Greifenstein Castle (South Tyrol)

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Greifenstein Castle
Greifenstein castle ruins above the Adige Valley

Greifenstein castle ruins above the Adige Valley

Alternative name (s): Sauschloss
Castel Greifenstein
Castel del Porco
Creation time : 1158
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Jenesien
Geographical location 46 ° 30 '43.1 "  N , 11 ° 17' 30.4"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 30 '43.1 "  N , 11 ° 17' 30.4"  E
Greifenstein Castle (South Tyrol)
Greifenstein Castle

The Greifenstein Castle , better known as Sauschloss , is a ruined castle high above the Terlaner fraction Siebeneich and is located on the territory of the municipality Genesio in South Tyrol ( Italy ).

location

The ruin of the Spornburg lies on a spur of the terrain on the Tschögglberg that slopes steeply on almost all sides .

history

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1158. Arnold III, Count of Bozen (d. 1173), was then also Count of Morit and Greifenstein. The castle was largely destroyed in the second half of the 13th century during the fighting between Count Meinhard II of Tyrol-Gorizia and the Bishop of Trento . In the late 14th century, the rebuilt complex came into the possession of the von Starkenbergs after the last member of the von Greifenstein family, named Friedrich, died in the Battle of Sempach in 1386 .

Legend has it that the castle was given the nickname "Pig Castle" when Duke Friedrich IV of Austria-Tyrol ("with the empty pocket") besieged the castle for several weeks in 1423 to suppress the Tyrolean aristocratic opposition . The besieged - among them Oswald von Wolkenstein , who wrote a song about this episode - allegedly threw Friedrich and his army down a roast pig to make it clear that the siege could not be successful through starvation. In fact, the besiegers withdrew there - not knowing that the roasted pig was the last provisions of the castle crew.

Pictorial representation of the "Sauschloss" legend on the Salten

The siege list described here is, however, a widespread and very old hiking legend that can already be found in Ovid . The first written record of the Greifensteiner "Sauschloss-Legende" is from the year 1737.

Greifenstein Castle was besieged twice on behalf of Duke Friedrich IV.

  • During the first siege in the spring of 1418, the castle was not taken. The failure, which Oswald von Wolkenstein reports in his Greifensteinlied , is likely to relate to this siege.
  • The second siege began in the spring of 1423 and lasted until November 1426. After Wilhelm von Starkenberg had left the castle at the beginning of the year, his servants handed them over on November 27, 1426.

After it was taken over by the Habsburgs , royal keepers took over the castle administration, for example in 1451 the Bolzano bailiff Franzisk Schidmann, " phleger auff Greiffenstain ".

investment

Close-up view of the plant

From the valley, the large ruins look unimpressive. It was only on the grounds it is clear that the previously very strong plant is expanded and one that is far below the castle rock large outer bailey was protected.

literature

  • Gottfried Kompatscher: People and rulers in historical saga. On the mythization of Frederick IV of Austria from the 15th century to the present (= contributions to European ethnology and folklore. Series A, texts and investigations. 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1995, ISBN 3-631-45877-0 , pp. 96-102.
  • Josef Nössing: Greifenstein . In: Oswald Trapp , Tiroler Burgenbuch. Volume VIII: Bolzano area . Athesia Publishing House, Bozen 1989, ISBN 978-88-7014-495-6 , pp. 257-274.

Web links

Commons : Burg Greifenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See: Family of the Counts of Bozen
  2. ↑ Karin Kranich-Hofbauer: The Starkenberg Rotulus. Handwriting - Edition - Interpretation. Innsbruck 1994, ISBN 978-3-901064-12-8 .
  3. ↑ Gottfried Kompatscher: People and rulers in the historical saga. On the mythization of Frederick IV of Austria from the 15th century to the present (= contributions to European ethnology and folklore. Series A, texts and investigations. 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1995, p. 97 f.
  4. ↑ Gottfried Kompatscher: People and rulers in the historical saga. On the mythization of Frederick IV of Austria from the 15th century to the present (= contributions to European ethnology and folklore. Series A, texts and investigations. 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1995, p. 96 and p. 99 ff.
  5. ↑ Gottfried Kompatscher: People and rulers in the historical saga. On the mythization of Frederick IV of Austria from the 15th century to the present (= contributions to European ethnology and folklore. Series A, texts and investigations. 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1995, p. 98 f.
  6. ^ Hannes Obermair : Bozen Süd - Bolzano Nord. Written form and documentary tradition of the city of Bozen up to 1500 . tape 2 . City of Bozen, Bozen 2008, ISBN 978-88-901870-1-8 , p. 108, no.1044 .