Offenburg castle ruins

Offenburg castle ruins
Offenburg castle ruins (2008)
Alternative name (s):	Offenburg
Creation time :	early 12th century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Construction:	Quarry stone (originally) bricks (repairs from the 16th century)
Place:	Pöls-Oberkurzheim
Geographical location	47 ° 14 '3.9 "  N , 14 ° 35' 42.9"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '3.9 "  N , 14 ° 35' 42.9"  E
Height:	1241  m above sea level A.

The Offenburg castle ruins are located north of the village of Pöls in the municipality of Pöls-Oberkurzheim in Styria .

location

Engraving of Offenburg Castle by Georg Matthäus Vischer , around 1681

The once large hilltop castle - only sparse remains exist - is located about 300 meters north of Pöl in the area of ​​the former municipality of Oberkurzheim on a foothill of the Ederkogel . The Ederkogel, on which the ruin lies, slopes steadily on three sides and is only connected to the rest of the mountain in the north by a narrow mountain saddle - hence the castle gate was in the north.

Offenburg is about nine kilometers from the district capital Judenburg and is freely accessible. In summer, however, access is more difficult because the castle is overgrown.

The castle

The castle gate in the north was protected by a moat that was partly cut into the rock and partly walled. A drawbridge led to a huge square gate tower . In the south, two tall and narrow residential buildings adjoined the gate tower. A wall with battlements led to a tower-like building in the southeast. The defensive wall on the west side ended at the keep and bordered the castle. The keep is the castle's best-preserved building and had five floors. The keep dates from the 13th century, its foundations were reinforced in the 15th century with a truncated pyramid-shaped wall. It is unusual for a castle that the keep was not attached inside the castle or directly on the outside, but was about 30 meters free-standing from the castle. It has a square footprint of seven meters and has been preserved up to a height of about 18 meters.

The high entrance from the Romanesque was on the second floor of the south side, which was turned away from the enemy. A second defensive wall closed off the long and narrow inner courtyard and led back to the gate building. In the courtyard the possibilities, no longer detectable were farm buildings and a cistern .

Most of the buildings are made of quarry stone and were built between the 12th and 14th centuries and expanded in the 15th century. Some repair work in the 16th century can be recognized by the use of masonry bricks . At the northeast corner, a cone of rubble indicates the location of the former palace . To the south of the castle, on a slightly lower level, was a four-storey, square tower, which was surrounded by its own defensive wall attached to the main castle. In the east and west, there were kennels , the outer walls of which have for the most part already slipped.

history

The establishment of the Offenburg is dated in the early twelfth century, possibly under the rule of the noble family of Eppenstein - after that it became an ancestral castle ( family seat ) of the Teufenbacher . The names “Offenberch” and later “Offenburg” were derived from Offo (Otto) von Teufenbach . An "Offo" was mentioned several times in the period from 1160 to 1212, but the Offenburg was probably built by his father of the same name.

Together with the residents of the Reifenstein castle ruins at the other end of the valley (south side), it was the job of the Offenburgers to control the road through the Pöls valley (river) , which represented an important traffic connection. From 1122 Offenburg was owned by the Traungau family , who were also margraves of Styria .

Later managed Ministeriale from the House of Liechtenstein , the Offenburg and lost it through the suppression of the Styrian nobility conspiracy 1268. . Ottokar II Premysl sat Dietrich von Fuellenstein one as Viscount which heavy attacks on the property of the Abbey Seckau performed. In 1276 the Liechtensteiners expelled the Bohemia and moved back into Offenburg.

A regional court was connected with Offenburg , which had come to the Liechtensteiners around 1210 from Otto von Teufenbach . Originally it reached from Teufenbach (today: Teufenbach-Katsch ) to Kraubath an der Mur and was greatly reduced in size in 1443. In 1295 Offenburg was partially pledged to the Counts of Heunburg ; In the middle of the 14th century the right of lien was taken over by the gallers . After the death of the last Galler, Duke Ernst moved into the castle and appointed hired caretakers, and in 1421 pledged the castle to Andree Ramung .

Between 1459 and 1496, Hans Ramung had the already dilapidated castle repaired. When Bernhard Ramung died childless, King Ferdinand I moved in and sold the rule to Hans Hofmann von Grünbühel in 1531 . In 1532 the Offenburg served as a chalk fire station. In 1589 his son Hans Hofmann von Grünbühel sold Offenburg to Carl and his brother Offo . The Teufenbachers then relocated the administration of the estate to the more conveniently located Reifenstein castle ruins . However, they lived in Sauerbrunn Palace .

After a major fire in 1590, the damage to the Offenburg was no longer repaired. In 1613 Hans Wilhelm Freiherr von Saurau took over the property from the von Saurau family . His son Christof Alban von Saurau was stripped of his rule because he was convicted of various serious crimes. In 1653 he was imprisoned at the Graz Schlossberg . Three years later the Offenburg came to Gregor Freiherr von Sidenitsch and in 1698 to Ferdinand Prince von Schwarzenberg from the von Schwarzenberg family . He had the administration of the rule carried out from Gusterheim Castle . The Offenburg is still owned by his family today.

Web links

• Entry over castle ruins Offenburg on Burgen-Austria
• Martin Aigner: OFFENBURG. STMK. / District Judenburg / Pöls. In: burgseite.com. Burgseite.com, p. 3 , accessed October 27, 2019 . 
• Hermann Truschnig: Defense structures in Austria. Offenburg castle ruins. In: wehrbauten.at. wehrbauten.at, p. 1 , accessed on October 27, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oliver Popelka: Offenburg. Small remains of a ruin north of Pöls. In: ruine.at. ruine.at, p. 1 , accessed on October 27, 2019 .  
2. ^ Franz Leitner: Castle ruins Offenburg in Pöls. Market town office Pöls-Oberkurzheim. In: freizeitinfo.at. FLManagement , p. 2 , accessed October 27, 2019 .