Ebenzweier Castle

The Castle Ebenzweier located in the municipality Altmünster in the district of Gmunden of Upper Austria (Ebenzweier no. 17).

history

The former residence was originally the headquarters of the Schachner family, which can be verified in 1292, the first of these was the documented Ditmayr Schachner. Under Paul Schachner, the mansion was called Schachnerhof in 1380; Because of this ownership structure, the residence was formerly known as Schachen. The name Ebenzweier comes from the location name “next to the pond” (= Nebenzweyer, this name became Ebenzweyer). But already the Schachners called their residence alternately Schachen or Nebenzweier. According to the Wallseer's fief book of 1446, the Schachners were servants of the Lords of Ort . In 1526 a Hans Schachner and in 1550 Abraham Schachner are named. In the 16th century the Schachners became Protestants . A Schachner named Abraham was even a pastor in Altmünster in 1564 ; from him ownership passed to his son of the same name in 1580. The Schachners had to leave the country because of their belief and in 1626 Ebenzweier was drafted by the sovereign.

Ebenzweier Castle on an engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer from 1674

In 1629 Christoph von Zedlitz was briefly in possession of the rule. Abraham von Rohrbach followed him. Regina, the widow of Abraham von Rohrbach auf Ebenzweyr, daughter of Jodokus "Jobst" Schmidauer von Ober-Wallsee and Cäcilia von Ramming, sold Ebenzweier in 1633 to Thomas II von Seeau. In 1681 Johann Philibert von Seeau zu Mühlleuthen was baron on Ebenzweier. In 1724 Ebenzweier came under forced administration because of the high debts. In 1742, Count Josef Seeau had to auction the property publicly because of its debts. In 1743 Anton Nikolaus Franz Xaver von Seeau, Count of Mühlleuthen, died as the second and last Baron Seeau von Mühlleuten on Ebenzweier. In 1767 Baron Elias Engl von Wagrein acquired Ebenzweier from the bankruptcy estate . After six years the property was sold on to Anton von Unkrechtsberg zu Puchberg. In 1801 the last Unkrechtsberg died without an heir and the castle was advertised for free sale. In 1802 Florian Max Clodi acquired the Ebenzweier estate from the inheritance. His heirs could not hold the large estate for long and sold it to Archduke Maximilian Josef d'Este . He had the castle renovated generously and converted into a country castle. After his death, his niece, Archduchess Maria Theresia, inherited the property. In 1891 she sold everything to Prince Don Jayme de Bourbon. In 1892 he was succeeded by Alfonso von Bourbon .

In 1971, Prince Carlos Hugues de Bourbon donated the castle in need of renovation to the Altmünster community. Today's owner is the state of Upper Austria, the castle was restored again and adapted as a boarding school for apprentice cooks. In 1986 a catering trade school was set up here.

Ebenzweier Castle today

The castle has been rebuilt and expanded many times over the course of its history. Today the complex consists of two castle courtyards. The inner one is completely enclosed, the outer one consists of three wings, which are closed off by a wall to the west. In the front courtyard there is a stone, octagonal fountain trough with several engraved or raised coats of arms; in the middle it has a column with spouts on two sides with wrought iron supporting lattice arches and on which a stone figure of St. Florian is standing. The central wing of the palace has glazed arcades on the upper floor. In the middle is a slender clock tower with a cornice gable and a slightly hunched conical roof. The three-storey facade facing the lake has 75 windows; in the middle is a pillar porch with an architrave and pointed gable.

The castle chapel has an altar (around 1660), a richly carved door (1633) and images of saints from the 17th century.

Ebenzweier Castle is located in a large park in Altmünster on the Traunsee , which extends to the Traunseebundesstraße. As can be seen from an engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer from 1674, Ebenzweier already owned several enclosed ornamental, kitchen and tree gardens. Today's landscape park was designed under Archduke Maximilian Josef d'Este. However, at that time it reached as far as the Traunsee, today only as far as the main road. The greenhouse and kitchen garden parts are no longer preserved.

Fire disaster in 2016

Ebenzweier Castle during the fire on May 9, 2016.

On May 9, 2016, around 12 noon, a smoldering fire broke out in the area of the main entrance to the park (east). This spread quickly and spread to a large part of the roof structure, which subsequently collapsed. 285 students at the vocational school had to be brought to safety. Since the hydrants of the Altmünster community could no longer offer the required extinguishing capacity, 18 lines were laid to the nearby Traunsee , which resulted in the temporary closure of Salzkammergutstrasse . With a peak in the evening hours of 31 fire brigades from the districts of Gmunden and Vöcklabruck, around 450 fire fighters and 86 emergency vehicles, this operation was one of the largest fire disasters in the federal state of Upper Austria in recent decades.

The extinguishing work continued on May 10th. Considerable damage was done to the building, the roof structure and the attic fell to the second floor. The castle is in danger of collapsing and must now be checked by structural engineers. According to initial investigations, an ivy on a pillar was ignited by a cigarette, and because of the strong wind, the flames spread to the roof structure. On the third day of operation, May 11, 2016, three fire brigades with 35 emergency services were still busy with the embers. Replacement quarters had to be organized for over 200 vocational school students who were also boarding school residents.

After more than 52 hours, "fire off" was reported on May 11 at 5 pm. The deployment of the fire brigades was thus ended.

literature

Herbert Erich Baumert & Georg Grüll : Castles and Palaces in Upper Austria, Volume 2: Salzkammergut and Alpine Foreland . Birken-Verlag, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-85030-042-0 .
Eva Berger : Historic gardens of Austria: Upper Austria, Salzburg, Vorarlberg, Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol Gardens and parks from the Renaissance to around 1930 (Volume 2) . Böhlau, Vienna 2003, ISBN 978-3-205-99352-0 .
Norbert Grabherr : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. A guide for castle hikers and friends of home . 3. Edition. Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1976, ISBN 3-85214-157-5 .
Oskar Hille: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria then and now . Verlag Ferdinand Berger & Sons, Horn 1975, ISBN 3-85028-023-3 .