Aigen Castle

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Aigen Church and Castle

Aigen Castle is an old aristocratic seat in the south of the city of Salzburg and namesake for today's district of Salzburg-Aigen . It is surrounded by grassland at the foot of the Gaisberg . The property has been owned by the Revertera family since 1921 . The castle itself is currently uninhabited and is currently undergoing major renovations, the owner lives in parts of the well-renovated outbuildings of the castle. An outbuilding in the north houses the gourmet restaurant “Gasthof Schloss Aigen”. Behind the palace building, towards the Gaisberg, extends the Aigner Park with waterfalls and viewing platforms, which is used by many Salzburg residents as a recreational area and excursion destination. Today the " Campinganlage Schloss Aigen" is located in the immediate vicinity .

history

The " Illuminatenhöhle " in Aigner Park (Salzburg)

The castle emerged from a manorial estate and was first mentioned in 1402 as "free property" owned by the cathedral chapter . After several changes of ownership, Levin von Mortaigne (see Seeburg Castle (Seekirchen) ) acquired the manor in 1614 and converted it into a noble country residence. The associated wild bath was first mentioned in the 16th century and was just as well known as the Wildbad Gastein due to its medicinal water until the early 17th century .

After the death of Johann Dietrich von Mortaigne, Aigen fell to the Barons of Pranckh in 1647 . They sold the residence to Johann Josef Graf Kuenburg in 1673 . In 1727, Aigen Castle and the associated Wildbad became the property of the Kuenberg secretary, Franz Josef Waldherr. He had the first extensive natural castle park laid out in the forest area of ​​the Gaisberg, which was equipped with numerous monuments, grottos and other park structures by the subsequent owner, Basil von Amman, and became a meeting point for the Illuminati Order (Illuminati Lodge Apollo). The Salzburg canon Willibald Wolfegg had parts of the park redesigned as the English Garden in 1780 . Hieronymus Graf Lodron , hereditary land marshal of Salzburg and his successor, Canon Ernst Fürst Schwarzenberg , took care of the further beautification and enlargement of the near-natural romantic garden and the expansion of the spa. In the 19th century, the castle with its magnificent, wild and romantic forest gardens was known far beyond the borders of Salzburg. The Bavarian King Ludwig I even sang about the garden in a poem.

Since 1921 the castle in Erbweg has been owned by the Revertera family from Upper Austria ; Peter Graf Reventera had received the property by marrying Ida zu Schwarzenberg. In 1939 the castle served the Reich Labor Service before it was used as a training center for the German Red Cross from 1941 . After the end of the Second World War, the Hallein school sisters were housed in the property until 1948 . After that the rooms were rented; the last tenant died in 2007, after which the castle was empty with the exception of an outbuilding that was inhabited by the Revertera-Salandra family. Comprehensive renovation work began in 2017, supported by the Federal Monuments Office .

description

Alliance coat of arms of the Counts Revertera and the Prince Schwarzenberg above the entrance gate
Castle (right) and residential building
Schlossschänke from Schloss Aigen

The entrance to the Schlossplatz is flanked by two brick pillars on which there are classicist stone urns from the 18th century. The castle itself is a rectangular, four-storey building with a Biedermeier facade framed with pilaster strips and a high hipped roof . A five-story tower is attached to the western front in the courtyard. The castle is enclosed in a trapezoidal shape around an inner courtyard by three low residential buildings that were once designed as farm buildings.

The marble coats of arms of Count Revertera and Prince Schwarzenberg have been found on the northern arched gate since 1921. Four marble slabs with former gravestones from the former cemetery with skulls, each with four bat wings from the 17th century, are walled in on the northern farm building. To the south of the main building, an extension was built in 1920, in whose oval hall the 17th century bust of Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini, later Pope Clement VIII , was made from Carrara marble . The castle building looks run down today.

Most of the former farm buildings north of the mansion date from the second half of the 19th century. The Gasthof Schloss Aigen is located in them. This was repeatedly renovated so that it remained in an acceptable condition. In the past, theater performances took place in the guest garden, and there are no plans to restart them (2018).

literature

  • Aigen Castle. In: Kunsthistorisches Institut der k. k. Central Commission for Monument Preservation (Ed.), Max Dvořák (Red.): Austrian Art Topography. Volume 11: Paul Buberl, Franz Martin (archival part): The monuments of the political district of Salzburg. III. Part: Salzburg judicial district. (The monuments of the judicial district of Salzburg). Schroll, Vienna 1916, pp. 10–12 (PDF) .
  • Otto Hauck: Aigen Castle awakened from its slumber. Bastei - Magazin des Salzburger Stadtverein , 2018, 67th year, pp. 27–29.
  • Gabriele Praschl-Bichler: The Habsburgs in Salzburg. Stocker, Graz 1999, ISBN 3-7020-0842-X .
  • Karl Heinz Ritschel: Salzburg. Grace and power. Otto Müller, Salzburg 2005, ISBN 3-7013-1098-X (reprint of the Vienna 1970 edition).

Web links

Commons : Schloss Aigen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 47 ′ 10 ″  N , 13 ° 5 ′ 17 ″  E