Walbenstein castle ruins

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walbenstein
Walbenstein castle ruins

Walbenstein castle ruins

Alternative name (s): Fingeller-Schlössl
Valbenstein
Creation time : shortly before 1184/85
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Place: Bolzano
Geographical location 46 ° 31 '38.3 "  N , 11 ° 21' 46.1"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 31 '38.3 "  N , 11 ° 21' 46.1"  E
Height: 495  m slm
Walbenstein castle ruins (South Tyrol)
Walbenstein castle ruins

The castle ruin Walbenstein , also known as Fingeller-Schlössl (emphasis on the first syllable), is a castle ruin on a steep, almost storm-free rock head at the entrance to the South Tyrolean Sarntal . The castle, first mentioned in 1184/85 as Vallewenstan and Walbenstain , which is today in the area of ​​the municipality of Bozen , can be reached via Sarner Straße. The secondary name Vingellerschlössl or Fingeller-Schlössl can be traced back to the younger Finggellerhof in the Sand district of the Gries district of Bolzano .

history

Gottschalk von Severs (a lost site near Gries-Bozen), a ministerial of the Counts of Eppan , who has been attested since the late 1150s , named himself for the first time in 1184/85 after Walbenstein ( Gotschalcus de Vallewenstan ). This noticeable name change also makes the new construction of the facility in the period shortly before 1184/85 probable.

Krahe and Marcello Caminiti already suspected - according to more recent findings, quite correct - that the so-called Fingeller-Schlössl by the local population is identical to the documented Walbenstein (also written Valbenstein ).

investment

19th century color lithograph with Walbenstein and the Fingeller waterfall (unknown artist)
Walbenstein with the Fingeller waterfall with little water flow

The complex stretches diagonally from the rock head down the slope and consists of a largely dilapidated curtain wall that encloses a higher-lying two-part residential wing and a lower, three-story building. Overall, little has been preserved from the old building stock. The former main walls of the main building are around 1.80 meters thick, the circular wall only 1.20 meters thick. These comparatively weak walls were sufficient to ensure security, because the extremely safe location made the use of heavy siege equipment such as battering rams impossible. Although Krahe assumed that the castle fell into disrepair before 1300, the on-site inspection shows that this is unlikely. The shape of the window openings and loopholes that have been preserved allows the conclusion that the complex was only abandoned later, because the loopholes are not designed for bows or crossbows , but shaped like loopholes for firearms. The assumption that the castle would decay much later is also supported by the fact that Walbenstein is depicted in the so-called "Room of Games" at Runkelstein Castle on a fresco from around 1390 as a still intact castle.

The ruins Walbenstein heard from the building stock forth in an early generation of castles in South Tyrol, which is characterized by its exposed location, the small dimensions and especially by the absence of the keep stand out. Similar plants are the Leuchtenburg , Kasatsch , Steinegg and Afing . They can be clearly distinguished from the second generation castles from the 20s and 30s of the 13th century, such as Boymont Castle , Haselburg or Runkelstein Castle .

literature

  • Paul Mayr: Walbenstein ("Fingeller-Schlößl") . In: Oswald Trapp (Ed.): Tiroler Burgenbuch. V. Volume: Sarntal . Publishing house Athesia, Bozen 1981, ISBN 88-7014-036-9 , pp. 213-220.
  • Artur Maria Scheiber: Eschenloch and Walbenstein: two contributions to the history of castles in South Tyrol . Bolzano: Ferrari-Auer 1952.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hannes Obermair , Martin Bitschnau : "Le 'notitiae traditionum' del monastero dei canonici agostiniani di S. Michele all'Adige: studio preliminare all'edizione della Sezione II del 'Tiroler Urkundenbuch'". Studi di storia medioevale e di diplomatica 18, Milano 2000, pp. 97-171, Trad. 9.
  2. ^ Franz Huter (edit.): Tyrolean document book . The documents on the history of the German Etschland and the Vinschgau . Section I, Vol. 1. Innsbruck: Ferdinandeum 1937, No. 426.
  3. ↑ To the Fingellerhof s. Josef Tarneller : The castle, court and field names in the market town of Gries near Bozen (Schlern-Schriften 6). Innsbruck: Wagner 1924, p. 19 No. 18 (with documents from 1373: Chunrad Vinckeller from Vinckel ; 1478: Vingkeller ; 1778: Vingellerhof and Vinggerle ).
  4. ↑ See also Martin Bitschnau: Burg und Adel in Tirol between 1050 and 1300: Fundamentals for their research . Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences 1983, p. 486f.
  5. ^ Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages. Floor plan lexicon . Augsburg: Bechtermünz 1996, p. 186.
  6. ↑ Cf. Marcello Caminiti: The Castles of South Tyrol . Calliano: Manfrini 1956, p. 70 (later editions are updated and may not be identical in terms of the page run).
  7. ↑ Thomas Bitterli-Waldvogel: South Tyrolean Castle Map. With castle guide and detailed maps . Bolzano: Südtiroler Burgeninstitut 1995, ISBN 88-85176-12-7 , p. 36.