Thurnschall castle ruins
| Thurnschall castle ruins | ||
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| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Lessach- Zoitzach | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 9 '50 " N , 13 ° 48' 9" E | |
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The Thurnschall castle ruins are the ruins of a hilltop castle in the Zoitzach district of the Lessach municipality in the Tamsweg district of Salzburg (south of the Karnergut).
history
The first mention of Lessach refers to the creation of Kloster Admont of 1074, which is also in Lessachtal tithe obtained. There is only talk of a Castrum Lessach at the beginning of the 13th century, which at that time belonged to Count Wilhelm von Heunberg. With the consent of his sovereign, Duke Bernhard of Carinthia , he donated Thurnschall Castle in 1239 to Count Herrmann von Ortenburg from Carinthia . In 1242 he sold the area around Lessach with Thurnschall Castle to the Archbishop of Salzburg, Eberhard II. There was no separate noble family, the von Lessach or von Thurnschall family, but the names of castle captains who called themselves Lessach because of their function : Pilgrim and Ortlieb (1239), Waltherus (1266) and Otto von Lessach (1272), around 1400 a Wolfgang von Lessach appears. Animal bone finds indicate that the castle was settled between around 1200 and 1250.
With the acquisition of the Lessach area by the archbishopric, Thurnschall was in the middle of Salzburg territory and had lost its protective function against attacks from Schladming ; that is probably why the castle was left to decay. Today the ruin is owned by the Austrian Federal Forests .
Thurnschall castle ruins today
The ruin lies in the forest halfway from Tamsweg to Lessach on a rocky hill on the west side of the Lessach valley. You have to leave the road along the Lessachbach, turn left over a bridge and follow the old path to Lessach. At the top of the hill, turn a little to the right and you will find yourself in front of the Thurnschall castle ruins. The ruin is now open to tourists. Before the road along the Lessachbach was expanded, the path led directly past the mountain side of the castle.
The first security work was carried out in 1914, but this came to a standstill due to the First World War . In 1975 further work was carried out in the base area of the wall so that the walls could be prevented from falling. In 1997 two historical objects of daily use were found in the area of the ruin. It was a knife blade and a support fork for heavy shotguns , as they were used from the middle of the 16th century to increase the accuracy of heavy muskets. In 2002 the ruin was archaeologically examined, among other things up to 4 m thick stone walls were exposed.
On the west side, about eight meters high remains of a polygonal tower have been preserved. The remnants of the surrounding wall that can still be seen protrude from this at acute angles . Above the steep drop to the Lessachbach there is an approx. 18 m long and 7 m high wall. This is made of coarse layered masonry. At a height of about 3 m there is a row of post holes that support an earlier false ceiling. There is a circular square within the remains of the wall. Until recently, on the west side of this square, a gaping opening could be seen under a larger piece of wall, which led to an underground passage. A plan of the castle can be found at Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe.
The castle is linked to the legend of the Thurnschallweibl . This is supposed to guard the treasures of the former knight's castle in the basement of the castle and only when this treasure has found a new owner will it be redeemed. But a treasure has not been found so far and so she will probably continue to guard the treasure chests in the basement with her black dog and hope for redemption.
literature
- Friederike Zaisberger & Walter Schlegel: Castles and palaces in Salzburg. Pongau, Pinzgau, Lungau . Birch series, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-85030-037-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zohmann, S .: The animal bone finds of the Thurnschall castle ruins in Lungau (Land Salzburg, Austria) from around 1200 to 1250. Dissertation, Veterinary Medical University of Vienna: 2005.
- ↑ EXCLUDED RUIN ON THE LUNGAUER KULTURWANDERWEG ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages: Floor plan lexicon . Flechsig, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-88189-360-1 , p. 605 (792 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Legend of Thurnschall
