Reifenstein Castle

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Reifenstein Castle
Reifenstein Castle

Reifenstein Castle

Alternative name (s): Castel Tasso
Creation time : 1110
Place: Sterzing
Geographical location 46 ° 52 '40.8 "  N , 11 ° 26' 41.2"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 52 '40.8 "  N , 11 ° 26' 41.2"  E
Reifenstein Castle (South Tyrol)
Reifenstein Castle

Reifenstein Castle ( Castel Tasso in Italian ) is located on a rocky castle hill in the Wipptal in the municipality of Freienfeld near Sterzing in South Tyrol .

history

Reifenstein Castle and the Wipptal from the north

From 1110 the castle was given to the Brixen ministers of Stilfes-Reifenstein-Welsberg as a fief. When it died out in 1189/90, the castle was taken over by the Trautson family . In 1470, Duke Sigmund of Austria-Tyrol sold the fiefdom to the Teutonic Knight Order . Until the order was dissolved in 1813, the castle remained in the possession of the order and was further expanded and strengthened militarily. Reifenstein has never been conquered or destroyed in its history and is therefore considered to be the best-preserved castle complex in South Tyrol today.

In 1813, the Count's Innsbruck line of the Thurn und Taxis family , which was based at Neuhaus Castle on the Danube from 1729 to 1868 and operated the Tyrolean Post Office until 1769, received Reifenstein Castle from the Kingdom of Bavaria as compensation for the post office shelf that it had in some parts of the country possessed; the castle is still in their possession today.

investment

In 1110 the first construction of a castle began. A mighty square tower was surrounded by a curtain wall. The outer bailey guards the entrance to the main courtyard. The gate is secured with a portcullis . With the appearance of the great castles at the beginning of the 16th century , the appearance of the castles also changed. Instead of the donjon as a residential and battle tower, a palace was now built around these walls . Thanks to the mountain location, the erection of a moth was unnecessary. In the hall there are, among other things, medieval, wooden sleeping quarters, a bath room, the castle kitchen, a room with late Gothic paneling and the so-called Green Hall with late Gothic tendril wall paintings and a carved chapel grille . The little church of St. Zeno is also located on the castle hill, below the 1996 Bavarian tree coffins from the 4th-8th centuries. Century AD.

literature

  • Alois Karl Eller: Reifenstein Castle near Sterzing: historical and art-historical description . Athesia, Bozen 2004, ISBN 88-8266-290-X .
  • Herta Öttl: Reifenstein . In: Oswald Trapp (ed.), Tiroler Burgenbuch. III. Band: Wipptal . Verlagsanstalt Athesia, Bozen 1982, pp. 141–179.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair : Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 2: 1140-1200 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2012, ISBN 978-3-7030-0485-8 , p. 360, no.851 .
  2. ^ Obituary notice Franz Ferdinand Graf von Thurn Valsassina und Taxis , December 1, 2017
  3. ^ Josef Weingartner , Magdalena Hörmann-Weingartner: The castles of Tyrol. A guide to castles through North, East and South Tyrol. Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck-Vienna-Munich, Athesia Verlag, Bozen, 3rd edition 1981
  4. ^ Edmund Theil: Castle Reifenstein near Sterzing. Laurin art guide. Athesia Verlag, Bolzano. 3rd edition, 1999. Originally published in 1975

Web links

Commons : Reifenstein Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files