Mollenburg castle ruins
| Mollenburg castle ruins | ||
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.JPG) |
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| Creation time : | First mentioned in 1303 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Ruin, restored or reconstructed | |
| Place: | Expanses | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 17 '42 " N , 15 ° 15' 23.3" E | |
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The Mollenburg castle ruins are the partially restored or reconstructed ruins of a hilltop castle near Weiten in Lower Austria .
history
Around the middle of the 13th century, the lords of Werd-Capellen lived here in a relatively modest castle. Due to the participation of the lords of the castle in the aristocratic revolt of the Kuenringer against Duke Albrecht I , the former Mollenburg was destroyed, but soon rebuilt. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1303.
In 1307 the rule went to a lord from Streitwiesen. In 1486 it was sold by the Ebersdorfers to Kaspar von Roggendorf , the owner of Pöggstall . This expanded the castle. In the 16th century, the princely fiefdom became owner-occupied. After the bankrupt Christoph Freiherr von Roggendorf escaped , however, it was confiscated in 1546 . As a result, the Geyer von Osterburg partially rebuilt the castle into a renaissance castle . After various changes of ownership, the rule passed to Emperor Ferdinand I in 1839. After a renovation in 1844, the Mollenburg was turned into ruins by the administrator Johann Niedermayer for tax reasons ( roof tax ) as early as 1860 . The roof structure was removed, devastated and the usable parts were sold. In 1920 the Habsburg property became part of the War Damaged Fund .
Confiscated by the Russians in 1945, the Mollenburg passed into the administration of the Austrian Federal Forests in 1956 . The art historian, novelist and politician Jörg Mauthe acquired the ruins in 1972 and restored them, partly in-house and with the help of his sons. In the outer bailey , individual buildings were made habitable again. The Mollenburg is still privately owned by the Mauthe family today; Jörg Mauthe's urn is kept in the tower of the old castle.
architecture
The ruin covers an area of about 120 × 60 m on a 40 m high ridge that drops steeply on three sides. A two-storey gate tower in the north of the complex was restored by the Mauthe family, as was the high-rise building in the outer bailey, which is still inhabited today (built in Renaissance style in 1558 and remodeled in Baroque style in the 17th century). A trench 13 m wide and 7 m deep, carved out of the rock, separates it from the main castle . The latter is built on a square floor plan with a side length of around 31 m. Its Romanesque core is no longer visible due to the frequent renovations in the 16th and 17th centuries. The largest component is the four-storey palace in the northeast of the plant.
The Romanesque keep is almost completely covered from the outside by the shield wall . Little has been preserved of the St. Veit chapel in the south corner, built around 1250. The stained glass windows were already sold in 1840. The late Gothic smoke kitchen with monumental chimney and the octagonal tower on the east corner of the Zwinger are relatively well preserved .
See also
Web links
- Entry on Mollenburg castle ruins in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Entry about Mollenburg castle ruins on Lower Austria castles online - Institute for Reality Studies of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era, University of Salzburg
- Entry via Mollenburg to Burgen-Austria
- Castle studies - with photos