Fünfkirchen Castle

Fünfkirchen Castle
Fünfkirchen Castle around 1925
Alternative name (s):	Steinebrunn Castle
Creation time :	from 1602
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Geographical location	48 ° 44 '51 "  N , 16 ° 38' 49.9"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 44 '51 "  N , 16 ° 38' 49.9"  E
Height:	245  m above sea level A.

Fünfkirchen Castle - or Steinebrunn Castle - bears the name of the Lower Austrian noble family Fünfkirchen . The castle stands dominantly on a hill - the Schlossberg - with a wide view of the surroundings in the village of Steinebrunn in the municipality of Drasenhofen in the Weinviertel in Lower Austria, 10 km north of Poysdorf and near the border crossing and the town of Nikolsburg / Mikulov in southern Moravia.

Building history

founding

Until the death of Hans III. Fünfkirchen In 1571, the Fünfkirchen are in charge of the royal Falkenstein Castle and reside in the castle or the Poysbrunn Castle attached to the rulership , but in 1572 this goes to the Catholic Trautson . From 1602 , Baron Johann Bernhard von Fünfkirchen had the four-winged palace rebuilt as the center and administrative seat of his large estate in the late Renaissance style. Remnants of a late Romanesque predecessor building were integrated into the rising masonry. The castle is fortified with earth walls, an engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer from 1672 shows a view of it.

Johann Bernhard is a Protestant and partisan of the estates opposition. After the brotherly dispute, he sells most of his Lower Austrian goods and acquires property in Bohemia and in 1616 transfers the newly built Steinebrunn Castle to his wife Barbara von Teuffenbach (* + 1620). Johann Bernhard took part in the Prague window lintel and was ostracized as a rebel and his property was confiscated. Fünfkirchen Castle is handed over to Dietrichstein from Nikolsburg . The fortified castle is provided with a crew of 100 men. Through the mediation of his uncle Rudolf von Teuffenbach , Johann Sigismund von Fünfkirchen managed to get the castle and lordship of Steinebrunn back in 1647.

Baroque renovation

At the beginning of the 18th century, Count Johann Adam von Fünfkirchen had parts of the palace redesigned in baroque style; the stuccoed Sala terrena and remains of secco painting are still preserved. A view, engraved by Martin Engelbrecht , shows the castle from the southwest. Cannons can still be seen on the upstream bastions. The clock tower with onion dome in the middle of the north facade comes from the baroque renovation and was demolished in the 19th century.

The outwork with tower and ancillary building to the right of the castle has disappeared, the bulk box on the left below the building is still preserved. A bridge that was decorated with figures of saints led to the main entrance. The statue of St. Florian has been preserved and is now in Drasenhofen .

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  Fünfkirchen Castle 1672, copper engraving by Vischer

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  Fünfkirchen Castle around 1730, copper engraving by Engelbrecht

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  Fünfkirchen Castle around 1850, watercolor by Joseph Höger

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  Fünfkirchen Castle around 1900 after the clock tower was removed and the corner towers were raised

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  Main facade of the castle in the north, around 1925

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  Fünfkirchen Castle from the west with the former Vorwerk converted into a bulk box

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  Baroque figure of St. Florian, once on the castle bridge

19th century

From 1800 the former fortifications were razed and an English garden was created. In 1809 Napoleon stayed in the castle. On the occasion of his wedding in 1826 to Aloysia Countess Wurmbrandt-Stuppach, Count Otto von Fünfkirchen had Fünfkirchen Castle redesigned and refurbished by the architect Karl Schleps . A watercolor by Joseph Höger , created around 1840, shows the palace with the baroque clock tower above the main entrance, which will be removed later. In 1844 Otto Fünfkirchen took up his post as district captain in Schwaz and had Fünfkirchen Castle closed. In 1866 the building was damaged by Prussian troops. Until the end of the monarchy, the family mostly only used the castle for autumn hunts. The last renovation took place after 1900. The third floor of the corner towers will be raised and these will have pyramid roofs.

Towards the end of the Second World War , the castle was looted and the five churches were relocated to an administration building. In the post-war period, displaced persons from South Moravia were housed in the castle, then the castle was empty until it was sold in 1970. Today, Fünfkirchen Castle is privately owned, renovated and inhabited. It cannot be visited.

Trivia

Oral tradition in Steinebrunn reports that the fifth tower of the now four-towered castle Fünfkirchen was missing . This was lost by the countess while playing cards . The origin of the legend is likely to be the demolition of the baroque clock tower in the middle of the 19th century.

swell

• Heinrich Graf Fünfkirchen: The Fünfkirchen in Vienna, Enns, Steinebrunn and Falkenstein in the Mistelbach district . Lower Austria State Library, Bib-Sigel: NÖIL IDN: 28241.
• Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-218-00288-5 , p. 175.
• Walter Franz Ziehensack: Land between Thaya and Zaya . Jugend & Volk, Vienna et al. 1975, ISBN 3-7141-7600-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Graf Fünfkirchen: The Fünfkirchen in Vienna, Enns, Steinebrunn and Falkenstein in the Mistelbacher district, p. 67
2. ^ Heinrich Graf Fünfkirchen: The Fünfkirchen in Vienna, Enns, Steinebrunn and Falkenstein in the Mistelbacher district, p. 59
3. ^ Franz Xavier Joseph Schweickhardt (Knight of Sickingen), representation of the Archduchy of Austria under the Ens: through a comprehensive description of all castles, palaces, dominions, cities, markets, villages, Rotten & c. & c. topographical-statistical-genealogical-historical edit. Quarter under Manhartsberg, Volume 2, p. 61
4. ^ Fünfkirchen, Heinrich Graf: The Fünfkirchen in Vienna, Enns, Steinebrunn and Falkenstein in the Mistelbach district, Lower Austria State Library, Bib-Sigel: NÖIL IDN: 28241, p. 98
5. ↑ NEW TOWNHOUSE ON THE ROAD
6. ↑ Anton Schulla "Chronicle of the municipality Drasenhofen" 1985 NÖLB Verb.Nr. 158348

Web links

Commons : Fünfkirchen Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Castle and family Fünfkirchen
• Entry about Fünfkirchen on Burgen-Austria