Stauf castle ruins (Haibach ob der Donau)

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Stauf castle ruins
Stauf castle ruins, south-west view

Stauf castle ruins, south-west view

Alternative name (s): Stauff Castle
Creation time : 1st half of the 12th century
Castle type : Höhenburg, summit location
Conservation status: ruin
Construction: Bruchstein and Klaubstein
Place: Haibach above the Danube
Geographical location 48 ° 22 '53.4 "  N , 13 ° 56' 12.3"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 22 '53.4 "  N , 13 ° 56' 12.3"  E
Height: 531  m above sea level A.
Stauf castle ruins (Upper Austria)
Stauf castle ruins

The Stauf castle ruins are the ruins of a hilltop castle in the Upper Austrian municipality of Haibach ob der Donau in the Eferding district . The medieval complex was probably founded in the 12th century by Wernhard de Stove, an ancestor of the Counts of Schaunberg , and developed from a noble rulership center to an administrative center, which was taken over by various carers. The castle was built as a family seat before the Schaunbergers moved their headquarters to Schaunberg Castle , so that from then on Stauf was only a neighboring castle of the family.

Passed to the von Liechtenstein family by inheritance , the complex was more and more neglected because the Liechtensteiners built a new mansion with the castle in Aschach an der Donau , which they lived in. At the end of the 16th century, they sold the castle, which had meanwhile fallen into ruin, to the Jörger . Since this family fell into imperial disfavor, the Stauf was drafted and sold to the von Harrach family , who held the property until the 20th century.

The Stauf castle, referred to in literature as a “picture book ruin ”, inspired Richard Billinger to write his poem Hoch ragt ein Turm ... and Herbert Emmerstorfer to D'Ruine Stauf .

Location and accessibility

The ruin is located at a height of 531 meters above sea level at the southeast end of a narrow mountain ridge that slopes down into the Aschach valley on one side and into the Zeilerbachgraben on the other. It therefore belongs to the summit castle type . Below the complex there is a nature reserve with oak, hornbeam, canyon, log dump and beech forests. The ascent to the castle ruins is possible from the north and east.

  • North side
From the B130 (Nibelungenstraße Schlägen-Hartkirchen) there are signs indicating a 40-minute walk to the Stauf castle ruins.
  • East Side
At the junction B130 (Nibelungenstraße Schlägen-Hartkirchen) / L1215 (Aschachtal-Bezirksstraße) you can climb to the Stauf castle ruins. There is also a signposted parking lot there.

The outer bailey has not been accessible since 2015 ; access to the core bailey has only been possible at certain times since around 2010.

A viewing platform on the roof of the keep enables a view of the Danube valley , and when the weather is nice it extends as far as Linz . The ruins of Schaunberg Castle are in sight to the south-east.

history

The word stauf comes from common Germanic and means cup without a foot . The old Norse idiom is staup and describes not only cups but also hollows in the way . In Upper German a stauf is a conical elevation.

Documented a Wernhard de Stove (published in 1125 for the first time Hanhardo de Stoven ) from the family of Julbacher , who named himself after a property called Stauf. He is considered to be the first owner of this episcopal Passau fiefdom . In 1146 he was still the owner, but at that time he called himself - together with his son Heinrich - "von Julbach". From 1161 the von Schaunberg family called themselves, which is an indication that Stauf was no longer used as the family's headquarters, but that this function was taken over by Schaunberg Castle. The first documentary mentions suggest that the castle was founded in the first half of the 12th century and that the small complex was probably built before Schaunberg Castle. Their topographical position suggests that their task was to control the only two natural paths on the right bank of the Danube.

During the Schaunberger feud (1380-1390), in which Duke Albrecht III. Austria succeeded in putting an end to the Schaunberger's striving for an independent country by occupying almost all of their Danube castles, but an attempt by the sovereign in 1380/81 to take Stauf Castle by siege was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Heinrich von Schaunberg ultimately had to submit to the Duke. In October 1383 he declared himself in an armistice agreement with Albrecht III. subject to the Duke of Austria and promised to renounce the Passau fiefdom of Stauf so that the bishop could then give it as a fiefdom to the duke. After this was done, Albrecht III. Stauf Castle returned to the Schaunberger on October 17, 1383 as a hereditary fief . When there was another fighting between Schaunberger and ducal troops due to tolls in 1385/86, Albrecht III succeeded. to take Stauf Castle in the course of these battles. From 1386 the castle, which was badly damaged by the sieges, was under Austrian administration, which was looked after by carers. In the course of the 15th century, the Stauf came back into the possession of the Schaunbergers through enfeoffment. The following have been mentioned in a document since 1337 as the keeper of the castle:

