Falkenstein Castle (Lower Austria)

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Falkenstein Castle
Falkenstein castle ruins

Falkenstein castle ruins

Creation time : Around 1050
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Falkenstein
Geographical location 48 ° 43 '30 "  N , 16 ° 34' 42"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 43 '30 "  N , 16 ° 34' 42"  E
Height: 415  m above sea level NN
Falkenstein Castle (Lower Austria)
Falkenstein Castle

The Falkenstein Castle is located in the northern wine district, in the market town of Falkenstein .

The castle was built on a knoll northwest of the town, probably around 1050 and expanded in several construction phases. From the end of the 16th century it was converted into a "mountain castle". In 1645 it was conquered by the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War . Later the castle was used as a "quarry" for cheap building material until the castle gate was walled up around 1820.

location

The ruins of the hilltop castle are located at a height of 415 meters on a limestone cliff in a strategically excellent location. There is almost no point in South Moravia that cannot be seen from the castle.

history

Emergence

Around 1050, the first castle was built as an imperial fortress and the Falkenstein parish was created. It is assumed that the establishment in the course of the second Bavarian colonization of the Weinviertel under Emperor Heinrich III. was created by the Counts of Neuburg-Falkenstein . 1106 the castle is likely to be on the occasion of the marriage of Leopold III . with the imperial daughter Agnes von Waiblingen came into the possession of the sovereign as a royal estate . The castle remained a sovereign fiefdom until 1571 . However, Falkenstein was repeatedly transferred to various noble families as a pledge for a long time. a. to the Liechtensteiners , from 1480 to 1571 it was held by the five churches . After the death of Hans III. Fünfkirchen, the castle was sold to the Trautson family, Hans Fünfkirchen's son Johann Bernhard was passed over.

The Anabaptists on Falkenstein

In 1539 150 followers of the radical Reformation Anabaptist movement were imprisoned in the castle and then brought to Trieste to be sold there as galley slaves . Among them was the Hutterite chronicler Kaspar Braitmichel , who managed to escape. The Martyr Mirror also reported on the fate of the imprisoned Anabaptists . To commemorate the Anabaptists who were held in the castle during the Reformation, a museum was opened in June 2011 in the historical vault of the castle ruins under the name of the Anabaptist vault . In addition, a true-to-scale replica of the hull of a historic galley was installed in the courtyard.

Trautson

Southeast view of the castle
The south wall of Falkenstein Castle shapes the view of the ruins to this day. The round chapel tower was built around 1620

1572 sold Maximilian II . Burg und Herrschaft Falkenstein to his chief steward Hans Freiherr von Trautson . From 1600 his son Paul Sixt III. Trautson Falkenstein to the Renaissance fortress. The new south wall, including the roundabout, comprised a newly constructed kennel , the third courtyard and the so-called rose garden. The construction of the round chapel tower was decided around 1620. In 1645, in the final phase of the Thirty Years War , the castle was conquered by the Swedes under General Lennart Torstensson , but not destroyed. The capture of the castle was made possible for the Swedes through treason - the gate keys were leaked to them.

Falkenstein ruins

The castle did not begin to fall into disrepair until the end of the 17th century. one, in addition, the castle was demolished by the own owners of the building materials. After the death of Prince Johann Wilhelm Trautson , Count zu Falkenstein (1700–1775), with whom this family died out, his grandson Prince Karl Auersperg (1750–1822) inherited the property. There was an inheritance dispute with Prince Johann Nepomuk Friedrich von Lamberg , who was also married to a daughter of Prince Trautson. As a result of the dispute, the Falkenstein estate was sold in 1799. The new owners were the Bartenstein and in 1850 the Freiherrn Vrints (from 1860 Count von Falkenstein ).

Under the current owner Georg Thurn -Vrints, the castle ruins were reopened to visitors and an association for the preservation of the Falkenstein castle ruins was founded. Archaeological excavations have been carried out under the direction of the Federal Monuments Office since 1992 . In summer, the tournament yard becomes an atmospheric setting for medieval festivals and summer theater.

literature

  • Falko Daim (Ed.): Castles - Weinviertel . 1st edition, Verlag Freytag & Berndt, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7079-0713-9 , pp. 96-100.
  • Ilse Schöndorfer: Stones and Legends - Burgruinen in Niederösterreich , 1st edition 1999, Verlag Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus, St.Pölten – Vienna, ISBN 3-85326-114-0 , pp. 247–250
  • Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer , Friedrich Parisch, Spiridon Verginis: Falkenstein castle ruins . In Find Reports from Austria, Volume 34, 1995

Web links

Commons : Burgruine Falkenstein  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Braitmichel biography at GAMEO ; accessed on November 23, 2010
  2. ↑ Opening of the Täufergwölb and galley on the Falkenstein ruins. Evangelical Academy, accessed September 11, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Opening "Täufergwölb" Falkenstein Castle. Market town of Falkenstein, accessed on September 11, 2011 .
  4. ↑ http://www.burgenkunde.at/niederoesterreich/noe_burgruine_falkenstein/noe_burgruine_falkenstein_08.htm
  5. ↑ Norbert Sinn: The operational importance of the Weinviertel area, in: Stefan Bader, Mathias Hirsch et al. (Ed.): The Mistelbach Garrison. The history of a barracks and its surroundings, Vienna 2012, p. 54
  6. ^ Franz Hadriga: The Trautson. Paladine Habsburgs , Styria, Graz et al. 1996, ISBN 3-222-12337-3 .
  7. ↑ Ilse Schöndorfer: Stones and Legends ... , p. 248