Scharfeneck Castle (Mannersdorf)
| Scharfeneck castle ruins (Mannersdorf) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 57 '4 " N , 16 ° 36' 20" E | |
|
||
The ruins of Scharfeneck Castle ( Hungarian : Sárfenék ) are located in the local area of Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge , in the district of Bruck ad Leitha in Lower Austria .
history
The origins of the ruins in the Desert Nature Park are likely to be in the 11th century, but there is no documentary evidence.
Its name goes back to the Hungarian dynasty of the Scharfeneckers , who were highly regarded by the Hungarian kings around 1400 at the height of their power. Scharfeneck, which at that time was on the border with Austria and therefore had some importance as a border castle , was the starting point for numerous territorial battles between the Scharfeneckers and Austrian aristocrats. The Scharfeneckers attacked Deutsch-Altenburg in 1396 and appropriated Trautmannsdorf in 1404 . In 1408, Stuchs von Trautmannsdorf attacked Scharfeneck in return, whereupon they took bloody revenge in Edelsthal and Deutsch Haslau in 1412 .
Soon afterwards, the Scharfeneckers were likely to have died out, possibly in one of their numerous feuds, because in 1417 Neuscharfeneck Castle was designated as the property of the Hungarian King Sigismund . During this time it was rebuilt on the model of French and English castles and leased or sold by the Crown to some owners. King Matthias Corvinus , for example, sold the castle to Ulrich von Grafeneck for the price of 6000 Hungarian gold guilders . Corvinus , who had also made himself King of Bohemia, was also able to conquer Vienna after a four-month siege in 1485 , which was the first time that he did not make Scharfeneck a border castle.
After his death in 1490 the tide turned and Austria returned to Habsburg . Under the Roman-German King and later Emperor Maximilian I, they turned their gaze to the east. In his first year of reign in 1493, Maximilian seized Scharfeneck Castle, which then came into Austrian possession. This conquest, possibly by force, is an example of the Habsburgs' awakened interest in the East, which ultimately brought them sole power in Central and Eastern Europe.
The new master seems to have brought little luck to the castle: In 1555, under the reign of Maximilian's grandson Ferdinand I , a lightning strike destroyed the keep , the core of the complex, which was 24 meters high at the time. The entire complex was probably so affected by lightning that it fell into disrepair, despite attempts at reconstruction, and was ultimately no longer inhabited. This decay can not only be explained by the natural event, but also by the resulting insignificance: the previously contested property in the border area had become a half-destroyed castle in the middle of the Habsburg hereditary lands .
It was not until 1683 that the castle played a role again for the farmers of the nearby Mannersdorf community, who took refuge in the ruins during the Second Turkish Siege. The walls withstood the enemy onslaught, but the 3,000 people seeking protection suffered from hunger and poor hygiene. Despite the catastrophic conditions, the defenders refused to surrender to the Turks.
When the Kuruzen , Hungarian rebels, devastated the place between 1704 and 1708, the Scharfeneck Castle was again available to the residents as a place of protection. Since the 18th century, the castle fell into ruin and was recaptured by nature.