  • Chunrad the Hauser, Burgrave, 1337
  • Ortolf von Hilprechting, 1366
  • Hartmann the Marschalk von Maierhofen, 1387
  • Tibold Paleitner, 1411-1414 and 1433
  • Heinrich Geilspeckh, 1410, 1418 and 1446
  • Matthäus Trunt, 1433 and 1437
  • Siegmund Stadler, 1438, 1481, 1493, 1497 and 1515
  • Kaspar Panicher, 1480
  • Johann Emerich Rappan, 1660
  • Johann Babtist Goesser, 1814
  • Josef Kern, 1841
The Stauf castle ruins on a 17th century engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer

After the Schaunberg family of counts died out with the death of Wolfgang II on April 12, 1559, a long-term dispute between the Schauenberg heirs and the Austrian ruling family followed. Stauf Castle wanted to move in as a completed fiefdom and reassign it, but according to an agreement from 1383 it was also possible to inherit the complex via the female line. An amicable agreement was only reached on August 15, 1572, as a result of which the uncle of the last Schaunberger, Wolf von Liechtenstein, and Rüdiger von Starhemberg jointly enfeoffed Aschach and thus Stauf through Emperor Maximilian II on September 13, 1572 were. Two years earlier, however, the castle complex had been largely destroyed by fire. It was then considered uninhabitable, so that in the same year Wolf von Liechtenstein began building a new mansion in nearby Aschach an der Donau, Aschach Castle. Up to that date, this place had belonged to the Stauf rule, from then on the Stauf ruins belonged to the newly named Aschach rule. This, together with the castle ruins and other possessions, fell to the von Liechtenstein family when an inheritance was divided on June 4, 1574. After Wolf's death, he was succeeded as a tenant in July 1586 by his son-in-law Adam von Sternberg , who had married Wolf's daughter Magdalene. But when the couple died childless shortly after the enfeoffment, Stauf Castle came to a Georg Erasmus von Liechtenstein in February 1587 in accordance with Wolf's will and after his death in June 1592 to Hans Septimus von Liechtenstein. He sold the property with the imperial approval in 1593 to Helmhard Jörger, who was followed by his brother Wolfgang after his death in 1596.

The Jörger belonged to Protestantism . Some of its members took part in an uprising by the Ob der Enns estates against Emperor Ferdinand II and his counter-Reformation efforts. Karl Jörger, then owner of Stauf Castle, was one of its ringleaders . It was 1620 by the fetched into the country Bavarian troops of the Catholic League jailed and his possessions by the emperor confiscated . He died in 1623 in the dungeon of the Veste Oberhaus as a result of torture . As early as 1622 Ferdinand II had sold the rule of Aschach including the Stauf castle ruins to his follower and close advisor Karl von Harrach , after the House of Habsburg no longer renewed the Upper Austrian fiefs of the Jörger as a punishment for their participation in the uprisings against the emperor. The ruins belonged to the imperial princes of Harrach until the 20th century. Today it is owned by the Dreihann-Holenia family.

Even before the First World War , Count Alfred Harrach tried to restore the castle walls. In 1945 the Eferdinger Heimatbund took over the maintenance together with the Dreihann forest and estate administration. In the period 1968 to 1970 and 1973/74 as well as 1976/77 they installed a stable roof on the tower with many volunteers and the Bauhütte Linz under Karl Leitl and made it accessible again. In 1989 the Association for the Rescue of the Stauf Castle Ruins was established, which looks after the ruins and tries to stop the walls from decaying.

description

Floor plan of the castle ruins

In the castle Stauf is a small medieval plant whose main castle a dungeon and a Palas include and stands on a 12.5 x 25 meter rock plateau. To the east of it are the remains of a large outer bailey. A small plateau to the northwest of the facility indicates that there used to be a Vorwerk there. In the southeast, the castle is secured by a six-meter-deep section trench.

The majority of the unadorned masonry made of quarry and grape stone probably dates from the first half of the 14th century, only a short section from the 12th / 13th century has remained in the foundation of the main tower. Century preserved. The quarry stones used from gneiss were removed from the castle rock to the west and east of the facility. The preserved garments are made of granite .

Outer bailey

Remains of the outer bailey

Access to the castle complex is provided by a three-meter-wide and six-meter-high gate with a Gothic shape in the two-meter-thick, shield-like north wall of the outer bailey. Its gable arch bears a strong resemblance to that of Hardegg Castle in the Waldviertel . Two arched window openings above the gate indicate that the goalkeeper's room may have been there in the past. Behind the gate is the approximately 20 × 45 meter large outer bailey, the circular wall of which has almost completely collapsed in the east. The remains that are still standing are nine meters high. Wall approaches along the Bering in the southeastern area of ​​the outer bailey suggest that farm buildings used to stand there. A small exit gate in the south wall probably led to a wooden walkway over the section trench located there.

Core castle

A steep staircase with 49 steps leads from the outer bailey to the core bailey seven meters higher. It can be entered through a gate in the east wall. This is 15 meters high and has a murderous gang . The same applies to the western wall of the main castle. Remnants of the wall on the side of the east wall facing the outer bailey may come from an earlier gate .

