Rabenstein castle ruins (Virgen)

Rabenstein castle ruins
View from the ministerial tower to the castle
Alternative name (s):	Virgen Castle
Creation time :	around 1100 to 1200
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Place:	Virgen
Geographical location	47 ° 0 '33 "  N , 12 ° 27' 59"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 0 '33 "  N , 12 ° 27' 59"  E
Height:	1410  m above sea level A.

Keep of the Rabenstein castle ruins

The Rabenstein castle ruins , formerly known as Virgen Castle , are the ruins of a hilltop castle in the municipality of Virgen , East Tyrol . The castle from the 12th century served as the seat of the keeper of Virgen until the beginning of the 18th century and then fell into disrepair. After larger parts of the facility collapsed in 1963, extensive security measures were used to preserve the current state of preservation. With a total area of ​​4,800 m², it is the third largest medieval castle in Tyrol .

location

The ruin is located on a wooded hill north of the fraction Mellitz . The fraction can be reached via a road from the main town of Virgen-Dorf to the south, but only a hiking trail leads to the castle itself. At an altitude of 1,410 meters, Rabenstein was one of the highest castles in Tyrol.

history

Finds of two coins and jewelery from the Roman Empire indicate an early use of the Rabenstein hill. However, the medieval castle is a 12th century foundation. It is first documented in 1182 or 1183 in connection with the Salzburg Ministerial Rudolf von Virgen. Originally belonging to the County of Gorizia , the castle came into the allodial possession of Count Albert of Tyrol . The conflict between Count Albert and the Archbishop of Salzburg led to Albert's capture in 1252. For the release Albert had to cede the castle Virgen and the castle Oberdrauburg to the Salzburg archbishopric. The loss of Virgen Castle was confirmed in 1252 with the Lieserhofen Peace Treaty (1252). However, Salzburg gave Albert's heirs the castle as a fief. The feudal dependence persisted into the 18th century, but had no practical effects. For the castle chapel, which was consecrated to St. Leonhard , Count Albert IV of Gorizia founded a chaplain in 1333 . However, the benefit was transferred to the Liebburg in Lienz in 1665 . It was not until Emperor Joseph II that the Benefice was reincorporated into the possession of the Virgen parish. Until the 15th century, the castle complex was called Burg or Schloss Virgen, only then did the name Burg Rabenstein become established , although there is no clear reference to the origin of the name. When in 1500 large parts of today's East Tyrol fell to the Roman German King and later Emperor Maximilian I , Maximilian I gave the city of Lienz and the associated regional courts (including Virgen) to Michael von Wolkenstein-Rodenegg . After the Selva family went bankrupt in 1653, the rule of Lienz and Virgen fell to the Haller Damenstift , which held the Virgen court until 1783. The castle served as the seat of the land registry and the Virgen court until 1703. In 1703 the keeper moved from the possibly already dilapidated castle to his own nursing home in the village of Virgen, which subsequently left the facility to gradually decay. The castle fell into complete disrepair due to a fire, and in 1963 the eastern and southern parts of the keep collapsed . Only then were extensive security measures taken to preserve the ruins in their current appearance.

Castle complex

View over the remains of the farm wing on Virgen

The origins of Rabenstein Castle go back to a smaller complex from the 12th century, which was expanded around 1272 to include a chapel and a farm wing. By 1300, the new building of made curtain walls and the construction of the keep at the highest point of the tower. Then there was the so-called Pfaffenstöckl. In the first half of the 14th century, the castle complex in the south was additionally secured by a tower-reinforced outer bailey and the ministry tower forty meters to the south .

Site plan: A - hall, B - chapel, C - castle gate, D - keep, E - Pfaffenstöckl, F - service wing, G - castle courtyard, H - outer bailey, J - ministerial tower

The Palas belongs to the oldest part of the castle and was originally a multi-storey building, of which only the foundation walls are preserved today. The partially heated living rooms and bedrooms were located here. To the north of the palace was the chapel, the only evidence of which is the north wall, preserved with remains of frescoes. The Pfaffenstöckl was a three-story extension to the ring wall in the northwestern part of the castle complex. The building, which measures around 7.50 by 4.80 meters, was decorated with full-surface frescoes on all four sides of the interior of the first floor , parts of which have survived to this day. In order to save the sculptures from further destruction, the remains of the Pfaffenstöckl were protected with a roof.

Only the northern parts of the curtain wall are preserved today. Originally they were built in several phases and were probably crowned by battlements . The castle gate was in the south-eastern curtain wall, but is no longer visible today. The castle gate could only be entered through the outer bailey, which additionally secured the castle gate. South of the outer bailey was the three-storey ministerial tower, which served as accommodation for the ministerial (administrator). The protected entrance to the tower was on the upper floor of the north wall.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Bernd Lenzer: The story of inconspicuous walls , in: Osttiroler Bote from August 24, 2006, p. 21
2. ↑ The year is given differently in different publications. See Oberwalder: Virgen p. 67 (1182); Burgenwelt [1] or information board at the castle (1183)
3. ^ Pizzinini: Osttirol p. 328; Information board for Rabenstein Castle
4. ↑ Oberwalder: Kals am Großglockner p. 110
5. ↑ Information board for Rabenstein Castle
6. ↑ Pizzinini: Osttirol p. 328
7. ↑ Oberwalder: Virgen p. 67, information board Burg Rabenstein
8. ↑ Information board for Rabenstein Castle; The wall paintings in the so-called Pfaffenstöckl on the Rabenstein castle ruins near Virgen [2]

literature

• Louis Oberwalder : Kals. Close to heaven. Kals community, Kals am Großglockner 2004.
• Louis Oberwalder: Virgen in the Hohe Tauern National Park. Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 1999, ISBN 3-7066-2197-5 .
• Meinrad Pizzinini : East Tyrol. The Lienz district. His works of art, historical forms of life and settlement (= Austrian art monographs. Vol. 7). Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg et al. 1974, ISBN 3-900173-17-6 .

Web links

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

• Entry via Rabenstein (East Tyrol) to Burgen-Austria
• The Pfaffenstöckl on burgseite.com