Brennhausen
Brennhausen (Ger. Burg Brennhausen) is a castle and hamlet in the
municipality of Sulzdorf a.d.Lederhecke in the county of Rhön-Grabfeld in
Bavaria in Germany.
Origin of Name - Distinct Views
Houses of Springs
Josef Braun explains the name Brennhausen in his place-names book as the
houses by a water source, meaning, in this case, a spring. Braun bases his
statement on the fact that immediately next to the settlement a stream
springs forth which flows into the river Saale. Braun discovered that the
form Brenn- is a written form, changed from the spoken dialect, which is
based on the old form Brünn.
Houses of Brunicho
Dr. Heinrich Wagner presents a very different view in his Historischen
Atlas von Neustadt/Saale (Historical Atlas of Neustadt/Saale). Wagner
believes that the origination of the name had nothing to do with the
houses by a water source, but rather that the name of the estate is
derived from the old German given name, Brunicho. Under this scenario, the
founder of Brennhausen used his own name, as was the custom of that time,
for the naming of Brunechenhusen.
1182 Officially documented
The first known mention of Brennhausen in an official document was the
year 1182. In this document, Graf Poppo von Henneberg leased to his
faithful Wolfram, among others, a tenth of Brunechenhusen.
On August 29, 1237, Graf Poppo von Henneberg, VII declared that his
vassals "Deynodapifer and Theodericus, so-called von Blanckenberg," must
repair the damage done to the Brunechenhusen property when it was unjustly
withheld from the abbot and the Bildhausen convent.
Truchseß von Brennhausen
The Truchseß von Brennhausen is a genealogical branch of the Truchessen
von Wetzhausen which descends from a Hans Truchseß (1260-1330). He had
holdings in Wetzhausen, Brennhausen, Sternberg and Essfeld. In the
official property record book of the Bishop of Würzburg, Gottfried III von
Hohenlohe, with records from 1317 to 1322, it was written that one
Truchseß von Blankenberg, and possibly the so-called Hans Truchseß, had
holdings in Brennhausen.
In another record book of the Prince-Bishop Albrecht von Hohenlohe, used
from 1345-1372, it was written in 1345: "Johannes Truchseß von Alsleben
owns also a tenth of Gabolshausen, a tenth of Poppenhausen, a half-tenth
of Ermershausen, a tenth of Brennhausen, and a half-tenth of
Maroldsweisach."
In 1343, Hans Truchseß was mentioned in a directory of Wetzhausen. It was
written: "Notation regarding Mr. Hansen Truchseß, soul of a knight of
Brünnhausen and his wedded wife. Owned Wetzhausen, Brünnhausen, Eßfeld and
part of zu Sternberg." His four Sons inherited these four places after his
death and started four independent lines which later branched out even
more. Diez, the actual founder of the Wetzhausen line, was given by his
father, Hans, all of Wetzhausen and one third of Brennhausen. Hans
Truchseß the Younger (1309-1370) received two thirds of the Brennhausen
holdings and part of Sternberg. Hanns had his residence in Brennhausen.
Brennhausen remained in the Truchseß family until 1542 when Georg Truchseß
died with a brief intermission around 1500. Anna, daughter of Philipp
Truchseß took Brennhausen into a marriage with Hans von Berlichingen, a
vassal of Wilhelm Count von Henneberg. After Hans von Berlichingen death,
Anna sold Brennhausen to pay her husband's debts and Brennhausen ended up
with Dietz Truchseß.
Bauernkrieg and the Burning of Brennhausen
Both documentation and physical evidence strongly suggest that Brennhausen
burned in 1525 during the Bauernkrieg or Peasants (or Farmers) Revolt. The
beams of the roof and the entrance to one of the cellars date from right
after 1525. Stone work also suggests that the floor levels changed at some
point. Also G.P. Höhn in his 1747 Lexicon Topographicum states that the
peasants set fire to it in 1525.
1542-1681
In 1587 Brennhausen was occupied by Georg Wilhelm von Kotzau. By 1593, the
Truchseß family were back at Brennhausen. In 1619, the brothers Otto,
Heinrich and Adam von und zu Bastheim along with Georg Wilhelm and Veit
Ulrich Truchseß von Wetzhausen purchased Brennhausen for 24,597 gulden.
Franz and Hans von Brennhausen
In 1642, a Franz Günther, a simple farmer's son from Kützberg by
Schweinfurt, was ennobled "von Brennhausen" and given the fief of
Brennhausen from the Bishopric of Würzburg. From 1635 to 1647, Franz was
the Commandant of the fortress at Königshofen. Franz' son Hans received
Brennhausen and died without issue. Franz and his wife Felicitas Agnes
Leschin von Mülheim coat of arms are in the court yard.
Brennhausen Goes to Bibra Family
In 1681, the von Bibra family received Brennhausen instead of Burgwallbach
as part of an out of court settlement of a lawsuit dating from 1602 when
the Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn refused to transfer family
fiefs between cousins. This type of transfer was routine but during the
Counter Reformation, the bishop refused a transfer to the Protestant
cousins. Brennhausen has remained with the Bibra family ever since.
Traditions
There is a tradition which states that Brennhausen, in older times, was a
monastery, which is where the naming of the surrounding fields,
Nonnenäcker (nun's fields) and Pfaffenpfad (pastor's path) must have come.
Brennhausen the Village
In past centuries there were more houses at Brennhausen. In 1832 fifty-one
inhabitants in twelve families lived at Brennhausen. Ten of them were
Catholic, thirty-six Lutheran, and five Jewish. The Catholics went to
church in Untereßfeld and the Lutherans in Sulzdorf. Until 1848,
Brennhausen had original jurisdiction over its own affairs. In 1915 (WWI),
Brennhausen had six residences besides the castle but only two were
inhabited. The other four were dilapidated.
