Dunkelstein ruin (Ternitz)
| Dunkelstein ruin | ||
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 View of the castle hill |
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| Creation time : | around 1100 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Remains of the wall and residential and farm buildings have been preserved | |
| Place: | Ternitz | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 42 '56 " N , 16 ° 2' 58" E | |
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The ruin Dunkelstein is the ruin of a hilltop castle on the Petersberg above the cadastral community of Dunkelstein, town of Ternitz , state of Lower Austria in Austria .
The multi-phase, partially surrounded by a moat surrounded tower castle was built in the 12th century, existed until the first half of the 13th century and was the seat of the noble family of Dunkelsteiner. Today the baroque St. Peter and Paul Church stands on the site of the castle, to the west of it there is a small plateau with the Holy Sepulcher Chapel and the Calvary or the homecoming cross, the end point of a Way of the Cross leading from nearby Neunkirchen . The remains of the castle were not visible until the excavations from the 1990s. From 1992 to 1999, most of them were uncovered by archaeologists from the University of Vienna and examined according to scientific criteria. After the archaeological investigations had been completed, the excavation area was converted into a display area.
location
The approx. 412 m high Petersberg, composed of sandstone and limestone (so-called Rohrbacher conglomerate ), is located on a low terrace to the right of the Schwarza . Its terrain rises gently in the north and east and breaks off steeply in the south and west. The area of the castle is now largely built over by the St. Peter's Church, which was built in the Baroque period , and the Calvary.
Research history
Based on written sources and folk tales of a sunken castle, the location of the fortress was assumed to have been on the Petersberg since the 19th century. Moritz Alois Becker wrote a first comprehensive treatise on them in the Topography of Lower Austria (1879–1885). Her main theme was the historical sources. The construction and appearance of the castle were not discussed in detail.
Werner Höld was finally able to determine the location of the castle beyond any doubt and enter it on a map that was published in 1953. Waldemar Baumann then made a watercolored plan and a reconstruction of the castle, which he published in 1968 and 1977. The first excavations on Petersberg were carried out in 1965 by Johann Bernath on the western rock quarry. Among other things, Bernarth exposed the remains of the wall. He interpreted a layer of fire as traces of the violent destruction of the castle. Bernath came across the remains of a kitchen near the Kreuzhügel. The thesis that a Roman watchtower once stood here was clearly refuted by his excavations. Since Bernath did not have a doctorate in archaeologist, his discoveries attracted little attention in the professional world. In the 1960s, predatory graves are likely to have been up to mischief on the Petersberg.
In 1992 Johann Past, an employee of the Hoyos forest administration, exposed the south wall of the residential building while doing gardening. In the same year the first scientific excavations under the direction of Falko Daim (Institute for Pre- and Protohistory of the University of Vienna) were initiated on behalf of the municipality of Ternitz . Traces of settlement from the late Neolithic , Urnfield and early Hallstatt periods could also be observed. Subsequently, the individual construction phases of the castle were researched and documented. The area in front of the church was also examined, and another farm building was discovered and partially exposed. A previously unknown burial ground northeast of St. Peter's Church and the predecessor of St. Peter's Church were also examined. Until 1999, the areas of the stronghold, the outer bailey east of the church and the medieval burial ground could be comprehensively explored.
A coin hoard from the 15th century and a seal of Pitrolf von Dunkelstein from the 13th century, the oldest specimen of this type found in Lower Austria so far. Furthermore, numerous ceramics, spindle whorls , dice, an iron key and Vestments from Roman times recovered. The finds are exhibited in the new Ternitz City Museum (Stahlstadtmuseum).
development
The lords of the castle, ministerials from the lower nobility, came from the Dunkelsteiner dynasty, which first became historically tangible around the middle of the 12th century in the vicinity of the Margraves of Steyr and who were last known as followers of the Babenberg dukes in 1222 . Your name probably goes back to a Slavic personal name. The archaeological dating of the fortress covers roughly the same period. Judging by the range of ceramics, construction can be assumed to have started around 1100; the most recent ceramic finds can be classified before the middle of the 13th century.
