Kürnberg (Linz)

Kürnberg
The Kürnberger Wald, seen from the south
height	526  m above sea level A.
location	Linz , Upper Austria
Dominance	4.2 km →  Pöstlingberg
Notch height	190 m ↓  at Hitzing
Coordinates	48 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 48 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  E
rock	Pearl gneiss , sandstone , quartz conglomerate
Age of the rock	Precambrian and Paleozoic

The Kürnberg near Linz has been an area that has been inhabited by people for thousands of years. Since it rose above the once swampy lowlands of the Danube Valley, it was an ideal settlement site. There are numerous fortifications, cult sites, cemeteries and settlements from the most varied of cultural and historical epochs. The Kürnberger Wald with the 526 m high Kürnberg is today a forestry recreational area on the Danube in the west of Linz. It is located in the municipalities of Wilhering and Leonding and is part of the Austrian granite and gneiss highlands .

geology

Geologically, the Kürnberg belongs to the Bohemian mass and is superficially separated from it by the Danube.

The Kürnberg massif also includes the Schlossberg, the Römerberg , the Froschberg, the Freinberg , the Zaubertal and the Zaubertalerfalte, each of which is located in a west-northwest orientation, in the administrative districts of Linz and Linz Land, directly in front of the actual Kürnberg. Furthermore, the western foothills of the granite and gneiss deposits to the north of the Danube belong to the mass of the Kürnberg, which - as uncharacteristically abrupt landscape folds from Wilhering - Mühlbach to Kirchberg-Thening - are defined by the moderate-looking, horizontal, large-scale molasse deposits and by Traunterrassen Take off the vastness of the Wels Heath. Thus, the geological Kürnberg is bounded directly to the east by the city of Linz, north by the Danube, west by Mühlbach or Kirchberg-Thening and south by Leonding and Pasching. The Kürnberg consists largely of pearl gneiss , in the western part there are sandstone deposits and occasional quartz conglomerate blocks .

history

Prehistoric and early historical monuments on the Kürnberg

Ruins of a Roman watchtower from the 2nd century

The area around the Kürnberger Forest was already settled in pre-Christian times. Finds can be dated back to the Neolithic and a burial mound on the south-western slope to the late Bronze Age (Urnfield Age ). There are no finds from the Hallstatt period, most of the finds come from the Bronze Age. The allegedly La Tène period ceramics have been lost, so dating is not possible. According to the current state of knowledge, it is not possible to assign the double ring wall to one of these epochs. In any case, there are no indications to date for the assumption of a “Celtic oppidum”. On the other hand, some relics from the younger Iron Age confirm the presence of the Celts on the Kürnberg. Numerous buildings and finds on the Kürnberg are confirmed from Roman times (watchtower, brickworks, Villa Rustica). With the arrival of the Bajuvars, there are Bavarian body graves near Edramsberg and Schönering. Presumably at the time of the Avar Wars and the Hungarian invasions, the old hill fort on the Kürnberg was expanded and used again in the 10th century. In the High Middle Ages several castles (caused to the Kürnberg Castle Wilhering , castle Kürnberg , castle Mühlbach ). Several facilities on the Kürnberg were destroyed in the Liechtenstein feud . In modern times, the Kürnberg has at most been used as a refuge, but no new fortifications have been built.

The name of the mountain is recorded in 1154 as "Querinberch", 1237 as "Querenberch" and 1349 as "Chürnberch". It goes back to Old High German quirn , which means mill. The mountain is rich in flowing waters that were used for mills, e.g. E.g. the Mühlbach, which flows around the mountain to the south / south-west.

The following can be assumed to be certain archaeological monuments on the Kürnberg:

