Gillitzstein ruins

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Gillitzstein ruins (winter 2014)

The Gillitzstein ruins are the ruins of a trade headquarters in the municipality of Eberstein in the Sankt Veit district in Carinthia . The ruin is located near the road from Eberstein to St. Oswald , at about 680 meters above sea level.

history

In 1559, the trade Leonhard Umbfahrer, city judge in Völkermarkt , was officially named as the owner of Gillitzstein. That is why the property was also known as the bypass hut. At that time there was a raft furnace in Gillitzstein , in which iron ore mined in Hüttenberg was melted before it was taken to Brückl or Eisenkappel for final processing . In 1578 Umbfahrer sold Gillitzstein to the St. Veit citizen Jakob Freiberger, who in turn sold it to Balthasar Kulmer von Rosenbichl due to economic problems around 1600 .

Coat of arms of Count Christalnigg von und zu Gillitzstein

In 1605, David Christallnigg, an iron merchant from St. Veit, who owned iron mines and hammer mills in Görtschitztal and Hüttenberg, bought the hammer house. He operated an important blast furnace here. After his death the property passed to his son Leonhard Christallnigg and after his death in 1625 to Leonhard’s son Georg David Christallnigg, who was ennobled on January 14, 1628 by Emperor Ferdinand II . The Christalnigg family contributed since then the suffix "of Gillitzstein", which suggests that at that time the property was extended in Gillitzstein to a castle.

In 1631 the Carinthian estates of Gillitzstein withdrew due to tax arrears; the landscape secretary Johann Weber von Ehrenthal soon sold the farm and ironworks to Leonhard Waitschacher. Gillitzstein's widow sold to the Genoese Francesco Mazzugon (or Mazigon), who had the largest raft furnace in Carinthia built in Gillitzstein in 1665 and operated three iron hammers here .

After Mazzugon's death, the Christalnigg family was able to acquire the castle again: Under Leonhard Christalnigg's great-grandson Georg Balthasar Christalnigg, it temporarily became the headquarters of the Christallnigg family, who were given the status of barons in 1708 and counts by Charles VI in 1721. The Christallniggs finally had the Hornburg , Burg Eberstein , castle Waisenberg and Trixener castles, Schloss Hagenegg , Castle Töllerberg and Castle Timenitz . In 1847 a new blast furnace was built; At that time around 25 people still lived in Gillitzstein Castle. But after the collapse of the Hüttenberger Bergwerksunion, the new owner Alpine Montangesellschaft shut down unprofitable plants like Gillitzstein. For the Christallnigg family themselves, the Eberstein and Meiselberg castles had become more important long before that. The Gillitzstein mansion fell into complete disrepair in a short period of time, and it seems hard to imagine that the present ruins were still inhabited by poor people at the turn of the 20th century.

construction

Gillitzstein ruins (2014)

Gillitzstein is sometimes referred to as a "castle ruin", and there is also occasional mention of the fact that small remains of a "medieval" complex or "the late Middle Ages" can be seen. But there is no historical evidence of a fortification; also, the location on a plateau, with no verifiable ramparts or ditches, would have been unsuitable for defense purposes. And Kohla did not start expanding the trade headquarters into a castle until the beginning of the 18th century.

That is why the sparse, "badly crumbled" remains that can still be seen today are not unjustifiably referred to in some sources as "castle ruins" and "predominantly modern".

See also

literature

  • Hermann Wiessner, Gerhard Seebach, Margareta Vyoral-Tschapka: Castles and palaces in Carinthia (Carinthia I), castles and palaces around Wolfsberg, Friesach, St. Veit. 2nd expanded edition, Vienna 1977, page I / 37 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Fritz Peterka: Noric Region. The most beautiful valley and mountain hikes. Munich 2002, p. 12.
  2. ↑ a b Martin Sternitz: The four Hüttenberger main trades . Between tradition and innovation. In: Rudolfinum. Yearbook of the State Museum for Carinthia 2007. S. 144 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  3. ^ Yearbook of the Heraldic-Genealogical Society Adler. 1918, p. 23.
  4. ^ A b Franz Xaver Kohla, Gustav Adolf von Metnitz, Gotbert Moro: Kärntner Burgenkunde. References to sources and literature on the historical and legal position of castles, palaces and residences in Carinthia and their owners. History Association for Carinthia, 1973, p. 41.
  5. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Leitner: The inscriptions of the political district St. Veit an der Glan (= The German inscriptions. 65th volume, Vienna series 2nd volume, part 2). Vienna 2008, cat. No. 747
  6. ^ Genealogical paperback of the German count's houses for the year 1842. Gotha, 1842, p. 111.
  7. ^ Franz Hartl: My Görtschitztal. Völkermarkt approx. 2014, p. 61.
  8. ↑ a b c Carinthia cultural assets - castles, fortresses, fortifications at www.ktn.gv.at.
  9. ^ A b c Franz Xaver Kohla, Gustav Adolf von Metznitz, Gotbert Moro: Kärntner Burgenkunde. Carinthia's castles, palaces, mansions and fortified sites. History Association for Carinthia, 1973, p. 69.
  10. ^ Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia. Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , p. 790.

Coordinates: 46 ° 49 '0.7 "  N , 14 ° 34' 3.6"  E