An Adalbero von Dunkelstein appeared as the first representative by name around 1120. This is possibly identical to Adalbero vom Ennstal (1123–1130). At first they served the Feistritzers and were probably part of Margrave Ottokar III between 1123 and 1130 . recorded. Around 1146 a "Henricus de Domechinstein" (Heinrich von Dunkelstein) was mentioned in a document. He had his possessions mainly in the area around Wiener Neustadt (Weikersdorf, Saubersdorf) and fought as a knight in the army of the Second Crusade (1146–1149), but is unlikely to have returned from this. A little later, the Dunkelsteiners acted as witnesses for donation documents from the Ottakare, and from 1200 also for the Babenbergs. In addition to the estates in the southern Vienna Basin , they also had a few possessions in Eastern Styria and seem to have been instrumental in promoting the colonization of these lands there in the High Middle Ages. In 1222, with “Albero de Dunehensteine”, a representative of this sex appeared for the last time - as a witness - in a document of Duke Leopold VI. , put on in the Egyptian Damiette during the Fifth Crusade (1219).
The castle was probably destroyed in the disputes between the Staufer emperor Friedrich II and the last Babenberg duke of the same name, Friedrich II , the arguable, towards the middle of the 13th century. As the Styrian ministerial, the Dunkelsteiners were on the side of the Babenberger. In the excavation layer 5, a large accumulation of spout bullet points was found, which had probably been used during the siege. After that, attempts were apparently made to make the castle habitable again. However, it was abandoned soon after and left to decay. The Dunkelsteiner family probably died out at the end of the 13th century.
In 1321 a "Piterolf von Tunchelstein", a knight and clergyman, in truth a Görtschacher and feudal man of the Puchheimer , appears in the historical sources. Piterolf was almost certainly not related to the Dunkelsteiners. Between 1369 and 1407 Michael (the bishop) von Dunkelstein, Peter Tunkelstainer and an Andre von Tunkelstain are known. 1401 was in the textbook of the Habsburg emperor Friedrich III. "A closed Tunkhelstain that has broken off" mentions.
From 1430 at the latest, the Dunkelstein reign should have come into the possession of the Puchheimers. In that year Albero von Buchheim sold the village of Dunkelstein to his cousin Wilhelm. In 1478 the ruins were sold by the Puchheimer to Hans Mitterbacher, a citizen from Wiener Neustadt. He had it removed around 1491. From the year 1551 a “hoff zu Tunckhlstain” is known, it was the last news related to the castle. It is not known exactly when the Hoyos family acquired Dunkelstein; they had their ancestral home at Stixenstein Castle . The rule of Dunkelstein and the regional jurisdiction exercised by the Puchheimers in the 15th century went into the rule of Stixenstein.
Castle
The facility is a so-called castle stable or a castle that has been removed. Tower castles with a central residential and defense tower and a narrow circular wall were particularly widespread in the south-west German regions in the 11th and 12th centuries. Their appearance in the High Middle Ages marked the beginning of intensive fortress building activity in south-eastern Lower Austria. Dunkelstein is such a noble residence, typical for that time, surrounded by a polygonal circular wall with a 9 m wide flanking porch in the east, which was connected to the outer ring or kennel.
The castle, built almost entirely of stone, was located to the west of today's Petersberg Church, directly below it were the farm buildings of the outer bailey and a medieval cemetery. Its core covered an area of approx. 420 m 2 (15 × 28 m). The locally abundant limestone was used as building material without exception. The walls consisted of quarry stone masonry with low layer heights, high-quality ashlar masonry in sections as a facing on the outside and were plastered as stone. The fortification was additionally secured in the north and east by a sole ditch that had been preserved until recently and was partially carved out of the rock. In the northern section, the excavated material was used to build a small, two-meter-high wall as an obstacle to the approach. Later the moat wall was fortified by a wall ( escarpe ) on the castle side . The rock plateau of the east courtyard between the main tower and the residential building was originally about two meters lower. There were floors and inspection horizons from all construction phases of the castle. The southern area of the courtyard was used economically, as the finding of tools, plant remains, animal bones, some fireplaces and the remains of a two-phase metal smelting and forging furnace (horseshoe-shaped forge ) have shown. Later a stone fireplace was built there.
