Hohenwerfen Fortress

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Hohenwerfen Fortress
Hohenwerfen Fortress from the east

Hohenwerfen Fortress from the east

Creation time : 1075 to 1078
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Received or received substantial parts
Place: Throw
Geographical location 47 ° 28 '57.8 "  N , 13 ° 11' 17.6"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 28 '57.8 "  N , 13 ° 11' 17.6"  E
Hohenwerfen Fortress (State of Salzburg)
Hohenwerfen Fortress

The Hohenwerfen Fortress is a medieval hilltop castle in Werfen in the Salzburg region between the Tennen Mountains , Hagen Mountains and Hochkönig in the Salzach Valley.

location

The Hohenwerfen Fortress is located in the middle of the northern Limestone Alps in the Pongau and its layout is comparable to the Hohensalzburg Fortress , which was built in the same years.

The castle sits enthroned, clearly visible from the north and south, at the northern end of the Werfen market on a rock cone rising 113 m above the Salzach, the Werfener Burgberg  ( 697  m above sea level ). Together with the Gesengköpfl  ( 885  m above sea level ) it forms a natural pass (called Werfener Bichel here ), between Gesengköpfl and Zetzenbergkogel  ( 740  m above sea level ) the Salzach also forms a narrow valley. This makes the pass the only access to Pass Lueg from the south (in between is the Tennecker Kessel ) and thus a strategic key point on the ancient Alpine transversal along the Salzach southwards, which connects Salzburg with Graz and southeastern Europe as well as with Venice and all of Italy, such as also the access of Salzburg to its mountain regions, the Inner Mountains . Hohenwerfen was the stronghold of the city of Salzburg to the south.

history

East-southeast view of Hohenwerfen Fortress
The courtyard of the castle

The construction of the Hohenwerfen Fortress was initiated between 1075 and 1078 by Archbishop Gebhard von Salzburg (1060-1088). After he had sided with Pope Gregory VII in the investiture controversy against King Henry IV , the archbishopric was plundered and devastated by loyalty to the king. Gebhard therefore had the Hohenwerfen Castle and the Hohensalzburg Fortress built quickly to protect his diocese , but both in a much smaller form than today's buildings. The first construction on Hohenwerfen consisted of a surrounding wall of about 35 × 35 meters with a small Palas and a chapel; of both of them only small fragments of the wall are preserved today. The rapid construction of the castle not only protected the episcopal city with its church treasures, but also blocked the king's shorter way back through the eastern Alpine passes after his walk to Canossa . In 1078 Gebhard had to flee the archdiocese anyway; In 1086 he returned with the support of the Bavarian Duke Welf I and died in Hohenwerfen in 1088.

Archbishop Konrad I , who also sided with the Pope, had the two most important bishop's castles expanded. With regard to Hohenwerfen and the Salzach Valley, the saying goes from his biography: “You can get here, but no further”. In the years 1127 to 1142 Konrad had a larger new one built at right angles to the older palace, which connected it to the castle chapel. Both palace buildings were integrated into the continuous castle wall and formed a large cube with a monumental appearance, as can still be seen today. A two-aisled hall in the basement of the new building presumably served as a provision house, the middle floor, which only had windows on the courtyard side, as a place to stay for the court and the crowning main floor was a continuous hall, which was the only one with large biforic windows on the outside. The chapel was also enlarged; In 1983 fragments of frescoes from this period were uncovered, including the biblical "Angels' fight against the whore Babylon ", which can be interpreted as a symbol of the papal side's fight against the emperors. A knight in the garb of the 12th century can also be seen, on whose almond shield a Latin inscription can be read, which means: "The whole world may come, no one comes by with impunity".

100 years after the crusades , loopholes , dungeons , kennels and flanking towers were built. Thereafter, the archbishops of Salzburg largely stopped construction.

Reconstructed prince's room
Chapel gallery; the red marble columns with Romanesque cube capitals come from the first building of the chapel by Archbishop Gebhard

In the course of the Peasants' War , the fortress was set on fire and damaged in 1525. During the subsequent renovation under Archbishop Matthäus Lang , the first barrier arch building, where the port guard was located, and a small bastion with the Wallerturm , as well as the construction of a covered corridor (Riemergang) and the dark stairs. Significant improvements were made to the outer castles by 1534, the reason being the threat of the Turks. Archbishop Johann Jakob Khuen von Belasy is named as the builder of this newly built fortress , who had the castle renovated with the help of Italian builders . It almost had the character of today's castle. Khuen's successor, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau , was imprisoned here for a few weeks after his capture by Bavarian troops in 1611, before he was deposed and imprisoned at the Hohensalzburg for the rest of his life. Archbishop Paris Lodron tried to keep the Archdiocese out of the entanglements of the Thirty Years' War ; in addition to fortifying the royal seat, he also had Hohenwerfen reinforced.

After the secularization of Salzburg from 1803, the castle fell into disrepair under Bavarian rule until it was restored by Archduke Johann from 1824 to 1833 and then used as a hunting lodge. Archduke Eugen acquired the property in 1898 and expanded it into his prince's seat. His large art and weapons collection was also located here.

In 1931, a smoldering fire broke out in the castle, which almost completely destroyed large parts of the east wing, the south wing with the chapel tower and the north wing. Parts of the inventory and the bell tower with the big bell - the Burgahnl - could be saved. However, the damage was considerable. Archduke Eugen had to sell large parts of his collections in order to rebuild the castle. In 1938, however, he was forced to sell the castle to the National Socialist Gauleitung.

During the Second World War there was a Gauführerschule of the NSDAP at the castle. At the end of the World War, the castle became the property of the State of Salzburg. The castle was initially used as a training center for the gendarmerie and has been open to tourism since 1987.

The castle as a film set

West view of the castle

Today's attractions

The Burgahnl
  • The Burgahnl , as the 4412 kg bell in the bell tower of Hohenwerfen Fortress is also called, was cast in Innsbruck in 1568 by Hans Christoph Löffler . The bell is still rung today on high holidays.
  • There is also a clockwork, around 1720/25, originally a spindle clock, converted into a pendulum clock around 1900 , restored in 1987/88 and in operation since then
  • Weapon room
  • Castle dungeon
  • Knight's tournament, knight's dinner
  • Falconry museum and air show

literature

  • Nicole Riegel: The building activity of Cardinal Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (1468-1540) , Münster (Westf.) 2009. ISBN 9783930454754
  • Fritz Hörmann: Hohenwerfen. A fortress in the province of Salzburg. Museum Association, Werfen o. J.
  • M. Mayr: Veste Hohenwerfen. A historical guide. With photographs and Sign. v. A. Weber. Innsbruck: Wagner'sche Buchhandlung, 1903.
  • Patrick Shift: Bulwarks of God. The building of castles by the Archbishops of Salzburg . Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85161-031-4

Web links

Commons : Hohenwerfen Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tanja Kilzer: The building history of Hohenwerfen Fortress in the Salzburger Land from the Middle Ages to the Thirty Years War , in: Burgen und Schlösser , 2/2019, pp. 77-90
  2. ^ Kurt Zeillinger: Archbishop Konrad I of Salzburg. Geyer, Vienna 1968; P. 10
  3. ↑ Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows: Sirio Quintavalle - VFX Supervisor - Framestore. February 7, 2012, accessed June 16, 2016 .
  4. ↑ End credits of the 10th episode of the 1st season
  5. ↑ Zombies cavort at Hohenwerfen Castle. Salzburger Nachrichten , February 4, 2016, accessed on June 4, 2016 .