Osterburg castle ruins (Haunoldstein)
| Osterburg castle ruins | ||
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 Osterburg castle ruins seen from the east |
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| Creation time : | 1175–1200, 1209 (first documented mention) | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Haunoldstein municipality , KG Osterburg | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 12 '18.9 " N , 15 ° 26' 27.9" E | |
| Height: | 300 m above sea level A. | |
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The Osterburg castle ruins are the ruins of a hilltop castle in the cadastral municipality of the same name in the municipality of Haunoldstein in the Sankt Pölten-Land district of Lower Austria . The ruin stands on a triangular rock plateau that drops steeply to the south into the Pielach gorge . From Haunoldstein (Pielachhäuser) a road leads to the ruins and the farmyard.
history
The first plant was probably built in the last quarter of the 12th century, the builder is unknown. Around 1200, the Counts of Peilstein owned the castle as free property . Count Friedrich V von Peilstein died here in 1209. In the second half of the 13th century, the castle was inhabited by followers of the Häusler family. They named themselves after the Osterburg. This had meanwhile become a princely fiefdom. By marriage at the beginning of the 14th century, she came from the cottagers to Konrad Eisenbag. The Tursen von Tiernstein inherited the property around the middle of the 14th century. According to a former inscription above the door of the palace , Rudolf Turso von Tiernstein had the castle expanded in 1405. In 1489 the Prüschenk brothers took over the rule. In 1514, Emperor Maximilian I enfeoffed knight Hans Geyer , whose family had only moved from Franconia in 1482 , with the castle. The castle was modernized and in 1584 the Geyer acquired a regional court from the sovereign. The evangelical branches of the Geyer family had to leave the country after the battle of the White Mountain . The line that remained Catholic was raised to the baron status in 1650 and was allowed to call itself Geyer von Geyersperg auf Osterburg. However, this was soon heavily in debt and was sold to Georg Wertemann Freiherr von Wertema just two years later. He passed it on to Horatius Buccellini Freiherr von Reichenberg in 1653. Finally, Count Raimund Montecuccoli , who owned the neighboring Hohenegg Castle, bought the property in 1668. From 1675 he owned it as a free property. The administration was concentrated on Hohenegg and later in Mitterau, as a result Osterburg was abandoned and fell into disrepair. In 1766, Count Zeno Montecuccoli had the medieval fortifications and part of the residential buildings removed. The material was used to expand Mitterau Castle. The remaining ruins belonged to the Montecuccoli family until 1983. Then it went into private ownership, from 1985 it was made habitable again and partially renovated.
Building
The facility is located on a triangular rock plateau that drops steeply to the south into the Pielach Gorge. No special defensive structures were therefore required on this side. To compensate for the given to the north elevation of the site, was built in the 13th century the Romanesque keep . Its diameter is about ten meters, with the walls up to two meters thick. A staircase ran through them, connecting the individual floors. As usual, the tower had a high entry on the south side facing away from the enemy. Otherwise its walls are only broken by a few square light or loopholes. In the north, a piece of the curtain wall and a ditch ran directly in front of the keep. Above this fortification is the large Meierhof fortified in the Middle Ages as additional protection. Today a street runs between the keep and the opposite hall. In its place was the spacious outer courtyard. The three-storey, three-winged palace from the beginning of the 15th century is partially unplastered and shows its quarry stone masonry. There are still remnants of seven stone coats of arms that have adorned the palace wall here since the middle of the 17th century. A conspicuous wall edge with large cast stones on the north side indicates that the west wing, which is set back here, was added later. The double coffin supported by consoles is remarkable. The hall has a larger hall in the west wing and in the main wing. In this residential building, some Gothic crossed shoulder arch portals have been preserved. The top floor has long been used as a granary. The former two-story chapel was in the eastern transverse wing of the palace. It was later divided by a drawn-in wooden ceiling. On the upper floor, the room showed a late Gothic rib vault and an ogival tracery window . Only remains of the vault can be seen. The gateway to the east of the facility and the bridge that led over the ditch, which is now largely filled in, are no longer preserved.
literature
- Dehio - Lower Austria south of the Danube 2003
- Georg Clam Martinic: Austrian Burgenlexikon, 1992
- Ilse Schöndorfer: Stones and Legends - Castle ruins in Lower Austria, 1999
Web links
- Article about the Osterburg on burgen-austria.com , with further references