A total of six construction phases could be verified:
- Phase 1
- Before the castle was built, the hilltop was leveled and the steeply sloping terrain in the east was leveled with debris and earth. Then you pulled the curtain wall, indoor building and the keep / main tower high and surrounded the plant in the north, south and east by a moat.
- Phase 2
- It can be recognized primarily from construction work in the north and east courtyards, the construction of a residential building on northern Bering and a short-term site blacksmith's workshop in the east courtyard. The stately residential quarters have now most likely been moved from the keep to the new building. In the south courtyard, a building was also erected on narrow stone sleeper walls. In the north courtyard, a wooden frame was built between the tower, residential building and circular wall.
- Phase 3
- During this period the castle was architecturally redesigned and received its final appearance. The tower walls were considerably reinforced or re-sheathed. The north and south courtyards were also redesigned through leveling. A wall was laid between the tower and the residential building, creating a kind of kennel. The moat was reinforced by an escarpe placed against the slope.
- Phase 4
- It is characterized by very rich layers in the courtyards.
- Phase 5
- marks the horizon of destruction of the castle.
- Phase 6
- Construction of a temporary building in the fire ruins north of the residential building and elevation of the escarpe. In the residential building, the south wall was poorly repaired.
Curtain wall
The approx. Two to three meter thick outer wall made of mortared limestone is - as already mentioned - the earliest construction phase of the castle. In the north on Kreuzhügel it was still two meters high. In the area of the church are the sparse remains of a bastion-like forework. In phase 1, the outer wall could also have been secured by an upstream palisade.
tower
The square, two-phase defense structure stood in the center, was probably also built in the first phase of construction of the castle and measured approx. 7.7 × 8 m. The walls were 1.38 to 1.50 meters thick, consisted of mortared limestone and originally had a stone-transparent lime plaster (so-called Pietra Rasa with trowel mark). Its interior measured 5.1 × 4 m and covered an area of 25 m 2 . In the south, the remains of a 60 × 60 cm fireplace were found. The floor was made of rammed earth. In construction phase 3, the tower walls were reinforced to 3.5 m, the reason for this is unclear. The tower may have been added or there were static problems. Presumably, the lord's rooms were initially housed there.
Based on the finds of charred grain residues (wheat and rye) and animal bones, it is assumed that the first floor of the tower - at least at the time of its destruction - was mainly used to store food.
What the upper floors looked like is unknown. Since the tower was almost completely removed after its destruction by stone robbery, only a small amount of fallen material could be salvaged. The archaeologists recovered from the remaining rubble, among other things, the pillar fragment of a two-part window (biforium).
At the north-west corner of the tower, a pear-shaped, pear-shaped storage pit for grain came to light in the rock, which is now also known as a cistern. Its mouth had a diameter of 1.2 m, the almost flat bottom widened to 1.8 m. Post holes suggest a canopy. The pit was burned out with fire to kill pests and dry out the interior. Their mouth could be closed almost airtight. It was built over when the tower walls were subsequently strengthened and previously filled with waste. Today it is closed with a stone border and a grille for security reasons.
Outer bailey
This part of the fortification was characterized by a 9.3 m long and 7.6 m wide stone building. It was partially built with a cellar, probably part of a Meierhof that was built in the High Middle Ages and served, among other things, as a warehouse (finds from storage vessels). Possibly there was also a loom there (traces of irregularly arranged post holes). Perhaps the rectory of the (presumed) nearby church was also housed there. The building was destroyed in the 14th century.
