Rafenstein castle ruins

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Rafenstein castle ruins
Rafenstein castle ruins

Rafenstein castle ruins

Alternative name (s): Castel Rafenstein
Ravenstein
Creation time : 13th century (before 1217)
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Bolzano
Geographical location 46 ° 31 '34 "  N , 11 ° 21' 25.5"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 31 '34 "  N , 11 ° 21' 25.5"  E
Height: 692  m slm
Rafenstein castle ruins (South Tyrol)
Rafenstein castle ruins

The castle ruin Rafenstein (also Ravenstein ; in Italian Castel Rafenstein ) is located in South Tyrol ( Italy ) northeast of Bolzano . The mighty structure rises on the western slope of the Sarntal , southeast of Jenesien , above the Talfer gorge .

In the Middle Ages and in the early modern period , the facility controlled a secondary road connection that linked the slope of the Rauhenbühel - documented as " Rouhenpuhel " in 1316 - below Jenesien with Bolzano. The name of the castle (literally "the rough stone") seems to come from the name of the Rauhenbühel.

The castle name 1217 as the " Rough Stone noted" the first time, as a fief of the bishop of Trent , which Albert of Rafenstein as episcopal Vizedom held; he was followed by other Trento ministerials such as Berthold Schwab von Bozen (1222), Eberhard von Rafenstein (1236) and Morandin von Bozen (from 1231); In 1255 the castle hat was awarded to the brothers Friedrich and Beral von Wangen. Already in the 13th century were Palas and curtain wall built and in the 14th century to kennel extended gate tower and the south wing. Finally, in the 16th century, the castle complex - now owned by the Lords of Selva - was fortified with a kennel and corner rondelles in accordance with the new military requirements . These could be defended with firearms. Around 1600, Marx Parakeet von Wolkenstein wrote important parts of his "description of the country" on Rafenstein . At the beginning of the 17th century, the residential wing was increased. Presumably, new windows were broken into the main tower at that time in order to increase the living quality, and a cabinet of curiosities was set up, as evidenced by exotic archaeological finds such as the bones of a Nile crocodile .

The castle was only abandoned in the 19th century and has since fallen into disrepair. Today the corner rondelle and the outer wall have partially collapsed. From a distance, the whitish limed core structure looks like an unfinished and then forgotten shell.

Rafenstein ( 692  m slm ) can be reached via a short, but with 33% permanent incline, very steep, single-lane road from Bolzano (at the cable car station to Jenesien, right up the stream), which is only recommended for experienced climbers. Alternatively, you can easily reach the castle ruins from the road to Jenesien. Extensive restoration work began in 2009 and the castle ruins have been open to the public again since May 2014.

literature

  • Viktor Malfèr: Rafenstein Castle . Ferrari-Auer, Bolzano 1975.
  • Viktor Malfèr: Corrections to the history of Rafenstein Castle near Bozen . In: Der Schlern 50, 1976, pp. 49-50.
  • Armin Torggler: Rafenstein castle ruins: History and restoration of the castle ruins above the Bozen basin . In: Der Schlern 83, 2009, pp. 22–35.
  • Armin Torggler: Marx parakeet from Wolkenstein and Rafenstein Castle. In: Harp. Zeitschrift für Landeskunde 1, December 2009, pp. 36–40 ( online ; PDF; 291 kB).
  • Adelheid Zallinger: Ravenstein . In: Oswald Trapp (Ed.): Tiroler Burgenbuch. V. Volume: Sarntal . Athesia publishing house, Bozen 1981, ISBN 88-7014-036-9 , pp. 221–248.

Web links

Commons : Rafenstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hannes Obermair : Bozen Süd - Bolzano Nord. Written form and documentary tradition of the city of Bozen up to 1500 . tape 1 . City of Bozen, Bozen 2005, ISBN 88-901870-0-X , p. 188, no. 286 .
  2. ↑ So the interpretation of Oswald Trapp : Tiroler Burgenbuch . Volume 5: Sarntal . Bozen / Vienna 1980. ISBN 88-7014-036-9 , p. 244, note 4.
  3. ^ Martin Bitschnau : Castle and nobility in Tyrol between 1050 and 1300. Basics for their research . Austrian Akad. Der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7001-0520-7 , pp. 396–397.
  4. ^ Marx parakeet von Wolkenstein: Description of the country of South Tyrol - written around 1600 . Edited from the manuscripts for the first time by a study group of Innsbruck historians [Festgabe on Hermann Wopfner's sixtieth year] (= Schlern writings. 34). Wagner, Innsbruck 1936 ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ Silvia Eccher, Umberto Tecchiati: Resti faunistici (tra cui un mascellare di Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti 1768) from Castel Rafenstein presso Bolzano (XVII – XVIII sec.). In: Annali del Museo Civico di Rovereto 30, 2014, pp. 61–203.
  6. ↑ Rafenstein castle ruins accessible again. (No longer available online.) Südtirol Online , May 24, 2014, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; Retrieved October 25, 2015 .