Vichtenstein Castle
| Vichtenstein Castle | ||
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 Vichtenstein Castle |
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| Creation time : | around 1100 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | well preserved, inhabited | |
| Place: | Vichtenstein | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 31 '44 " N , 13 ° 39' 8" E | |
| Height: | 540 m above sea level A. | |
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The castle Vichtenstein rises far above the visible Danube valley in Sauwald in Upper Austria in the municipality Vichtenstein , opposite the market Obernzell in Lower Bavaria .
history
The year the hilltop castle was built cannot be documented; It is assumed that the castle was probably built around the year 1100 and belonged to the County of Formbach . It was first mentioned in 1116 with the Count of Formbach at Schloss Vornbach , who also called themselves "von Vichtenstein". It is possible that Heinrich II von Formbach, who died in 1090, was the builder of the first castle complex.
Hedwig von Vichtenstein from the Formbach family had brought her husband Engelberg Graf zu Hall and Wasserburg at Burg Wasserburg the rule of Vichtenstein as a dowry when her family of origin had expired in the name-bearer tribe. In 1217 King Andreas II of Hungary took part in the fifth crusade , the Damiette Crusade , to the Holy Land, in which many German, but above all Bavarian knights took part, including those from the neighborhood of the Count of Wasserburg and Vichtenstein. The attempt to penetrate the holy land failed and King Andrew returned. Most of the German knights stayed behind and tried to conquer Egypt because the Holy Land was under the political influence of Egypt. To do this, they called in more knights and Count Konrad von Wasserburg and Vichtenstein prepared for war. On October 22nd, 1218, he borrowed the funds of 1,000 silver marks necessary for the war trip from Prince-Bishop Ulrich II of Passau and pledged his Vichtenstein Castle and all the extensive possessions in the upper and lower Kößlbachtal to the monastery. In addition, it was agreed that on his return the count could only redeem the castle from his own resources and only pledge it for his own use so that the diocese could not be taken advantage of by strangers in the donation mentioned. Shortly after signing the contract, Konrad married and gave the castle of Vichtenstein to his wife Kunigunde, Countess von Lambach (Hirschberg). Towards the end of 1218, Konrad headed an army detachment of the Crusaders to Egypt and in the summer of 1219 began the siege of the Damiette fortress . Although the fortress fell, the crusade failed a little later and Konrad and Bishop Ulrich von Passau, who had succeeded, fled back home.
Bishop Ulrich died on October 30, 1221. Count Konrad von Wasserburg and Vichtenstein, however, returned safely to Vichtenstein about six months later. In the meantime, a violent dispute about the legality of this transaction had broken out in Passau because of the transfer of Vichtenstein Castle to Konrad's wife. In the course of this feud, the vassals and castle men of Vichtenstein as well as other robber barons devastated episcopal property, so that Bishop Gebhard von Passau turned to the German King Heinrich VII zu Worms for help . The emperor outlawed the knights concerned on March 13, 1222, which led to a brief peace. After his return, however, Konrad took part again in the raids and raids of the unscrupulous robber barons and hindered trade routes and shipping by blocking the Danube. Konrad was then excommunicated several times and finally only managed to shake off the imperial ban under the toughest conditions.
Under the chairmanship of Emperor Friedrich II , it was decided that Hallgrave Konrad von Wasserburg and Vichtenstein had to leave Vichtenstein Castle, including accessories and all goods that they owned between the Salza and Enns and from the Isar to the Bohemian Forest, to the Bishop of Passau . As a visible sign of Passau's property rights, the bishop took over the Vichtensteiner castle tower and the two adjoining and associated fiefs. The guards and porters of the castle were to be provided at the expense of the bishop, these and the other castle residents had to swear allegiance to both the bishop and the count and undertake not to harass any more travelers. In return, Bishop 1200 Mark Passauer pledged weights to the Count for Vichtenstein, including his members and ministers , and gave a house in Passau as a fief.
The bishops of Passau had the castle, which they pledged if money was needed, administered by keepers or burgraves . The Passau city judge Andreas Haller was in 1367 pledge holder of the castle, but also the leader of the Passau civil uprising against the rule of the bishop. After the defeat of the citizenry, he sold the castle to the knight Friedrich von Puchberg. This in turn led to a long-term feud for property. When he faced financial ruin in 1370, the bishop decided to pledge Vichtenstein Castle and the associated manor to the nobles von Schaunberg. After the Schaunberger's defeat against Duke Albrecht III. Vichtenstein returned from Austria to the Diocese of Passau. From 1661 to 1691 the Vichtenstein manor was administered by the burgrave Georg Franz Ebenhoch von Hocheneben , remained with the Passau monastery until secularization on January 3, 1803 and then came into the possession of Austria . Vichtenstein Castle and the land were sold to private investors. After the peasants' liberation in 1848 , the castle and large estates came into the possession of the Counts of Pachta through purchase in 1868 . The current owners acquired the castle and the property belonging to it from the estate of the Pachta. During the last months of the Second World War in May 1945 and the subsequent period of the expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia , the castle was a reception center for displaced persons and refugees. The castle is owned by Klaus Schulz-Wulkow and cannot be visited.
Vichtenstein Castle today
The castle is located above the right bank of the Danube on a steep mountain slope above the village of Vichtenstein . The castle was inhabited continuously. As a result, the castle area has been rebuilt and renovated several times over the centuries.
A massive, tall Romanesque tower rises on the narrow ridge that connects the castle with the forecourt. The oldest parts of the castle are the separate keep and the gate construction . Access to the tower is via a brick bridge that leads to the gate tower with a pointed arch gate and rollers above it for a previously existing drawbridge . The two square residential towers were built in the 15th or 16th century. After the gate hall is the elongated front courtyard, which is bordered on both sides by walls. After a sharp bend, the actual courtyard opens. The residential and farm buildings are based on the curtain wall. This is reinforced by towers that were used to sweep the sides.
The castle chapel, consecrated to Saint Hippolytus of Rome in the 14th century and enlarged in the 17th century, is also of artistic historical importance . The interior of the chapel has a ribbed vault with figural keystones.
More pictures
Vichtenstein Castle: gate tower
Vichtenstein Castle: entrance gate
Vichtenstein Castle: Tower in the inner courtyard
Vichtenstein Castle: inner courtyard
Vichtenstein Castle: Castle Chapel
literature
- Norbert Grabherr : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. A guide for castle hikers and friends of home. 1976 (3rd revised edition), Linz: Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, ISBN 3-85214-157-5 .
- Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria. With aerial photographs by Lothar Beckel, Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau Vienna, 2nd improved and expanded edition 1973, ISBN 3 218 00278 8 , there: When it was the fashion to move to the Holy Land - Vichtenstein Upper Austria, pages 66 and 67 with an aerial photograph.
Web links
- Entry on Vichtenstein Castle in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Entry via Vichtenstein to Burgen-Austria
- Castle lore Austria