Hohenberg ruins
| Hohenberg ruins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 54 '17 " N , 15 ° 37' 22" E | |
|
||
The Hohenberg ruin is the ruin of a hilltop castle in the market town of Hohenberg in southern Lower Austria .
history
Hohenberg Castle was built in the 13th century by Dietrich von Hohenberg, son of the Ministerial Leutold von Hohenstaff (or later Leutold von Altenburg ). With the construction of the castle, Dietrich became, alongside his brother Heinrich, the founder of the Hohenberger family, who in turn were part of the Hohenstaff-Altenburg-Hohenberg dynasty.
In 1407, when a civil war broke out in Austria between the dukes Leopold the Fat and Ernst the Iron for the guardianship of the then underage Duke Albrecht V , the lord of the castle at the time, Hans I von Hohenberg, sided with the latter. Hans I. also forced Lilienfeld Abbey to take sides with his duke. When Leopold, in turn, sent a punitive expedition under the direction of the Moravian knight Sokol to Hohenberg, Hans I fled and hid in the monastery. Sokol limited himself to the confiscation of the Hohenbergers' horses, but this story turned out to be unfavorable for Lilienfeld Abbey. Hans I's support against Sokol was too little, which is why he plundered the pen a short time later in revenge.
1482 put Hans III. von Hohenberg made his castles Merkenstein , Hohenberg and Kreisbach available to the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus in his war against Emperor Friedrich III. In response, he sent an imperial army into the Traisental , but the siege of Hohenberg Castle was unsuccessful.
With the death of the last Hohenberger Erasmus von Hohenberg in 1529, the castle passed into the possession of Wilhelm von Roggendorf, who was married to Erasmus' daughter, Anna von Hohenberg.
From then on, the castle changed hands at short intervals. In 1535 it came to Sebald Pögl the Younger , Baron von Reiffenstein and Arenberg.
In 1589, Baron Bernhard V. von Jörger acquired the rule. The Jörger let Hohenberg expand generously. They were a Protestant noble family from Upper Austria who owned many possessions in the area in the 16th century (e.g. Bergau Castle in Rohrbach an der Gölsen since 1570 ). The Jörger's power in the upper Traisental had grown to such an extent that they even became dangerous to Lilienfeld Abbey, traditionally the largest and most powerful local landowner of the time. In the course of the Counter Reformation , the Jörger's goods were confiscated by imperial decree in 1619, including Hohenberg. Emperor Ferdinand II sent an army under Hans Balthasar von Hoyos against Hohenberg. The castle was successfully conquered by the imperial troops, but it was also badly damaged by the incendiary projectiles .
After the defeat of Jörger, Hans Balthasar von Hoyos received Hohenberg Castle as a fief ; in 1627 it passed into his personal possession. Since the von Hoyos family did not live in the Traisental, the castle fell into disrepair. About 40 years later, Hohenberg is depicted as a half- ruin on the Vischer engraving (1672) . The outbuildings, the round towers and the defensive wall were still intact at that time.
The square arrow or hunger tower on the right bank of the Traisen was demolished in 1892 in order to build the railway. It was part of a dam between the Schlossberg and the Rierkogel. In 1933 the Wittgenstein family bought the forest property including the ruins. Today both belong to the Wittgenstein Forest Administration. In the period from 1956 to 1964 the ruins were renovated . Since nobody felt responsible for the castle anymore, it fell into disrepair. At the end of the 1980s, under the chairman of the tourist association, Paul Kropik, the castle hill was cleared of wood and a documentation center with the "Spielbichler pictures" was set up in the area of the outer castle gate, showing the castle in earlier times. Castle festivals and events attempted to keep the population interested in the castle, but the rapid decline could not be stopped. In 2005 volunteers and a boy scout club took on the ruins, with the aim of reopening Hohenberg to tourism. Railings were installed, the hiking trails renovated and overgrown green plants removed. Two years later the work was completed. Since then, the ruins have been regularly visited by residents and hikers.
architecture
The castle was once surrounded by a double wall and a moat and had a gate tower , a kennel , an outer bailey and a triangular courtyard. Of this only the outer defensive wall and a remnant of the chimney flue are preserved.
photos
Remains of a Tower (2014)
Photo from the inner courtyard (2014)
Photo from the inner courtyard (2012)
literature
- Gerhard Stenzel: From Castle to Castle in Austria , 1973
- Rudolf Büttner: Castles and Palaces between Araburg and Gresten , 1975
- Georg Clam Martinic: Austrian Burgenlexikon , 1992
- Ilse Schöndorfer: Stones and Legends - Castle ruins in Lower Austria , 1999
- Dehio: Lower Austria south of the Danube 2003
Web links
- Hohenberg ruin on the side of defense structures in Austria
- Hohenberg (Traisental) on Burgen-Austria.com