Buchhaus (Geistthal)
The book house in the community of Geistthal-Södingberg in Styria (Geistthal No. 7) was an office building of the Rein monastery . Its history goes back to the first half of the 16th century. Parts of this building are used today as an inn (GH Kollmann).
history
According to Dehio, the book store was dated to 1538. In 2001 archaeological investigations took place in the book house. The building researcher Markus Zechner found in his investigations that the building is probably older. It originally served as a court and administrative building. Between 1686 and 1688, for example, B. held several witch trials. Today parts of it serve as an inn.
description
A narrow, vaulted room called Keichn is said to have served as a prison in the past. A room in the basement, excavated in the spring of 2001 and carved into the rock, served as a well house.
There are two columns at the staircase on the first floor. On one of the pillars from the beginning of the 17th century is the fable of the fox and the grapes. A wood-paneled Renaissance room from 1596 was located in the book house until around 1900. It was transferred to the branch of the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Stainz .
Inside the book house you will find a baroque sculpture of the holy sorrow on the cross, created by Balthasar Prandtstätter in the second quarter of the 18th century , which was originally attached to a linden tree in front of the building. A statue of a violinist is said to have stood in front of this statue, but it was stolen. There are also two prepared brown bears inside the building, which date from the time of Archduke Johann . One of the bears is standing by one of the upstairs windows.
legend
A legend has grown up around the sculptures of Holy Sorrows and the violinist. In the past, the book house is said to have been a castle owned by a cruel pagan while his daughter secretly converted to Christianity. Her father wanted her to marry off a pagan neighbor, which she resisted because she wanted to become the wife of Christ. When her father tried to force her to marry, she fled to the forest. There she asked God for help so that she no longer had to take a husband. God heard her and her beard grew overnight. When the virgin was finally found by her father, he was so angry that he had her crucified. When he later regretted his act, he had an almost life-size figure of his daughter made and attached to a linden tree in front of the castle. She was venerated by the people as a saint because miracles occurred on her death and afterwards.
One day a poor minstrel came to Geistthal, who, after he had not been let in anywhere, knelt in front of the figure, played her songs and asked her for help. The figure bowed its head and dropped one of its golden shoes. The minstrel took the shoe and sold it. He was arrested because he was accused of stealing the shoe. He was sentenced to death, but asked to play in front of the statue again. This wish was granted to him, and while he was playing, the statue also dropped its second shoe. The people thus recognized the violinist's innocence. He was immediately acquitted.
literature
- Federal Monuments Office (ed.): Dehio Steiermark (excluding Graz) . 2nd Edition. Berger, Horn / Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85028-439-5 , p. 135 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Federal Monuments Office (ed.): Dehio Steiermark (excluding Graz) . 2nd Edition. Berger, Horn / Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85028-439-5 , p. 135 .
- ↑ a b c d e The holy sorrows of Geisttal. www.sagen.at, accessed on November 17, 2014 .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 10 '15.3 " N , 15 ° 9' 50.7" E