Burgstall Strafenberg

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Burgstall Strafenberg
Remnants of the wall of the Strafenberg castle stable

Remnants of the wall of the Strafenberg castle stable

Creation time : 11th century
Castle type : Höhenburg, summit location
Conservation status: Burgstall
Place: St. Leonhard near Freistadt
Geographical location 48 ° 27 '19.2 "  N , 14 ° 39' 15.9"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 27 '19.2 "  N , 14 ° 39' 15.9"  E
Burgstall Strafenberg (Upper Austria)
Burgstall Strafenberg

The Postal penalty Berg refers to a Outbound hilltop castle on the penalty mountain in the municipality of St. Leonhard bei Freistadt in District Freistadt of Upper Austria . The complex, a worn out wooden castle with a palisade wall , was discovered by Alfred Höllhuber in 1967 and measured during an excavation campaign in 1979.

history

The area was first mentioned in 853, when King Ludwig II confirmed the area between the Aist and Naarn rivers , the so-called Regensburger Luss , that had been donated to St. Emmeram Monastery by Count Wilhelm .

In the Schwaighof district, the "Bauer im Schwaighof" is the largest property (house no. 2). Presumably this property was owned by freelancers from the time of the first settlement. According to the Franziszeischen cadastre from 1828 this building was completely made of wood, only in 1861 the house was built of stone.

The oldest finds from Strafenberg date from the 11th century (an earlier date may also be possible). The castle is believed to have come off between 1200 and 1250. In 1235 the Passau fiefs located here came to the Babenbergs . In the course of this change of ownership, the grounds may have been redistributed, leaving the older wooden castle and relocating the administration to the stone castles of Prandegg and Stampfegg .

According to folk etymology, the name Strafenberg is said to come from the fact that lawbreakers from the Stampfegg rule would have had to work on the Strafenberg for "punishment". This claim is very unlikely to be true, since in earlier land registers the estate on the southern slope of the Strafenberg was called "Schraffennperg", a name that derives from "schraf" (= "rugged") and was only converted to Strafenberg in the 19th century has been.

Archaeological findings on the Strafenberg castle stables

The wooden castle lay on the summit rock of the Strafenberg. This drops 25 m to the northwest. The sloping summit plateau extends to around 23 m with a 5 m difference in altitude. The weir system located here can be described precisely because of the mortise in the rocks.

The outer ring wall is marked by irregular, trough-like, hollowed-out channels (16-25 cm wide, up to 25 cm high). Wooden palisades (approx. 21 × 21 cm) were placed in these following the terrain . This structure forms an irregular pentagon . Behind the gutters there are up to 80 cm long and about 24 cm wide and up to 30 cm high bedding for horizontal beams to which the palisades were fastened with wooden nails. Round or square foundations (19 to 28 cm) for stands are chiselled out parallel to the outer wall at a distance of 1.8 to 2 m. There was a battlement here. Much larger recesses have been created for the larger corner pillars that stood in the outer line of the palisade. Also post holes for a staircase construction could be found.

The summit of the Strafenstein is leveled horizontally. The residential tower of the complex should have stood here. This was partially built on a dry stone wall.

The castle was accessed via a narrow footbridge from the northeast side of the Strafenberg. This led to the south-eastern corner of the weir system, where there is a small stone house, probably the first entrance to the castle. Based on the finds (parts of bridles, horseshoes, horseshoes), a horse stable and possibly a chamber for a farmhand is assumed. From there one could ascend via an angled block staircase to the core of the castle, which is six meters higher and is protected by a gate. The staircase was protected by a palisade wall, possibly also by a pent roof. The castle courtyard was occupied in the north by a kitchen and in the south by the residential tower (6.3 × 8.3 m) and was enclosed by a wall. It is assumed that there is a battlement here on the level of the first floor of the residential tower , which also led to the entrance of the defense tower. The basement is likely to have served as a storage room and cellar, above which two additional floors can be assumed, so that the total height of the residential tower is approx. 10 m. The building, which was constructed using a frame construction method, was probably sealed from the inside with a layer of clay - also as fire protection. Possibly there was also an open fireplace in the residential tower over a loam or stone seam. Inside the building, steep wooden stairs served as a connection between the floors. The kitchen building attached to the residential tower was made of stone and had a stove with a brick smoke vent. This building also served as a forge. A source could not be found in the castle area; the water has to be carried up from a settlement further down. The collection of rainwater and storage in appropriate containers should also be considered.

The outer courtyard could also have been closed off by a battlement, which was only secured to the inside by beams. A two-storey building is suspected here due to rock cavities.

Numerous ceramic and iron finds come from the Burgstall (knife blades, arrowheads, horseshoes and nails, spur, belt buckle, staples). A "torch killer" (40 × 26 cm), a spindle whorl and a whetstone could also be secured. Charcoal , iron slag and animal bones (mainly cattle bones) were excavated.

Post pits of the Strafenberg castle stable

Current condition

The impressive substructure of a wooden castle with the mortises in the rock and post holes is still preserved. The facility is not a listed building .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian K. Steingruber , 2013, p. 80.