Burgstall Steinbach (St. Georgen near Grieskirchen)
| Burgstall Steinbach | ||
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| Alternative name (s): | Veste Steinpach, Burgstall Schwabegg, Goaßschedl | |
| Creation time : | probably in the 12th century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | small remains, castle hill preserved | |
| Place: | Schwabegg, Gde. St. Georgen near Grieskirchen | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 12 '51 " N , 13 ° 47' 12" E | |
| Height: | 380 m above sea level A. | |
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The Steinbach Castle Stable is an abandoned castle complex , the location of which is located in today's municipality of St. Georgen bei Grieskirchen , near the municipal border with Gallspach , in the village of Schwabegg in Upper Austria ( Hausruckviertel ).
history
In the 12th century, the complex was the ancestral seat of the highly free lords of Steinbach , of whom only Alram, who appeared since around 1158, and his sister Richezza are clearly documented. Steinbach Castle and the associated ancestral estates in St. Georgen, Gallspach, Affnang, Neumarkt and Moos near Offenhausen fell to her husband Gundacker von Steier, a ministerial of the Otakare and subordinate of the Garsten monastery, via Richezza nobilis matrona de Steinpach after 1160 . From this connection, the Lords of Starhemberg emerged from the 13th century . In the course of armed conflicts between Duke Heinrich II. Of Austria and the Styrian Margrave Otakar IV. Steinbach Castle was besieged, stormed and destroyed in 1171. In a Lambach annals manuscript, in the Auctarium Lambacense , it says briefly: 1171 Heinricus dux Austriae Steinpach castrum destruxit.
At the beginning of the 13th century at the latest, the Lords of Steier-Steinbach moved their headquarters to Starhemberg near Haag. After the catastrophe of 1171, parts of the castle were probably still inhabited. In one part of the castle (ruin?) The Steinbachers probably left a caretaker behind. A resident of the castle Helmhardus de Steinpach testifies to 1185, together with Gundaker of Styria and the archer ( sagittarius ) Otto, the donation of Allods in today's municipality of Waizenkirchen by Walther de Wazzinchilcha to the monastery Garsten . This legal process took place in the Veste Steinbach as well as that from the year 1204, in which another archer is documented by name. At Alram ( Alramus sagittarius de Steinpach ) the siblings Gundacker ( Gundacharus ), During ( Duringus ) and Helena met with their followers to certify a donation from their brother Hartnid von Steinbach, a Passau canon and provost of Aquileia . Among the 24 Steinbach witnesses were B. Richkerus de Geilsbach ( Gallspach ), Wernhard and Chunrad von Sinzing, Chunrad von Einwerk and Meinhard von Afnang.
It is unclear when the castle was finally abandoned. In a document dated August 30, 1465, the Öd Veste Steinpach is mentioned. Finds from the 2nd half of the 15th century, however, indicate that the castle hill was at least partially used by the Jörger until the 16th century.
Today's appearance
The hill of the main castle still protrudes from a small terrace of the Steinbach (approx. 20 m above the creek bed), around the very steep slope of which an artificially created ditch runs about 10 m deep and 2 m wide at the bottom . Over the centuries it has been expanded on the north side towards the stream to become a now drained pond. Next to the roughly elliptical main castle (approx. 25 by 30 m) was a bailey , which was also surrounded by a moat. The outer bailey, however, was leveled a long time ago on the east side.
The legend of a long siege is associated with the castle . When almost all food had been consumed within the castle walls, the cunning defenders slaughtered their last goat, put its head on a stick and, to deceive the besiegers, had the goat's head look over the castle wall in order to simulate plentiful food. In fact, in the saga, the enemy withdrew. Steinbach or the Burgstall Schwabegg , as the old site was named as early as 1418, is popularly called goat skull or dialect Goaßschedl . Folk etymology had modified the old Bavarian K'haysedl (= fortified noble seat) , which was later misunderstood, into a term (known both in terms of sound and content) and made it understandable.
Archaeological excavations
In July 1960, in an excavation campaign that was limited to the actual castle square on the hill, the archaeologists revealed: Steinbach was a mighty stone castle, the foundations of which were excavated in the core works at a depth of about one meter. It fell victim to a fire disaster in the 12th century and was not rebuilt later, or only poorly. Characteristic and relatively clumsy shards of the 12th century that can be used for chronology were found below the fire horizon. In the superficial position, ceramics were repeatedly used, e.g. B. found a tripod vessel, tiles from the 14th century and iron nails. A lance tip from the 14th century and a girdle , a weapon used by the infantry from the same time, completed the finds. Furthermore, the archaeologists believed to be able to conclude that the castle site was systematically leveled in the early 15th century. Opinions differ about the further use of the castle hill. The archaeologist Eduard Beninger took the view that in the 15./16. A small wooden dwelling stood on the plateau in the 18th century. More recent findings, on the other hand, tend to the fact that there was a small castle complex around the middle of the 15th century, which was abandoned in the first half of the 16th century. A noticeable depression on the southeast side could indicate a well shaft. In 1819 a deep well on the so-called Geisschädlberg is mentioned. Only the house name Pfleger is still attached to a farmhouse south of the Burgstall. Allegedly, in the 16th century, building material from Steinbach Castle that was still available and that had not fallen victim to stone robbery was used in the expansion of Tollet Castle.
Sources and literature
- UBOÖ I, p. 187 No. 210 and p. 615/616 No. 290.
- Monumenta Germaniae. Scriptores IX.
- Christian Crusius: Topographical Postlexion of all localities of the kk hereditary countries. Volume 5. Vienna 1819, p. 322.
- Julius Strnadt : Hausruck and Atergau. Archive for Austrian History (AfÖG), Volume 99/1, Vienna 1908.
- Eduard Beninger: Kögerl and Steinbach. In: Jb. Des OÖ. Museum association. Volume 109 (1964) with an introduction by Kurt Holter .
- Heinrich Wurm: The Jörger von Tollet. Linz 1955.
- Walter Neweklowsky: Die castles. About the decay of our castles and palaces. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Year 19, Linz 1965, issue 3/4, pp. 3–38, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
- Norbert Grabherr : Historically topographical manual of the fortifications and mansions of Upper Austria. Vienna 1975.
- Josef Zeiger: From the Hausruck to the Danube, from the Sallet to the Innbach. Steyr 1976.
- Heinz Dopsch : Austrian history 1122 - 1278. The countries and the empire. The Eastern Alps in the High Middle Ages. Vienna 1999.
- Irene and Christian Keller: The Jörger von Tollet and their time. Catalog accompanying the special exhibition "Viewpoints" in Tollet Castle. Ried 2010.
- Irene and Christian Keller: Three Jörger castles. In: Der Bundschuh 14. Ried / Innkreis 2011, pp. 32–40.
- Wolfgang Perr: Community chronicle of Gallspach in 3 volumes . Bad Ischl 2014. Upper Austria. State Archives Linz. Online Volume 1 Dominion , Online Volume 2 Parish , Online Volume 3 Markt und Umland