Afing castle ruins

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Afing Castle
Alternative name (s): Unterkofler-Schlössl
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Wall remains
Standing position : Ministeriale
Place: Jenesien
Geographical location 46 ° 32 '32.6 "  N , 11 ° 22' 1.6"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 32 '32.6 "  N , 11 ° 22' 1.6"  E
Afing castle ruins (South Tyrol)
Afing castle ruins

The Afing castle ruins (also known as Unterkofler-Schlössl ) are located on a difficult-to-access spur high above the Talfer gorge in the Sarntal in South Tyrol . The history of the old hill fort , from which some remains of the wall have been preserved, is almost unknown.

location

The remains of the castle lie on the orographic right side of the Talfer in the municipality of Jenesien . There a ridge-like spur that is difficult to access pushes forward about 100 meters eastwards towards the Sarner Gorge, which slopes almost vertically on three sides. The easiest access, even if only by climbing, is from the west via the rocky saddle to the steep mountain slope. The closest village is Afing about two and a half kilometers northwest.

Buildings

The remains of the wall, some of which are up to two meters high, are still visible and are located on two small rock heads on the western edge of the terrain spur near the saddle. The more northerly, slightly higher rock head offers space for a 12 × 8 meter square wall and some other remains of mortar wall. Significantly fewer structural traces have been preserved on the second rock head, which are also at risk of slipping. The existing masonry shows itself to be worked quite differently and consists of Bozen quartz porphyry .

Research history

The first, brief mentions of the castle ruins can be found in Josef Weingartner . In the third volume of his work "Die Kunstdenkmäler des Etschlandes", published in 1929, he noted the ruins of a lost, small castle with a fortress on a rocky ledge under the Unterkofler that was difficult to climb . The castle ruin owes its alternative name, Unterkofler-Schlössl , to the above-mentioned Unterkofler-Hof near Afing . In 1931, in an article on "lost castles" in the Bozen area in the monthly magazine for South Tyrolean regional studies " Der Schlern " , Peter Eisenzüge described his excursion to the structural remains, which was also used to take some photographs. In the same year Georg von Hepperger published a report on his visit to the ruin in 1923, including an attached floor plan. In 1947, the Benedictine Johannes Weiß wrote down legends that locate a “poor soul” and a “rich treasure” in the walls.

The detailed description of the Unterkofler-Schlössl, published by Georg Innerebner in the "Schlern", dates from 1953. The author summarized the research problems that arose when dealing with the ruin as follows: The castle is lost today and no one can tell today about its origin, its builders and its former purpose; no document tells of a past existence and even its name has been lost. In his contribution, Innerebner provided an exact localization, a topographical map of the terrain spur, as well as a precise description of the buildings, which he estimated, well over 100 m³ of masonry. In view of the scarcity of water and the lack of paths in the surrounding area, he noted that the location and construction costs were in stark contrast to one another . Despite some doubts, he interpreted the structure as a refuge . In the 1970s Otto Eisensteck published two additional essays, also in “Schlern”, which reported his discovery of a possible melting point on the southern rock head and an interpretation of it as a wind furnace .

Martin Bitschnau's contribution to the Tyrolean Burgenbuch from 1981 is the most comprehensive to date on the castle ruins. He identified the walls as the remains of the documented Afing Castle . This served as the seat of the Lords of Afing mentioned in 1214, who were Ministeriale of the Lords of Wangen.

literature

  • Josef Weingartner : The art monuments of the Etschland . Volume III. Dr. Benno Filser Verlag, Vienna / Augsburg 1929, p. 74
  • Peter Eisensteck: Lost castles: A. The nameless tower in the Dinzl-Leiten near St. Jakob. B. The Kofler Schlössl . In: Der Schlern 12, 1931, pp. 74–75
  • Georg von Hepperger: Report on a visit to the Unterkoflerschlößl in 1923 . In: Der Schlern, 12, 1931, pp. 153–155
  • P. Johannes Weiß OSB : The poor soul and the rich treasure . In: Der Schlern 21, 1947, pp. 345–346
  • Georg Innerebner: The Unterkoflerschlößl: a secret of the Sarnerschlucht . In: Der Schlern 27, 1953, pp. 61–63
  • Otto Eisensteck : The Unterkoflerschlößl . In: Der Schlern 47, 1973, p. 183
  • Otto Eisensteck: Unterkoflerschlößl and his wind oven? In: Der Schlern 52, 1978, p. 343
  • Martin Bitschnau : Afing ("Unterkofler-Schlößl") . In: Oswald Trapp (Ed.): Tiroler Burgenbuch. V. Volume: Sarntal . Athesia publishing house, Bozen 1981. ISBN 88-7014-036-9 , pp. 197-202.