Altfinstermünz
.JPG)
.jpg)
Finstermünz (from 1856 Altfinstermünz , Raetorom . Vestmezia ) is a medieval court and border fortification on the Via Claudia Augusta in the Finstermünz Gorge of the same name. The festival is located in the municipality of Nauders at the foot of the Finstermünz Pass , where the old road from the Reschen Pass towards Pfunds and Landeck , which was used until 1854, reaches the Inn , which forms the border between Tyrol (Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). There was a court here as early as the 10th century.
history
The Roman Via Claudia Augusta over the Reschenpass was one of the most important alpine crossings that led past Finstermünz until the 2nd century AD. Only with the expansion of the Brennerstrasse did the connection only have regional significance. From the 9th to the 11th century, Altfinstermünz was the place of jurisdiction for the Lower Engadin , Nauders and Pfunds region . In 1078, Duke Welf of Bavaria stationed a garrison in the "Clusa" (Enge or Klause von Altfinstermünz) on a campaign against the bishops of Chur . In 1159 Altfinstermünz was first mentioned in a document as "Vinestana silva" ("Forest of Finstermünz"). The word Finstermünz comes from the Indo-European "mintsja" meaning "towering rock".
From around 1300 tariffs were already collected here; however, the oldest toll tariffs are not handed down until 1534. Archduke Sigismund of Austria had the Siegmundsegg border fortification and a bridge built over the Inn at this strategically favorable location after 1472 to protect against incursions from the Engadine. The festival sticks to the orographically right rock bank of the Inn. The bridge tower from 1472 stands in the middle of the river halfway along a wooden bridge, which is covered on the Austrian side and open on the Swiss side.
In 1499 Finstermünz was a bulwark in the Engadine War. The mighty gate tower was built between 1502 and 1537; the passage was secured with machicolation and a weir plate. The neighboring chapel “Assumption of Mary” was built and consecrated in 1605. From 1652 Finstermünz was the border between Tyrol and Graubünden. The bridge was renewed in 1845, renovated in 1948/49, and since 1999 it has been open to the public again.
The old customs post was closed in 1779 and relocated to Martinsbruck , Finstermünz became an inn with a brewery. In the second coalition war ( Napoleonic Wars ) of 1799, the Pfundser riflemen took 300 prisoners in Finstermünz.
In 1854 the construction of the Hochfinstermünzstraße and the Kajetansbrücke ( 991 m above sea level ) from Pfunds to Nauders, planned by Karl Ritter von Ghega and executed by master builder Benedikt Perwög , began, whereby the old wooden bridge over the Inn became less important. The course of the then new Hochfinstermünzstrasse corresponds to the course of today's federal road. The Hochfinstermünz hotel complex, which is no longer managed, and the Hochfinstermünz fort that was built between 1834 and 1840 are along the route .
Since the beginning of modern times, the Novellaberg, the steep, almost uninhabited area to the left of the Inn, has been territorially disputed. Under the name Gränzanstand bei Finstermünz , the conflict was finally settled in 1868 by a state treaty between Austria and Switzerland: The Novellaberg was added to Switzerland, the connecting road from Altfinstermünz to Pfunds, although also on the left side of the Inn, was closed to Austria.
building
The tower in the middle of the river is crenellated and its machicolation towers over the bridge. There is also a machicolation on the five-story residential and defense tower that protrudes over the street. A wall with battlements extends to the cliff. On the rocky promontory stands a gun turret, which was once provided with a wooden battlement and was connected by tunnels to a cave, in which an early cave castle was suspected. However, no traces of such were found.
The buildings are currently (as of 2018) being renovated by the Altfinstermünz association founded in 2001.
Luis Trenker used the impressive setting as a location for his film The Rebel (1932).
literature
- Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna, 1976 (p. 276). ISBN 3-218-00278-8 .
- Unknown author: Finstermünz - texts and images from five centuries .
Web links
- Altfinstermünz Association
- Alexander Zanesso: Altfinstermünz. Soil archaeological investigations
- Entry via Finstermünz on Burgen-Austria
Individual evidence
- ^ History of Altfinstermünz. Alt-Finstermünz municipality, accessed on April 14, 2013 .
- ↑ [1] .
Coordinates: 46 ° 55 ′ 45 ″ N , 10 ° 29 ′ 14 ″ E