• Castle : at the summit of the Kürnberg, prehistoric hill fort with a double ring wall and three entrances.
• Gugerl (Small Castle) : double ring wall from the Middle Bronze Age, district Donauleiten of the municipality of Wilhering , probably identical to the one in documents from Wilhering Abbey in the 12th / 13th centuries. Century repeatedly named "Burchecke".
• Roman watchtower on Hirschleitengraben : probably built at the beginning of the 3rd century stone tower in the Donauleiten at the confluence of the Hirschgraben with the Danube (Laundry corner).
• Castle : Wallburg; Fortified settlement from the Bronze Age and wooden castle from the early High Middle Ages with a palisade wall in the Donauleiten, where the Hainzenbach flows into the Danube.
• Pingenfeld “In den Grüben”: 60 prehistoric and early historical pings (mining and extraction pits ), 0.5 km southeast of the summit, municipality of Wilhering.
• Burgstall Aichberg ("Römischer Spitzgraben"): Late medieval castle stable on a slope with a section ditch, district of Holzheim von Leonding .
• (Presumably) Roman spring socket Hinterbrühl : Spring socket made of brick material in Hinterbrühl, west of Alharting, Leonding municipality.
• Kürnberg Castle : High or late medieval castle, north-west of the Schneiderbauer farmhouse in the Rufling district of Leonding, incorrectly referred to as "Seeberg Castle".
• Kaiserbründl : Modern (1502) source version in the source area of ​​the Hirschleitengraben.
• Castle Mühlbach : (Bronze Age or) high medieval earth structure of a castle, section fortification on slope spur with double moat, in Rufling, municipality of Leonding.
• Wilhering Castle : Neolithic, Roman times, high medieval earth structure of a castle (ancestral seat of the free gentlemen Wilhering-Waxenberg) between Gasthaus Donaualm, Wilflingseder bakery, community Wilhering.
• Neolithic Werkban ': site of the Neolithic Age (site leveled, granite boulder preserved), 0.4 km south of the Donaualm inn from Wilhering.
• (Presumably) Celtic brick kiln : brick, baking or pottery kiln, 0.4 km south of the Donaualm inn in Wilhering.
• Roman military brick in Fall : Roman times (4th century AD), located near the Mühlbachbrücke, in the Schönering district of Wilhering.
• Scharmerhügel : site of a Late Bronze Age or Young Iron Age settlement in the Schönering district of Wilhering.
• Bründl in Fall : Neolithic and Roman settlements with graves, brick kilns, quarries and millstones, at Gasthaus Bründl in Fall in the municipality of Wilhering.
• Edramsberg Castle : Late medieval castle stables, once the seat of the Edramsberg family, in the Edramsberg district (Schönering), located at the Mittermayr farm (Edramsberger Straße 40), in the Wilhering community.
• St. Achatius-Kirchlein (Mittermayrkirche or Sebastianikapelle): High and late Middle Ages, modern times, broken up in 1936, in the Edramsberg district (Schönering), Mittermayr farm (Edramsberger Straße 40), the municipality of Wilhering.
• Lugmayr in Reit ': Buildings from the Middle Ages and early modern times (1350–1620), now leveled, located at the “Lugmayr in Reith” farm, Reither Straße 6, from Wilhering.
• Wall systems Kirchmayrholz and Lugmayrholz : Wall systems (possibly late Middle Ages or modern times) in Winkeln near Schönering, 0.7–1 km southeast of the parish church Schönering von Wilhering.
• Burgstall im Lugmayrholz : medieval house mountain complex with a frustoconical core, 0.15 km north of the Lugmayr farm in Reith, district KG Schönering von Wilhering.
• Castle stables near Schönering (Eiselsberg) : medieval house mountain complex with a truncated cone-shaped core, Eiselsberg (0.7 km northeast of the parish church of Schönering), Schönering district of Wilhering.
• Hochmayrdiele in the Krift : possibly earth substructure of a castle in the Krift, Thalham near Schönering, municipality of Wilhering.
• Roman estate (with bathing building) : Roman estate (Villa rustica) and bathing facility (Balneum) in the Krift near Thalham near Schönering , municipality of Wilhering.

Allegedly a rock carving from the Hallstatt period on a plate-shaped cult stone in the Kürnberger Forest, probably a student sulk

An allegedly "Hallstatt period rock carving" was not yet available in the 1970s, so it must be more recent. There is much to suggest that it is related to a student association.

Only some of the paths that cross the Kürnberger Forest correspond to earlier epochs. Most of the old paths are less than 100 years old. Only the old path that leads to the Roman watchtower is assumed to be older. Nowadays, as a result of agricultural and, above all, forestry use as well as use for recreational purposes by the surrounding population, these have been widened, straightened and made durable with slag rubble, which is a waste product of steel production in the Voest Linz .

