Harmannstein Castle

The castle Harmannstein was a hill fort on the Johannesberg in the cadastral Harmannstein in the market town Großschönau in the district of Gmünd in Lower Austria .

history

In 1162 a new castle on the Hadmarstein was mentioned in a document with novum castrum Hadmarstain . Attributions assume that the castle was abandoned after the establishment of the new dominion center in Altweitra , later Weitra . Other attributions assume that the castle was destroyed during the aristocratic revolts at the end of the 13th century. The stables of the desolate castle were donated to Zwettl Abbey in 1319 by the Lords of Buchberg . The former castle chapel was named in 1381 as a branch of the parish Großschönau .

Duration

The castle stood on the isolated, wooded Johannesberg. The mountain is mentioned on ÖK 50 / sheet 18. The plateau at the summit has a prominent rocky knoll in the southwest. The former hill fort has been preserved, especially in the west, with a moat and a wall. In the north and east, the former facility is already very flattened and can still be seen as a slope. The steeply sloping cliff in the southwest made earthworks superfluous .

The Harmannstein branch church , which can be seen from afar, is located on a northern step on the hilltop . Its core Romanesque choir was expanded around 1430. Remnants of wall paintings from the late 15th century have been preserved. Minor modifications were made around the middle of the 17th century.

Archaeological investigations from 1991 by the ASINOE association provided evidence that today's church building contains walls from a high medieval predecessor building, remains of a previous apse were uncovered in the choir , in the north of the plateau remains of a wall approximately in north-south direction were found, which as former Circular wall can be adopted. On the top of the rock south of the church, chisels from former wooden buildings have been preserved. Finds can be dated to the 12th and 13th centuries, other finds in the entire area were dated to the 14th and 15th centuries, which is why the castle will continue to exist for a longer period of time or another type of settlement can be expected.

In sum, a hilltop castle with modest structural structures was assumed for the castle on the Johannesberg, clear evidence also refer to brick-built stone buildings and deny a pure wooden castle with earth walls.

Web links

• Lower Austria Castles Online: Harmannstein Castle

Coordinates: 48 ° 38 ′ 36.6 "  N , 14 ° 53 ′ 41"  E