Thalberg Castle
| Thalberg Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Thalberg Castle |
||
| Creation time : | 1171 to 1180 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Received or received substantial parts | |
| Place: | Dechantskirchen | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 24 '57 " N , 16 ° 0' 19" E | |
|
||
The Burg Thalberg is an excellent example of high medieval Burgenbaues in Styria and arguably the best preserved Roman fortifications in the country. It is located above the Lafnitz in the municipality of Dechantskirchen , Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district .
The building complex of the upper castle is 90 meters long and 23 meters wide. Most of the Romanesque building stock has been preserved from it. Two mighty square towers stand on the narrow sides of the castle. The 24 meter high keep in the east secures the gate, which is made of ashlars and rubble stones. It is connected to the lower west tower by the twelve meter high curtain wall . The 50-meter-long outer courtyard adjoins the keep. Its north side is bordered by a three-storey residential building that dates back to the Romanesque but was expanded in the late Gothic period. The exterior has been preserved, but most of the interior ceilings have collapsed, making it practically a covered ruin.
In the West, which is also encloses three-storey Palas the inner courtyard. Its north wing was rebuilt in the late Gothic period, the south wing was redesigned in the 17th century. On the upper floor of the transverse tract, which separates the inner and outer courtyard, is the two-bay late Gothic St. Niklas Chapel, which was renovated in a neo-Gothic style around 1910. The end of the choir protrudes like a bay window into the outer courtyard. A small hall with a central column and baroque stucco rib vault connects to the chapel. The living quarters on the first floor of the Palas were also restored in the first years of the 20th century after they had been left to decay for a long time without a roof. The old coffered ceilings were lost and the courtyard galleries were replaced by unadorned exterior corridors. Some Romanesque details have been preserved on the walls of the individual buildings, e.g. B. the four and a half meter high arched entrance to the keep with two set columns, of which only the bud capitals and the bases have escaped the ravages of time. Remains of an ornamental frieze on the eastern gate and two walled-up double-arched windows can also be seen. In the 15th century, the entire castle complex was surrounded by a low wall, which resulted in a narrow kennel. The former battlements no longer exist. The outer bailey, built in 1499, is located at the foot of the mountain. It has its own gate with a former drawbridge portal and is connected to the main castle by a wall ring. A three-story warehouse building from the 17th century occupies the southwest corner of the spacious courtyard.
The castle is believed to have been built as a sovereign fiefdom between 1171 and 1180 in the course of the border fortification measures against Hungary by Leopold von Erlach . Thalberg was first mentioned in documents in 1209 with Leopold's sons, Erhard and Heinrich von Krumbach . In 1346 it falls to Ulrich den Tursen . In the 15th century the Neuberg and the Lords of Rottal are the owners of the castle. The latter had major redesigns and extensions carried out. From 1523 to 1557 Thalberg belonged to the Dietrichstein family . They increased the rule at the expense of the Vorauer and Pöllauer monasteries. The district court belonging to the castle reached as far as the Lower Austrian border on the Wechsel . At that time Thalberg was the center of Protestantism in northern Eastern Styria. Around 1530 Turkish troops devastated the facility. It came to the Rauber family through Jakob von der Dürr and Adam von Lindeck in 1565 . For economic reasons, the estate was seized and sold to Wolfgang Unverzagt in 1603 . The Raubers tried to take Thalberg by force, but their attack was bloodily repulsed. In 1610 the Jesuits of Graz acquired the property. During the Turkish War of 1683 and the Kuruc invasions of 1704 and 1708, the castle also served as a place of refuge for the people of neighboring Friedberg . When the Jesuit order was abolished in 1773, Thalberg fell to the state and was leased. In 1797 the manor was publicly auctioned. The new owners, the nobles von Erko, expanded the Meierhof at the foot of the castle hill like a castle. Since only this was inhabited in the following, the high castle began to fall into disrepair. This development continued in the 19th century, as the owners changed quickly and showed no interest in the old building. Occasionally the castle was even used as a quarry. During this time the castle lost a significant part of its Romanesque stone carvings. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Anna Potzinger, the owner at the time, restored the complex, which then served as a castle guesthouse or rest home. Helene Natel bought the castle at auction in 1917, but sold it to the Hauke-Gißlinger family a year later. Today the castle is owned by Heinz Gißlinger.
Parts of the castle are currently being renovated by the owner himself or by the Dechantskirchen volunteer fire department .
Web links
- Entry via Castle Thalberg to Burgen-Austria
- Information from Thalburger.at