (Burg Klein-Frankreich) in 1484 on the northern slope of the hill opposite, the Nestelberg. The site consisted primarily of a powerful battery tower, on the platform of which long-barreled culverins could be set up. This made it possible for an accurate crossfire to be brought to bear on any force attempting to besiege Berwartstein.
Hans showed no interest, however, in the castle of Grafendahn, six kilometres to the northwest. It was probably already crumbling when he received it; by 1500 it was described as "uninhabitable". The reason for its poor condition seemed to be that Grafendahn had been designed from the outset as a Ganerbenburg which had always had joint owners with no one person taking responsibility for its maintenance.
Hans became well-known as a result of his subsequent feud with Henry, Abbot of the Order of Benedictine monks at Weissenburg Abbey. The reason was that the Berwartstein and other property, the so-called "belongings", were originally the property of the monastery and, in the abbot's view, the Electoral Palatinate had not acquired the castle legitimately because, in 1453, the monastery had only intended to place it under the protection of the Elector. When, in 1485, Hans finally demanded the "belongings" (i.e. the estate) of the castle, the abbot turned to the Elector for protection. However, the Elector did not support the monastery as expected; first he made excuses, then he elevated Hans to the rank of marshal and sold him the entire disputed possession.
When the dispute with the monastery reached its peak, Hans had the nearby Wieslauter river dammed and so deprived the downstream town of Weissenburg (now French Wissembourg) of its water supply. The lord built the dam near the village of Bobenthal, five kilometres south of the Berwartstein. There, eight kilometers above Weissenburg, the little river flows through a narrow gap near the Bobenthaler Knopf (534 m, left of the Wieslauter on the Palatine side) and the Dürrenberg (520 m, on the right, on the Alsatian side). A small reservoir was formed, which flooded the water meadows in front of Bobenthal. Following complaints by the abbot, Hans tore down the dam as planned and caused a huge flood in Weissenburg that devastated the town economically.
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Hans von Trotha
Hans von Trotha, also known as Hans Trapp (c. 1450 – 1503), was a German knight and marshal of the prince-elector of the Palatinate. He also bore the French honorary title of a Chevalier d’Or. In 1480, the elector enfeoffed him with the two castles of Berwartstein and Grafendahn which lay in the South Palatine part of the Wasgau region within the Palatinate Forest. In local folklore he is known as Hans Trapp or, more rarely, Hans Trott.
Hans von Trotha was born into the aristocratic Trotha family who came from the area of the present-day county of Saalekreis, and was the fourth son of the Archbishop of Magdeburg's marshal, Thilo von Trotha. He was probably born in the mid-15th century in Krosigk (today in Saxony-Anhalt). His exact date of birth is not known, but he was the younger brother of Thilo von Trotha, the Bishop of Merseburg who was born in 1443.
Hans only had one son, Christoph, who succeeded his father as the lord of Berwartstein Castle. Because Christoph had no male issue, the line was extinguished upon his death in 1545 and the estate went to his son-in-law from the Alsatian House of Fleckenstein.
As one of the younger sons of an aristocratic family, Hans entered the service of the electors and counts palatine of the Rhine in Heidelberg as a young man in the late 1470s. The link to Electoral Palatinate probably came about as a result of Archbishop John of Magdeburg, the patron of Bishop Thilo von Trotha. Hans clearly proved himself, because by 1480 the Elector, Philip the Sincere, who was about the same age, gave him the hereditary fiefs of two castles in the Wasgau on hereditary, namely Berwartstein, "including its belongings", and Grafendahn.
Within four years, the Lord of Berwartstein had expanded it into a fortress, which was impregnable for its time. He achieved this inter alia by erecting the outwork of Little France (Burg Klein-Frankreich) in 1484 on the northern slope of the hill opposite, the Nestelberg. The site consisted primarily of a powerful battery tower, on the platform of which long-barreled culverins could be set up. This made it possible for an accurate crossfire to be brought to bear on any force attempting to besiege Berwartstein.
Hans showed no interest, however, in the castle of Grafendahn, six kilometres to the northwest. It was probably already crumbling when he received it; by 1500 it was described as "uninhabitable". The reason for its poor condition seemed to be that Grafendahn had been designed from the outset as a Ganerbenburg which had always had joint owners with no one person taking responsibility for its maintenance.
Hans became well-known as a result of his subsequent feud with Henry, Abbot of the Order of Benedictine monks at Weissenburg Abbey. The reason was that the Berwartstein and other property, the so-called "belongings", were originally the property of the monastery and, in the abbot's view, the Electoral Palatinate had not acquired the castle legitimately because, in 1453, the monastery had only intended to place it under the protection of the Elector. When, in 1485, Hans finally demanded the "belongings" (i.e. the estate) of the castle, the abbot turned to the Elector for protection. However, the Elector did not support the monastery as expected; first he made excuses, then he elevated Hans to the rank of marshal and sold him the entire disputed possession.
When the dispute with the monastery reached its peak, Hans had the nearby Wieslauter river dammed and so deprived the downstream town of Weissenburg (now French Wissembourg) of its water supply. The lord built the dam near the village of Bobenthal, five kilometres south of the Berwartstein. There, eight kilometers above Weissenburg, the little river flows through a narrow gap near the Bobenthaler Knopf (534 m, left of the Wieslauter on the Palatine side) and the Dürrenberg (520 m, on the right, on the Alsatian side). A small reservoir was formed, which flooded the water meadows in front of Bobenthal. Following complaints by the abbot, Hans tore down the dam as planned and caused a huge flood in Weissenburg that devastated the town economically.
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