Cross Castle
| Cross Castle | ||
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 Cross Castle |
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| Creation time : | around 900 | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, rocky location | |
| Conservation status: | Received or received substantial parts | |
| Place: | Bad crosses | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 15 ′ 33 " N , 14 ° 49 ′ 12" E | |
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The castle crosses a rock castle near the spa town of Bad crosses the district Perg in Upper Austria .
It is considered the second largest castle complex in Upper Austria and is said to have been built around 900 as a refuge . In 1880, a fire devastated most of the remaining structures in the castle, especially the roof structure. The municipality or the Bad Kreuzen Tourist Association has been the owner since 1965, and a youth hostel and a cultural center have been located there since 1983. In 2012, a hotel was opened in the castle by "Burg Kreuzen Betriebs GmbH", which involved a profound change in the structure of the historic building.
history
The castle is said to have existed as early as 900 and served as a refuge . A pilgrim from Creutzen was mentioned in a document as the first owner in 1125. In 1209 it belonged to Hermann von Creutzen (Hermannus de Krucen). After that, the people of Volkensdorf lived in the castle, which in 1282 was a sovereign fiefdom . At that time the complex consisted of two parts, the front and rear castle. The division took place between the brothers Hans and Alber Volkensdorfer. When the last Volkensdorfer died around 1489, the castle passed to the brothers Siegmund and Heinrich von Prüschenk , who had already acquired parts of it six years earlier. Adam Schweinböck followed as owner in 1518, who bought the front castle. Ten years later he sold it to Helfrich von Meggau and bought the rear castle. In 1532, Helfrich von Meggau also acquired the rear castle and united the two castles. In 1533 the feudal lordship was abolished and the castle became free property .
During the Turkish threat around 1594, Kreuzen was one of the defensive castles in the Machland and as a refuge for the population. In 1644 the Meggau family died out. As early as 1619, Anna Meggau married her second husband, Count Gottfried Breuner, to his family. In 1655 the castle went to Siegmund von Dietrichstein , who also called Greinburg Castle his own. The castle remained closely connected to Greinburg until the middle of the 20th century. Emperor Leopold II. Fled in 1682 before the plague of Vienna by crosses. Around 1716 the castle came to Count Johann Cavriani , and in 1754 to the Count Salburg , who had part of the castle demolished in 1776 and 1783. In 1810 Prince Josef Karl von Dietrichstein was the owner of Kreuzen, in 1823 Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha bought the castle, so that around 1876 the British Queen Victoria, as the Duke's daughter, owned half of the castle.
In 1880 a fire destroyed large parts of the castle and turned it into ruins. In 1965 the Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha family sold the ruins to the farmer Ferdinand Riegler (commonly known as Starzhofer), who was also the mayor of Bad Kreuzen at the time. In 1974 ownership passed to the Bad Kreuzen Tourist Association, which in 1983 had the facility renovated and partially rebuilt. The castle has served as a youth hostel and cultural center since 1983 .
From October 2010 the castle was expanded as part of the two projects “Burg Kreuzen” with costs of 2.2 million euros and “New Youth Hostel” with costs of 3.8 million euros. On June 17, 2012 the new youth hostel "Schatz.Kammer Burg Kreuzen", which is designed for around 15,000 overnight stays per year, was officially opened. This is intended primarily to bring young guests to Bad Kreuzen and the Strudengau region .
investment
The castle is located on a wooded ridge that drops steeply on three sides. In terms of extension, the castle in Upper Austria was only surpassed by the Schaunberg castle ruins . Its surrounding wall was once five meters high, which is still visible when you enter the gate. In front of the gate tower there used to be a drawbridge , which was replaced by a stone bridge during the renovation work in 1983, this was in turn replaced in 2007 by a wooden bridge on pillars, as the masonry of the stone bridge was dilapidated. The adjoining house of the porter shows a groin vault . From the gate the path climbs up to the castle courtyard.
Today only an arcade wing can be seen in the courtyard, which used to be the connection between the two castles. The interior of the arcade wing has barrel vaults . A sundial from 1523 also shows the Meggau coat of arms. In the west there is a chapel that protrudes from the wall. The other buildings that bordered the courtyard have now disappeared. In particular, the buildings of the front castle, which was most severely damaged by the fire, were demolished.
The draw well in the courtyard used to be 42 meters deep. In 1974, the construction of the square residential tower , which originally dates from the 13th century, followed. The wall thickness of the 10 × 10 meter tower is 2.5 meters and it now serves as a lookout tower. The interiors are used for exhibitions. The hostel used parts of the former palace . The foundations of two round towers can be seen in the north and northeast.
→ See Burglinde natural monument
Origin of name
According to a legend, a pilgrim staying here is said to have taken part of the cross of Jesus with him from the Holy Land, which is how the castle got its name.
See also
literature
- Oskar Hille: Castles and palaces of Upper Austria. 2nd Edition. Wilhelm Ennsthaler, Steyr 1992, ISBN 3-85068-323-0 .
Web links
- Press articles from 2011 to 2012 on burg-kreuzen.at.
- Friends of Kreuzen Castle at burgfreunde.at.
- Entry via crosses on Burgen-Austria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homepage of the hotel "Schatz.Kammer Burg Kreuzen" at burg-kreuzen.at, accessed on June 2, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Entry about crosses on Burgen-Austria
- ↑ a b Million investment secures cultural assets: New youth hostel and expansion of Kreuzen Castle. Media information from April 2011 at burg-kreuzen.at/presse, accessed on June 2, 2019.