The northernmost point of the inner castle area is marked by the 21.67 meter high, tower-like keep, although it no longer has its original height. Its four storeys rise on a hexagonal floor plan, with the interior of the two lower, windowless storeys each taking up a single, almost square room with a pointed barrel vault. Thus, on the side of possible attacks in the north, the tower has a wall thickness of five meters. In addition, its outer edges are reinforced with corner blocks and the elongated window slots are framed by stone walls. The two top floors, which were formerly accessible via a high entrance, have large window niches with benches that indicate that the upper floors of the tower were habitable.

The southern area of ​​the main castle is occupied by a 9 × 18 meter large hall. Its walls are three storeys high and have large windows in the upper area. The southern and western outer walls are crowned by battlements . A cession still bears witness to the building's former residential function .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Entry by Patrickschicht about the Stauf castle ruins in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute, accessed on September 15, 2016 ..
  2. ↑ Hans Sperl (Ed.): Eferdinger Land . Trauner, [Linz] 1985, ISBN 3-900595-01-1 , p. 122.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Information about the castle ruins on the website of the Haibach community , accessed on January 30, 2012.
  4. ↑ Leisure tip Burgruine Stauf , accessed on December 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ Information about the castle at burgenwelt.org , accessed on May 20, 2012.
  6. ^ Administrative committee of the Francisco-Carolinum Museum in Linz (ed.): Document book of the country above the Enns. Volume 2. Vienna 1856, No. 108, p. 162 ( digitized version ).
  7. ↑ Main data on the Stauf castle ruins in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute, accessed on September 15, 2016 ..
  8. ↑ Erwin Hainisch: Monuments of the fine arts, history and culture in the political district of Eferding. 1933, p. 83.
  9. ^ Ludwig Commenda: Aschach, Eferding, Waizenkirchen and surroundings. Wimmer, Linz 1905, pp. 18-19 ( digitized version ).
  10. ↑ Jodok Stülz: On the history of the Counts of Schaunberg in the land above the Enns. In: Archive for customers of Austrian historical sources . Volume 1. kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1848, p. 376 ( digitized version ).
  11. ↑ a b Alfred Hoffmann: On the history of the Schaunberg Reichslehen. 1954, p. 392.
  12. ^ Rudolf Büttner: Castles and palaces on the Danube. 1st edition. Birken-Verlag, Vienna 1964, p. 27.
  13. ↑ Georg Clam Martinic : Austrian Burgenlexikon. Palaces, castles and ruins . A&M, Salzburg 2007, ISBN 3-902397-50-0 , p. 256.
  14. ^ A b Karl Rosner: Ruins of the medieval castles of Upper Austria. 1903, p. 30.
  15. ↑ a b I. Schöndorfer: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. 2001, p. 87.
  16. ↑ a b Otto Piper: Austrian castles. 1904, p. 209.
  17. ^ A b Karl Rosner: Ruins of the medieval castles of Upper Austria. 1903, p. 28.
  18. ^ Ludwig Commenda: Aschach, Eferding, Waizenkirchen and surroundings. Wimmer, Linz 1905, p. 119 ( digitized version ).
  19. ^ Otto Piper: Austrian castles. 1904, p. 210.
  20. ^ Karl Rosner: Ruins of the medieval castles of Upper Austria. 1903, p. 29.
  21. ↑ Hans Sperl: The Stauf ruins on old correspondence cards. 1991, p. 369.

literature

  • Ludwig Commenda: Aschach, Eferding, Waizenkirchen and the surrounding area. Wimmer, Linz 1905, pp. 119–120 ( digitized on digi.landesbibliothek.at).
  • Erwin Hainisch : Monuments of the fine arts, history and culture in the political district of Eferding. Haslinger, Linz 1933, pp. 83–84 ( digitized on digi.landesbibliothek.at).
  • Alfred Hoffmann: On the history of the Schaunberg Reichslehen. In: Communications from the Upper Austrian Provincial Archives. Volume 3. Böhlau, Graz / Cologne 1954, pp. 381–401 online (PDF; 5.6 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  • Otto Piper : Austrian castles. Volume 3. Hölder, Vienna 1904, pp. 209–211.
  • Ernst Plöckinger: Two castles on the Danube loop near Schlögen: Haichenbach Castle on the left and “Die Stauf” on the right bank of the Danube. In: ARX. Castles and palaces in Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol . Volume 30, No. 1, 2008, ISSN  0394-0624 , pp. 32–34.
  • Karl Rosner: Ruins of the medieval castles of Upper Austria. Schroll & Comp., Vienna 1903, pp. 28-29.
  • Ilse Schöndorfer: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus, St. Pölten [et al.] 2001, ISBN 3-85326-189-2 , pp. 86-88.
  • Hans Sperl: The Stauf ruins on old correspondence cards. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Volume 45, No. 4, Linz 1991, pp. 367–369 online (PDF; 552 kB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.

Web links

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