Gutenberg Castle
| Gutenberg Castle | ||
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 Gutenberg Castle from the northeast |
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| Creation time : | around 1100 to 1200 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Received or received substantial parts | |
| Place: | Balzers | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 3 '54.7 " N , 9 ° 30' 0.2" E | |
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The Gutenberg Castle is a late medieval castle in Balzers , the southernmost municipality of Liechtenstein .
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location
Gutenberg Castle sits enthroned on a roughly 70 meter high rocky hill that is free on all sides in the center of the municipality of Balzers.
To the south, the slope of the rock hill is relatively low, so that wine has been grown there for thousands of years. In the east and north, but especially in the west, the castle is separated from the Rhine Valley by almost vertical rock walls .
About a hundred meters to the east is the parish church of St. Nicholas and at the foot of the castle hill is the Gutenberg house, an educational institution.
history
prehistory
Archaeological excavations have shown that the castle hill has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age and was probably used as a cult site at that time.
The castle hill gained importance from an archaeological point of view in 1932/33 when seven human bronze statues and two animal figures (boar and deer) were found during excavations. The figure " Mars von Gutenberg" with a size of 12 cm is particularly significant. These figures are probably fertility or ritual objects. Another outstanding find is a clay vessel from the Rössen culture , a ceramic from the Middle Neolithic (approx. 4400 BC).
During excavations in 1982, further information about the building history was uncovered: For example, parts of a dry stone wall from the younger Iron Age were discovered in the foundations of the castle . On top of them are masonry of Roman origin. Several coin finds (minted around 350 AD) also suggest a possible Roman guard post.
Before the fortress was built , the courtyard and other areas of the castle area were used as burial sites. This is evidenced by the large number of skeletal finds in and around the castle.
Creation of the castle
Archaeological studies have shown that the castle was preceded by a church with a cemetery. Finally, in the 12th century, the cemetery was abandoned and a curtain wall was built instead. In a further construction phase, a castle tower was built and this was later given a battlement . Under the Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I , there was again a lot of building activity, probably to repair damage from a siege in the Swabian War of 1499 and to take further security measures. There is also evidence that Gutenberg Castle had a drawbridge until at least 1537 , which was finally destroyed in a storm.
History of the castle
The name Gutenberg probably comes from a noble family that was first mentioned in 1296.
The Lords of Frauenberg had lived in the castle since the 13th century. When Heinrich von Frauenberg finally died, the castle passed into the possession of the Habsburgs in 1314 . They used the castle as a guard post against the Swiss who camped on St. Luzisteig . Various bullet holes in the castle bear witness to numerous battles and sieges. During the Zurich War , large parts of the village of Balzers went up in flames, but whether Gutenberg Castle was also affected by the fire remains a matter of dispute. All that is documented is an unsuccessful siege and bombardment in 1499 during the Swabian War .
In the following time the castle increasingly fell into disrepair, and after a village fire in 1795 it was finally used as a supplier of building materials for the reconstruction of the village, so that the castle was ruined. In 1824 the municipality of Balzers acquired the ruins and the goods, and in 1905 they were sold to the painter, sculptor and architect Egon Rheinberger . Egon Rheinberger finally rebuilt the castle in the years 1905–1912. After his death in 1936 it was leased and sold to private customers in 1951. In the end, the State of Liechtenstein acquired the castle in 1979, although the owner retained the right of residence, which only expired when she died in 2001.
Reconstruction in the years 1905–1912
Between 1905 and 1912, the ruined castle was rebuilt by the owner Egon Rheinberger. The client was guided by the remaining building remains so that the castle could be rebuilt as true to the original as possible. As additional buildings were u. a. a chapel, a chaplaincy and a forge added. However, when it came to the expansion of the interior and the design of the interior, Egon Rheinberger had a completely free hand, as nothing of the former was preserved. Most of the furnishings in the castle were acquired from the art trade by Egon Rheinberger, and some of them were also rebuilt. These pieces were u. a. divided into the community of heirs, but some were also transferred to the Liechtenstein National Museum .
use
From May 1st to October 31st, parts of the castle complex are available for public and private events. The castle chapel with rose garden is freely accessible on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The castle complex is closed from November 1st to April 30th. The outer bailey is freely accessible all year round.
Guided tours of the castle can be booked at the Balzers municipal administration and certain areas of the castle grounds can be rented for photo shoots, wedding celebrations, aperitifs, and cultural and contemplative events.
Events such as the open-air theater “The Last Gutenberger” in 1925 or the film production “Wilhelm Tell” in 1933 are examples of the cultural past of Gutenberg Castle. But even today there is a cultural program with concerts in the castle in summer.
literature
- Cornelia Herrmann: The art monuments of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The Oberland. In: Society for Swiss Art History GSK: The art monuments of Switzerland. Bern, 2007, ISBN 978-3-906131-85-6 .
Web links
- Gutenberg Castle (with photos, floor plan, history and references) at burgenwelt.org
- Ulrike Mayr, Markus Burgmeier: Gutenberg (castle, castle hill). In: Historical Lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Cornelia Herrmann: The art monuments of the Principality of Liechtenstein. 2007, p. 68
- ↑ Cornelia Herrmann: The art monuments of the Principality of Liechtenstein. 2007, p. 66
- ↑ Cornelia Herrmann: The art monuments of the Principality of Liechtenstein. 2007, p. 67.
- ↑ Cornelia Herrmann: The art monuments of the Principality of Liechtenstein. 2007, pp. 75-79.
- ↑ Balzers community, experience Balzers. Retrieved February 22, 2019 .
- ^ Gutenberg culture meeting place . Retrieved June 2, 2011