Kranichberg Castle

Kranichberg Castle
Creation time :	Early 13th century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Receive
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Place:	Kirchberg am Wechsel
Geographical location	47 ° 38 '44 "  N , 15 ° 58' 24.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 38 '44 "  N , 15 ° 58' 24.7"  E

The Kranichberg Castle is a hilltop castle around 5 km southeast of Gloggnitz in the cadastral community of Kranichberg in the market town of Kirchberg am Wechsel in the Neunkirchen district in Lower Austria .

The former fortified castle is a three-story building with an almost square floor plan, has a five-story keep and was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century. This facility includes a spacious bailey , through the Strait of Gloggnitz on the Ramssattel leads to Kirchberg.

A Siggefridus de Craneberch appears in documents as early as 1150 . The castle was owned by the Lords of Kranichberg ( Ministeriale of the Counts of Formbach and Pitten ). The family also owned properties on the Danube, in the Waldviertel and in the Mühlviertel. After the branch on Kranichberg died out, Ulrich II von Walsee- Graz was mentioned as the ruler in 1352 . Leutold von Stadeck followed in 1363 . The daughter of the last Stadecker married Ulrich von Montfort in 1400 . His father was the famous minstrel Hugo von Montfort . After 1420, Kranichberg was already sovereign and pledged several times.

In 1480 the castle was taken by the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and put back after the Peace of Pressburg in 1491. In 1602 the court chamber sold the rule to Hans Unterholzer, who had it administered by carers. In 1661 Johann Franz Graf Lamberg came into possession of the castle. In 1745 a fire destroyed large parts of the complex, including the entrance front and the west wing. The then owner Anton Franz Adam Graf von Lamberg partially rebuilt the complex in the baroque style and sold it to the Archdiocese of Vienna in 1769 . During the Second World War, the castle was used as a quarter for predominantly German emigrants from Dobruja . In 1970 the archdiocese sold the complex to a new owner, followed by multiple changes of ownership.

Most recently, the facility was used for catering purposes; an upscale hotel was housed in the outer bailey, but it had been closed for several years. At the beginning of 2018 the castle was sold by the previous owner Astrid Hübner to a couple who come from Austria, but also do business in Switzerland. It is planned to set up a doll and toy museum as well as a meeting center for art and culture on the premises. (See St. Thomas dollhouse museum on the bladder stone .)

• 

  view

• 

  Kranichberg Castle, Schneeberg in the background ; Oil painting by Alexander Trichtl

literature

• Karin Kühtreiber, Thomas Kühtreiber , Christina Mochty-Weltin, Maximilian Weltin : fortifications and aristocratic seats in Lower Austria. The quarter under the Vienna Woods. Volume 1, Lower Austrian Institute for Regional Studies, St. Pölten 1998, ISBN 3-901635-05-X , p. OA

Web links

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

• Entry via Castle Kranichberg to Burgen-Austria

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Burg Kranichberg sold in NÖN on January 8, 2018, accessed on March 14, 2018.
2. ↑ A castle for historical dolls in ORF Lower Austria from November 1, 2018, accessed on November 1, 2018