Dürnstein castle ruins (Lower Austria)

Dürnstein castle ruins
Dürnstein castle ruins - view of the complex from the southwest
Creation time :	around 1150
Castle type :	Höhenburg, rocky location
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Geographical location	48 ° 23 '52 "  N , 15 ° 31' 19"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 23 '52 "  N , 15 ° 31' 19"  E
Height:	360  m above sea level NN

The castle ruin Dürnstein is a castle ruin in the Wachau above the village of Dürnstein in Austria .

history

The rock castle was built by the Kuenringers in the middle of the 12th century. Azzo von Gobatsburg , ancestor of the Kuenring family, acquired the area around the castle from the Tegernsee monastery . His grandson Hadmar I built the castle. The city of Dürnstein and the castle are connected by a defensive wall, an extended city wall. Above the chapel there was once the inner courtyard, inside a mighty boulder with a carved rock cellar.

The castle is known because the English King Richard the Lionheart , who returned from the Third Crusade , was imprisoned in Dürnstein or a neighboring castle from December 1192 to March 1193 on the initiative of Duke Leopold V under Hadmar II and then passed on to the German Emperor Heinrich VI . was delivered.

In 1306 a castle chapel was first mentioned, consecrated to the evangelist Johannes. In 1588 the castle was restored as a fortress by Streun von Schwarzenau. In 1645, in the final phase of the Thirty Years' War under Lennart Torstensson , the Swedes also conquered Dürnstein. When they withdrew, the Swedes blew up the castle gate.

In 1662 the castle was no longer inhabited, but could have been repaired. A year later, “Dürnstein Castle” appeared among the places of refuge in the Turkish threat. In 1679 the castle house was finally no longer habitable and from now on it was left to decay.

In 1882 the Starhembergwarte was built above Dürnstein. Prince Camillo Starhemberg had the access route laid out at his own expense. Today this path is part of the Wachau World Heritage Trail .

literature

• Federal Monuments Office: Dehio Lower Austria, north of the Danube , Vienna 1990, p. 122
• Falko Daim , Karin Kühtreiber, Thomas Kühtreiber : Castles - Waldviertel, Wachau, Moravian Thayatal . 2nd edition, Verlag Freytag & Berndt, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7079-1273-9 , pp. 106-109.
• Franz Eppel : The Wachau . Salzburg 1975, p. 76.
• Hannes Gans: The Wachau with Strudengau and Nibelungengau (= Falters Fine Travel Guide ). Vienna 2006, pp. 308-314.
• Georg Clam-Martinic : Österreichisches Burgenlexikon , Linz 1992, p. 115 ( online at Austria-Forum ).
• Leander Petzoldt (Ed.): Legends from Lower Austria. Munich 1992, pp. 78-79, 123, 126.
• Otto Piper , Thomas Kühtreiber: Die Burgen Niederösterreichs , Schleinbach 2012, p. 28.
• Wilhelm J. Wagner: The large picture atlas on the history of Austria. Vienna 1995, pp. 78-79.

Web links

Commons : Burgruine Dürnstein  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The legend of Richard the Lionheart and the singer Blondel
• Photo gallery: Dürnstein castle ruins
• Entry on Dürnstein in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
• Entry about Dürnstein castle ruins on Lower Austria castles online - Institute for Reality Studies of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, University of Salzburg
• Entry over Dürnstein castle ruins to Burgen-Austria
• Entry on Dürnstein castle ruins (Lower Austria) in the database of the state's memory for the history of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )
• Entry at Wehrbauten.at
• Entry by Otto Piper, Österreichische Burgen, Vienna 1904, vol. 3, p. 8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map of the municipality of Dürnstein on the site of the ruin, February 2007.
2. ↑ Map of the municipality of Dürnstein on the site of the ruin, February 2007.