Minstrel "Der von Kürenburg"

The Kürnberg is known as a possible place of origin of the minstrel von Kürenberg and a noble family called "von Kürnberg". The place of origin of the minstrel is still controversial.

The assertion that the “von Kürnberg” or “Kürnberg” in the 12th century supposedly referred to a number of farmers from the surrounding communities must be rejected. This claim is not tenable for several reasons: A Konrad von Kürnberg was named as a witness in a document from the St. Nikola monastery as early as 1140 . 1147 this Konrad is mentioned again on the occasion of the handover of the church from St. Johann am Wimberg under Ulrich von Wilhering. Konrad von Kürnberg was certainly already a member of the lower knight nobility, since the noble free Ulrich von Wilhering would certainly not have brought a farmer to the upper Mühlviertel as a witness to a donation.

On the other hand, there is a medieval castle site on the southern slope of the Kürnberg Forest near the Schneiderbauer property, which is known to be known as Kürnberg Castle . It should have been the headquarters of the Kürnberger and was expanded by Konrad von Kapell around 1280 to a solid castle. On October 18, 1286 it is mentioned in a document as "Castrum in Churnberg". Little has been preserved of the castle, as Emperor Maximilian I, in the course of the so-called Liechtenstein feud (1476–1477) against Emperor Friedrich III. The burnt down castle probably used as a material depot for his Sachsenburg hunting lodge in Hörsching .

The hunt on the Kürnberg

Starting from the nearby Linz Castle , imperial hunts took place in the Kürnberger Wald from around 1500, including by Maximilian I. Examples of great hunts can be found in 1686 as Emperor Leopold I with Count Khevenhüller in the presence of more than 1000 people organized. Even under Emperor Charles VI. a big hunt took place here. This last imperial hunt was held in 1732.

Under Empress Maria Theresa the official hunts were stopped and the hunting grounds were offered for sale in order to supplement the claimed farm finances. The entire forest area has been owned by Wilhering Abbey since the 18th century .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ronald Peschel: Explanations on the “Geological Map of Linz and Surroundings” (after J. Schadler, 1964). In: Natural History Yearbook of the City of Linz. 28, Linz 1982, pp. 181-236, PDF (4.6 MB) on ZOBODAT
2. ↑ Christine Schwanzar: The Roman watchtower in the Kürnbergerwald. In: Yearbook of Upper Austria. Museum Association for Society and Regional Studies. 183. Volume, Linz 1993, pp. 10–40, online (PDF; 1.3 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
3. ^ Josef Reitinger: The prehistoric and early historical finds in Upper Austria. Linz 1968, p. 470 ff.
4. ↑ Erwin M. Ruprechtsberger : For the Late Bronze Age in the Linz area. In: Linz archaeological research. Special issue XXXI, Linz 2004, p. 28.
5. ^ Christian K. Steingruber : Research area Kürnberg: New knowledge about prehistoric and early historical soil monuments. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Issue 3/4, volume 61, Linz 2007.
6. ^ Christian K. Steingruber: Prehistoric and early historical monuments on the Kürnberg near Wilhering. In the market town of Wilhering (Ed.): Wilhering. Volume 1, compiled by H. Heisler with numerous photo contributions by Anton S. Kehrer. Denkmayr, 2006.
7. ^ Siegrid Hirsch, Wolf Ruzicka: Cult places in Upper Austria, Wilhering, Z'klobener Stein, field name Kürnberger Wald, Linz Land district. Freya-Verlag, pp. 168-171.
8. ↑ Walter Aspernig: history of Kürnbergs near Linz. In: Archives of the City of Linz (Ed.): Historical Yearbook of the City of Linz 1967. P. 36–47, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
9. ↑ Alois Zauner : The beginnings of the Wilhering Zisterze, communications of the Upper Austria. State Archives. Volume 13, Linz 1981, p. 150 ff.
10. ↑ Walter Aspernig: Prominent hunters and large hunts on Kürnberg. In the market town of Wilhering (Ed.): Wilhering. Volume 1, Verlag Denkmayr, Linz 2006, pp. 280–282.
11. ↑ Homepage of Wilhering Abbey ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2011 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. 

Web links

• Leonding Timeline (pre-Christian times)