Pöckstein castle ruins

Pöckstein castle ruins
	The donjon hill with surrounding inner moat and wall
Alternative name (s):	Böckstein, Alt-Böckstein
Creation time :	12th Century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Castle ruins: Wall, moat and castle hill
Geographical location	46 ° 53 '32.5 " N , 14 ° 26' 40.6" E Coordinates: 46 ° 53 '32.5 " N , 14 ° 26' 40.6" E
Height:	690 m above sea level A.

The Pöckstein castle ruins , also known as Böckstein or Alt-Böckstein , are the ruins of a hilltop castle from the 12th century in the municipality of Althofen in Carinthia . From the ruins, the castle hill, the surrounding almost ring-shaped wall / ditch system and structures carved into the rock are still visible.

location

The castle ruins are located at an altitude of about 690 m, on what is now a wooded knockback of the hill, also known as Böckstein , northwest of the confluence of Gurk and Metnitz . To the west the terrain drops very steeply and rocky from the castle to the Metnitzbach 100 m below. The ruin is located in the area of the cadastral municipality of Töschelsdorf , which belongs to the municipality of Althofen , while the newer Pöckstein Castle on the other side of the Metnitz belongs to the municipality of Strasbourg .

Surname

The Inner Moat (2017)

Walls and steps carved into the rock

The name Pöckstein (originally Pockstain ) was isolated on the stamp mills returned to the ironworks in the region. More often the buck was understood as a reference to a heraldic animal or to roe deer or chamois that were on the rocks. Lately the name has been seen as an alternative spelling of Beckstein , whereby beck should stand for Bach , which fits well with the name Zwischenwässern for the opposite place and for the location at the confluence of the Gurk and Metnitz rivers.

history

The castle was built in 1147 under Roman I , who was Bishop of Gurk from 1131 to 1167 . Together with the castles Rabenstein (about 1 km east of Pöckstein) and Bulldorf (about 1 km southwest of Pöckstein), the Gurkans tried to control the entrances to Gurk and Metnitztal as well as the road connection between Friesach and Althofen.

Pöckstein Castle survived the end of the 13th century when the Rabenstein and Bulldorf castles were destroyed by the Salzburgers. But also Pöckstein, about the end of which no details are known, was abandoned or destroyed at an early stage.

When Pöckstein Castle was built as an episcopal residence in the valley below the castle ruins around 1780, the ruins of the castle were also used as building material. The sparse remains of the castle were also destroyed by the bombardment of the Gurk Bridge during World War II.

Building description

No walls are visible from the "badly crumbled" castle, only two walls carved into rock and a few steps can be seen. The castle cemetery hill is impressively protected to the southeast by a moat, a rampart, another ditch and a second rampart. Bomb craters can be seen in the outer trench.

literature

FX Kohla: Carinthian castle lore. First part: Carinthia's castles, palaces, residences and fortified sites. Klagenfurt 1973. p. 22f.

Individual evidence

^ Adolph Schaubach: The German Alps described for locals and foreigners. Volume 5, Fr. Fromann, Jena 1887, p. 174.
↑ Primus Lessiak: The kärntnischen station name. in: Carinthia. Announcements from the history association for Carinthia. 112th year (1922). P. 117.
↑ Walter Haas (Ed.): Provinzial evidence: German collections of idiotisms of the 18th century. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994. p. 715.
^ Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia . Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , p. 630.
^ ^A ^b F. X. Kohla: Carinthian Castle Studies. First part: Carinthia's castles, palaces, residences and fortified sites. Klagenfurt 1973. p. 23.
^ ^A ^b Josef Wagner: Album for Kaernten, or representation of this duchy through words and pictures. Kleinmayr, Klagenfurt 1845. p. 131.
^ FX Kohla: Carinthian Castle Studies. Second part: References to sources and literature on the historical and legal position of the castles, palaces and residences in Carinthia and their owners. Klagenfurt 1973, p. 10.
^ Siegfried Hartwagner: Austrian Art Monograph Volume VIII: Carinthia. The St. Veit an der Glan district. Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1977, ISBN 3-900173-22-2 . P. 167.

[1] Adolph Schaubach: The German Alps described for locals and foreigners. Volume 5, Fr. Fromann, Jena 1887, p. 174.

[2] Primus Lessiak: The kärntnischen station name. in: Carinthia. Announcements from the history association for Carinthia. 112th year (1922). P. 117.

[3] Walter Haas (Ed.): Provinzial evidence: German collections of idiotisms of the 18th century. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994. p. 715.

[4] Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia . Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , p. 630.

[Kohla_I-5] A ^b F. X. Kohla: Carinthian Castle Studies. First part: Carinthia's castles, palaces, residences and fortified sites. Klagenfurt 1973. p. 23.

[Wagner-6] A ^b Josef Wagner: Album for Kaernten, or representation of this duchy through words and pictures. Kleinmayr, Klagenfurt 1845. p. 131.

[7] FX Kohla: Carinthian Castle Studies. Second part: References to sources and literature on the historical and legal position of the castles, palaces and residences in Carinthia and their owners. Klagenfurt 1973, p. 10.

[8] Siegfried Hartwagner: Austrian Art Monograph Volume VIII: Carinthia. The St. Veit an der Glan district. Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1977, ISBN 3-900173-22-2 . P. 167.