Lichtenhag castle ruins
| Lichtenhag castle ruins | ||
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 Lichtenhag castle ruins today |
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| Alternative name (s): | Liechtenhaag Castle | |
| Creation time : | 15th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Gramastetten | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 22 '46 " N , 14 ° 10' 32" E | |
| Height: | 470 m above sea level A. | |
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Lichtenhag castle ruins , historically also Liechtenhaag castle , is located in the area of the municipality of Gramastetten in the Mühlviertel in Upper Austria . It was first mentioned in a document in 1455. After the castle was merged with other lords under the Starhembergers , it began to decline. The ruin is now privately owned.
location
The former hilltop castle is located halfway up a ridge that slopes steeply into the valley of the Großer Rodl at 470 m above sea level. A. Elevation. The facility belongs to the village of the same name Lichtenhag in the market town of Gramastetten, from whose center the former castle is about one kilometer to the west as the crow flies.
description
The small former castle has an uneven three-sided floor plan. The total area enclosed by the curtain wall is 1,100 square meters. The complex consisted of servants' houses and a mighty, pentagonal and once five-storey residential and defense tower with Gothic gate and window frames. These buildings are now in ruins. A house in front of the ruins belonging to the complex is still inhabited.
history
The Lords of Haag are considered to be the builders of the castle complex. The origin of the Upper Austrian Herren von Haag cannot be satisfactorily clarified on the basis of the thin documents. A descent from the Bavarian family of the Knights of Haag would be just as conceivable as a connection with the owners of the old Haag Castle near the city of Haag in Lower Austria. A Mr. Espinius von Haag acquired Hartheim Castle in 1323 . In the nearby alcove , his nephew Ulrich had the Annaberg Church built in 1313, which houses the burial place of the Lords of Haag. Espinius' son, Wolfhard Espin von Haag, took over his father's first name as his family name. From then on the Hague called themselves Espin von Haag, Espan and later Aspan von Haag . The Meierhof, which used to belong to Lichtenhaag Castle, is still called “Maier in Aspanhof” today . In addition to Hartheim Castle, the Aspanen bought Wimsbach Castle in the middle of the 15th century .
The name "Lichtenhaag" can be found for the first time in the title of Mr. Martin Aspan von Haag zu Liechtenhaag and his brother Wolfhard Aspan von Haag zum (!) Liechtenhag, who died in 1409 . "Lichtenhag" is the name given to the Lichtenhag corridor, an open area south of the castle below the Maier farm in Aspanhof. From the name "Lichtenhaag" one can infer an unwooded, fenced property into which the Lords of Haag had come. The piece of land was cultivated from the independent "Alhartinghof", which later became the "Maier in Aspanhof" farm
Jörg Aspan von Haag zu Liechtenhaag, who died in 1515, had a land register laid out in 1504 in which he mentions the construction of the castle:
"The gschlos Liechtenhag, according to my parents, the Äspan paused from the ground up on the Grundt so belonged to the farm, according to the alhartinghof, which is open there, which is practiced between the pauhof and the schaden hoff."
The parents of Jörg Aspan, Sigismund Aspan von Haag and his wife Agnes, had the castle built from scratch in the middle of the 15th century on the property that belonged to the free Alhartinghof. After the castle was built, the Alhartinghof was used as a farm and was subsequently called "Maier zu Aspanhof". The castle complex was first mentioned in documents in 1455 in the fief book of King Ladislaus Postumus .
In some castle books one reads that with "Leuthard and Chunrad de Haage" 1167 the first documented owners of Lichtenhag Castle were handed down. The document of July 14, 1167 only lists Leuthard and Chunrad de Haage among the witnesses in a matter of the Wilhering monastery. A castle does not appear in the document. To infer a castle in Lichtenhag from the name Haage is historically untenable. It is exactly the same with a claim, also published in a renowned castle book, that a document that has only been handed down as a copy named 1278 a "Heinrich von Lichtenhaag". The text of this wrongly quoted document does not know a "Heinrich von Lichtenhaag", but a "Hainrich von Hage".
The location of the castle halfway above the valley of the Große Rodl should have enabled Mr. von Haag to control the salt trade from Aschach an der Donau to Bohemia . By Rodltal certainly tried went no main road, but Hemmer (Dealer) repeatedly to outlying climbing to escape customs.
The Aspanen received their castle and possessions as a sovereign fief. In addition to the forest, hunting grounds and fishing grounds, the Lichtenhaag rule included the Meierhof “Maier in Aspanhof” as well as numerous freelance and feudal subjects. The Aspanen von Haag held high offices. At times they were district judges, burgraves and keepers in Wallsee, Scharnstein , Schaunberg and Neuhaus. They also did excellent military service. Jacob Aspan von Haag auf Liechtenhaag, Lord of Harthamb and Wimbspach, was elevated to the status of baron around 1598 as his Roman Imperial Majesty Councilor and District Administrator in the Duchy of Austria ob der Enns.
When Hans Joachim von Aspan sold the castle to Wolf von Gera in 1615, the “Gschloss Liechtenhaag” was already a “bad old building inside a Herr khain apartment”. Since Gera resided at Waxenberg Castle, he did not need Lichtenhag and left the facility to decay. In 1654 Conrad Balthasar von Starhemberg acquired the dominions of Waxenberg, Lichtenhag and Eschelberg . Lichtenhag was assigned to the rule of Eschelberg. The Lichtenhager subjects were administered from Eschelberg.
The graphic by Georg Matthäus Vischer shows Lichtenhag as a ruin around 1670.
- Lichtenhag castle ruins
Weekend house below the castle
Coat of arms stone
Since 1954/1955 monument preservation measures have been taken to protect the residential tower from further deterioration. In 1964 the castle ruins were bought by Kurt Wöss and the porch was converted into a weekend home. The castle ruins have been owned by Harald and Renate Kogler since 2012. The ruin is not open to the general public, but can be viewed by appointment.
See also
literature
- Herbert Erich Baumert, Georg Grüll : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria . Volume 1: Mühlviertel and Linz. Vienna 1988, pp. 64-66.
- Norbert Grabherr : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. A guide for castle hikers and friends of home . 3. Edition. Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1976, ISBN 3-85214-157-5 .
- Thomas Schwierz: Mr. Aspan von Haag at Lichtenhag Castle. In: Local history from Eidenberg, Gramastetten and elsewhere. Eidenberg 2018, pp. 83–112 ( online ).
Web links
- Official club website burg-lichtenhag.at
- Lichtenhag. In: burgenkunde.at.
- Layout. In: burg-lichtenhag.at. (Floor plan of the Lichtenhag castle ruins).