Aistersheim Castle
The Aistersheim Castle is a moated castle from the late Renaissance in the center of Aistersheim in Upper Austria 12 km southwest of Grieskirchen .
history
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Schloss_Aistersheim_Vischer.jpg/220px-Schloss_Aistersheim_Vischer.jpg)
The moated castle was first mentioned in 1159 with Dietmar von Aistersheim, a ministerial of the Styrian Otakare . The former castle remained in the possession of the Lords of Aistersheim until 1426, when Heinrich von Aistersheim died as the last of his tribe. Its members also called themselves Herren von Aist, after their headquarters near Altaist in the Mühlviertel . The castle was a fortification on the border to Bavaria that ran near Haag am Hausruck . In 1464 Hanns von Hohenfeld bought the rule . Aistersheim stayed with this sex for over 350 years. Hanns von Hohenfeld had not owned the medieval moated castle for seven years when it was shot, conquered and destroyed in the Liechtenstein feud by the modern powder guns of Wolfgang von Schaunberg. Hohenfelder then had to be compensated with Jochenstein Castle . Aistersheim was poorly restored, but then replaced by a new building in the second half of the 16th century. The most important builder of the late Renaissance castle, which still exists today, is likely to have been Achaz von Hohenfeld, who was ordained by the knighthood. The construction work was completed around 1600. In the meantime those of Hohenfeld had converted to Protestantism . In 1619, Otto Achaz von Hohenfeld, as a militant representative of the Protestant estates, refused to pay hereditary homage to Emperor Ferdinand II as the new sovereign prince. Thereupon the following year Tilly's Bavarian troops besieged the castle, which was defended by farmers under the caretaker Wolf Kessel. After a few days it was taken. Kessel atone for his resistance with his head, most of the peasants were hanged.
During the great Upper Austrian Peasants' War under Stefan Fadinger , Aistersheim became one of the centers of peasant resistance. After Fadinger's death, it served Achaz Wiellinger von der Au as headquarters and bag storage. At that time the rulers' archives were destroyed. During the subsequent conquest by the Bavarian governor in Upper Austria, Adam Graf Herberstorff , the building was badly damaged. After that the farmers were hanging from the trees by the dozen. The Hohenfelder finally converted back to Catholicism. Her knighthood was confirmed and Ferdinand von Hohenfeld was raised to the rank of imperial count in 1669 . A fire in 1771 caused major damage, so that several reconstruction work in the baroque style was necessary. In the first half of the 19th century the exterior facades were renewed. With Field Marshal Lieutenant Otto Adolf Graf Hohenfeld , the family died out in 1824. His four sisters sold the estate to Johann Karl Dworzak in 1830. Aistersheim owned his descendants until the second half of the 20th century.
In Worms Cathedral there is an elaborate epitaph of the cathedral dean Franz Carl Friedrich von Hohenfeld (1696–1757) which, according to the grave inscription, identifies him as Lord von Aistersheim.
description
The outer
The three-storey, rectangular complex has four squat round towers at the corners, which protrude strongly. These towers are covered with conical roofs. The castle is still completely surrounded by a pond, over which two wooden bridges lead to the simple gates. The almost two and a half meter thick outer walls rest on a large number of wooden pilots. The ground floor, designed as a base, is rusticated. The gate tower on the north side facing the place dates from the 13th century. But it was built later and transformed into a slender clock and bell tower in the baroque period. The entrance preferred today leads from the farm buildings to the rear. Above it is a balcony with a wrought iron grille. The spacious inner courtyard has porticos or arcades on all four facades , with the arches on the second floor only half as wide as those on the two lower floors, but twice as numerous. Two open staircases are diagonally opposite each other. Three pointed arch gates still come from the Gothic construction period.
inside rooms
The interior of the castle is mostly modern. What is remarkable, however, is the knight's hall , which occupies two floors and formerly stretched over the entire narrow side of the east wing. It is considered to be one of the most important Renaissance halls in Upper Austria. The Italian-influenced frescoes in the stucco-framed fields of the ceiling show mythological representations. The year 1645 can be seen on two large door frames. The six oil paintings are works by the painter Kessler from Brixen im Thale. The palace chapel is located in the northeast corner tower. Under the stuccoed flat dome is a mighty altar from 1658, decorated with life-size statues. The rest of the furnishings, including a rare carrying organ , are also from the 17th century. An impressive renaissance door with inlays and carving leads into the chaplain room.
literature
- Georg Clam Martinic : Austrian Castle Lexicon . 1992.
- Georg Grüll : Castles and palaces in the Innviertel and Alpine foothills. 1964.
- Norbert Grabherr : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. 3. Edition. Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1976. pp. 97–98.
- Ilse Schöndorfer: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. 2001.
- Oskar Hille: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria then and now. 1975.
- Knaur's cultural guide Austria. 1977.
- Laurin Luchner: Castles in Austria II. 1983.
- Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria. 1973.
- Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria. 1976.
Web links
- Aistersheim moated castle
- Entry via Schloss Aistersheim on Burgen-Austria
Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 11.2 " N , 13 ° 44 ′ 23.5" E