Etzelsdorf Castle
The Etzelsdorf Castle is on the western edge of the Upper Austrian town Pichl bei Wels lying palace in the style of the Renaissance . The structure was erected in the 17th century near an older complex that dates back to the 12th century.
description
The splendid two-storey Renaissance building is covered by a broad, crooked hipped roof. The castle is flanked by two free-standing farm buildings, which enclose the courtyard in a horseshoe shape. The simple facade is decorated by a stucco band running around the lower edge of the roof. The windows at the back have wrought iron baskets on the first floor. The entrance leads into a stone-paved hallway from which the rooms on the ground floor and (via a corridor) those of the upper floor are accessible.
history
History of the castle
The exact construction time of Etzelsdorf Castle is unknown. The previous building was located behind today's castle and Innbachtalstrasse. In the middle of a round pond, which is enclosed by a wall and surrounded by a ditch with running water, you will find a circular island with deciduous trees; the original Etzelsdorf headquarters had stood on it. In a report on the princely fiefs from 1558, Etzelsdorf is described as "a desolate Purckstall and nothing on it, has a double moat, but no water in it"; It also shows that the old seat was probably destroyed by fire around 1551.
In the 14th century the keeper Niklas der Eczelstorfferer was first mentioned, who was also the keeper of Tollet Castle . In 1377 the “honorable servant” Niklas became the Eczelstorfferer nurse from Pernstein , in 1379 Niklas Eczelstorfferer and his son-in-law Hans Jörger testified that the Seelinger donated to Lambach Monastery . The estate came to Kaspar Jörger through marriage. From 1430 the castle was owned by the Struz, in 1558 another Jörger was mentioned. In 1563 it came to Erasmus von Gera after a long inheritance dispute, and in 1590 to Engel von Wagrain. In 1600 the previous building of today's castle was bought by Josef Krenner. Successors were the Seeauers, who sold it to the Schmidtauer von Oberwallsee in 1625. In 1626 the castle burned down in the Peasants' War after being looted. Christoph Schmidtauer († 1722) had the old castle demolished and rebuilt in its current form. Other owners were Carl Anton Schmidtauer, in 1805 Josef Franz Schmidtauer, in 1832 Karl Schmidtauer and finally in 1894 Rosa von Schmidtauer. In 1901 Etzelsdorf came to the imperial noble Anna von Unkrechtsberg († 1929).
She bequeathed the castle and the surrounding property to her long-time cook Josefa Pühringer († 1946), who, because of her advanced age, passed the castle on to her daughter Maria (married Nöbauer) († 1966). Maria's husband, Ignaz Nöbauer († 1957), had become wealthy by winning the lottery. The marriage was not particularly happy, however, the husband was suspected of having raped a twelve-year-old girl, and he was also said to have had a relationship with a domestic servant. As a result, after the German troops marched in, his wife reported him for fornication with minors and he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp in 1939 . He survived this time as a prison officer . After his release, former prisoners obviously tried to get hold of him several times, but they did not succeed. After the death of the castle owner, the estate was divided among 13 heirs. In 1970 it came into the possession of an entrepreneurial family from Linz. Obviously the new owners had doubts whether they could ever renovate the castle. The owner Hans Herbert Jeitschko took the vow that if the castle should ever be renovated, he would donate a chapel. This castle chapel was built in 1996 and is owned by Ingrid Jeitschko. The current owner of the castle is the Jeitschko family from Linz . The castle is privately owned, the inner courtyard is accessible on request.
time of the nationalsocialism
In the summer of 1944, the established National Socialist People's Welfare in the castle Etzelsdorf a "Fremdvölkisches children's home" that as a foreigner child care facility functioned. The background to this was the fact that during the National Socialist era, around 1.7 million women were deported to Germany as forced laborers, some of which became pregnant and gave birth to children. As a rule, the children were taken away from the mothers immediately after birth; The representatives of the Nazi state were unsure of what to do with these children. Their murder was discussed, as well as whether they would later be made into slave labor again or given up for adoption. In the Gau Oberdonau, such homes were set up in Windern Castle near Desselbrunn , in Burgkirchen near Mauerkirchen, in Schwanenstadt , in Braunau , in Klam near Perg, in Weng near Hofkirchen, in the Lindenhof in Spital am Pyhrn , in Wilhelming near Utzenaich and in the Schardenberg Forest Castle.
Until the end of 1946, children of forced laborers were housed here. At least 13 of these 39 children died due to insufficient care and nutrition in autumn 1944. The nurses had not spoken to the children, so that they could not develop any language; the children were tied in their beds and even two-year-olds could not walk after the liberation. After 1945, some children were returned to their mothers, which also led to mix-ups, as the children were not addressed by their respective names and name ribbons were not common. The other children were brought to the Czech border in autumn 1946, after which they are lost.
Memorial for the children of Etzelsdorf Castle
In memory of the 13 infants who died in 1944, the artist Bibiana Weber designed a memorial that was erected in the area of the northwestern tower substructure of the parish church of Pichl and inaugurated on November 2, 2005. The artist stretched 24 chrome-nickel steel ropes from a memorial plaque on the floor to the lower tower window. The poem "Herbstzeitlosen" by H. Maike Opaska selected by the artist is engraved on the memorial plate:
“
REMEMBER BREATHING OUT
WITHOUT AUTUMN
ONLY FORGET EXISTENCE AND TENSION THREADS
IN A NEW ONE.
THE OLD FALL TO DEEP IN WORDS
AND Tears HAPPENED
THAT WERE LOST
IN THE AUTUMN TIMELESS LIGHT "
On the circumferential edge of the memorial plate are the names of the 13 children buried without a name at the time.
literature
- Walter Aspernig: The Etzelsdorf headquarters in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. In: 34th yearbook of the Wels Museum Association 2004/2005. Wels 2006, pp. 127–152, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
- Norbert Grabherr : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. A guide for castle hikers and friends of home. 3rd, revised edition. Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, Linz 1976, ISBN 3-85214-157-5 .
- Martin Kranzl-Greinecker: The children of Etzelsdorf. Notes on the "Fremdvölkische Kinderheim" in Etzelsdorf Castle, Pichl bei Wels (1944–1946), Denkmayr, Linz 2005, ISBN 3-902488-44-1 .
Web links
- Entry via Etzelsdorf Castle to Burgen-Austria
- Description of the facility at Burgenkunde Austria
- The children of Etzelsdorf Castle
- Parish church Pichl near Wels St. Martin: Memorial place of Bibiana Weber 2005
Coordinates: 48 ° 10 '45.09 " N , 13 ° 53' 32.93" E