Interior development
Residential construction: In construction phase 2, a rectangular, presumably approx. 16.4 × 5.5 m measuring, two-room building on the ground floor was erected in the north corner of the stronghold. Due to its position next to the cross hill, it could only be examined in small sections. The best preserved was its south wall, which could be traced over a length of approx. 17 m, its thickness was between 70 and 85 cm. It was partially preserved up to a height of 1.74 m. It consisted of carefully hewn, mortared blocks of limestone that sat on a 50 cm high rubble foundation. There were occasional Roman bricks in the masonry. The 28 m 2 large room 1 in the west (5.2 × 5.5 m) could be completely examined and identified as a kitchen with a stone 2.7 × 2.85 m table stove (height 50–80 cm) in the northeast corner . Its plate was made of clay bricked by the heat of the fire. It had been repaired several times during its period of use and probably also had a kind of wooden gallows construction (post hole in the northeast). The middle of the stove top had a trough-like depression. On the plate there were animal bones and fragments of clay pots that had probably been there at the time the castle was destroyed. Red burnt clay residues with inclusions of Roman brick fragments came from the smoke vent. After it was badly damaged by a robbery excavation, the hearth was largely demolished by archaeologists between 1993 and 1995 and replaced by a faithful reconstruction. In construction phase 3, the kitchen was either relocated to the upper floor or to the tower, and the room may have been used as a storage facility. Room 2 could only be excavated on an area of 1.4 × 1 m and, due to the findings (large amount of animal bones, fragments of a larger storage vessel), it had probably served as a pantry. The kitchen floor consisted of an embankment of gravel with a layer of clay, which also filled a rock crevice running across the room. In the eastern area of the residential building there were still traces of a lime mortar screed. The false ceilings and the upper floors were probably made entirely of wood. The discovery of fragments of cup tiles suggest that the rooms were heated with a tiled stove.
Timber construction north courtyard : The 5 × 3.5 m building was erected in construction phase 3 using post and threshold bolt technology. Its function is unclear.
Stone base construction Südhof: The two- to three-room, hook-shaped residential and farm building was multi-phase and stood on relatively narrow foundation walls (60 to 80 cm) in the southwest area of the courtyard. It had an area of approx. 64 m 2 . Room 1 could be heated by two open fire places. The rising walls of the house were built using truss technology.
Hints
The show area is accessible all year round and free of charge. Directions: S6, exit Neunkirchen, turn left onto Bundesstraße 17 / Wiener Straße, at the entrance to Ternitz / Dunkelstein turn right at the first traffic light into Dunkelsteiner Straße. The first street on the right (St.-Peter-Gasse) is the driveway to Petersberg, which leads to the cemetery. Sufficient parking spaces are available there. The Petersberg can also be easily reached via the Schwarzatal / Euro Velo 9 cycle path (turn right at Neunkirchner Spitz, then left through the federal road underpass towards Ternitz). The preserved wall remains of the castle are to the west of the church and are provided with information boards.
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Haider-Berky: The castle and the ministerial family of Dunkelstein , in: Our home NF 62, 1991.
- Karin Kühtreiber: Dunkelstein Castle; Results of the archaeological investigations of a high medieval aristocratic residence in south-eastern Lower Austria , 2 volumes, dissertation, University of Vienna, 2006.
- Felix Halmer: Defense buildings and aristocratic seats in Lower Austria , Volume 1, St. Pölten, 1998.
Web links
- Archeology Austria Special, 2006, Karin Kühtreiber: Usable rooms and areas in the Dunkelstein castle ruins. A preliminary report, pp. 145–164
- Brief description and photos on Ruine.at (click on BL / Lower Austria and Neunkirchen district)
- Brief description of defensive structures in Austria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 30–31
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin, 2006, pp. 32–35
- ↑ W. Haider-Berky, 1991
- ^ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, p. 49
- ^ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 55 and 71
- ^ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 72 and 86
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 45–46
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 46–47, 71, 76, 86
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, pp. 55-63, 71
- ↑ Kühtreiber Karin: 2006, p. 87