Gloggnitz Castle
The Gloggnitz Castle , a former Benedictine monastery , is in Gloggnitz in southern Lower Austria . The castle is best reached on the S6 via the Gloggnitz exit.
history
In 1094 the Benedictine monastery Vornbach was elevated to an abbey. In the east, the donation of areas in the Neunkirchen - Pitten - Gloggnitz area to the Benedictines enabled the establishment of a Vornbach branch monastery in Gloggnitz.
After the completion of the new Christ the King's Church (1962) near the city center, the monastery church became the former parish church.
Revitalization
From 1977 onwards, the castle church, the Michael's chapel and the entire castle complex were renovated and revitalized with the support of the former building ministry, the science ministry, the federal chancellery , the state of Lower Austria and many private donors. Considerable financial resources were also raised by the community and thousands of hours worked by employees of the municipal building yard. In 1988 the Michaelskapelle was consecrated again. In 1991 a new café-restaurant opened and in 1992 the Lower Austrian provincial exhibition on the subject of conquering the landscape was held in the castle.
Following the Lower Austrian State Exhibition, the project Weddings and Celebrations was set up in the castle in 1992 . The "Wedding Castle Gloggnitz" thus became the first wedding castle in Austria and a successful, continued use of the state exhibition. The Gloggnitz Castle is now known far beyond the regional borders as the wedding castle and fulfills its dedication at the time for regional indirect profitability. The various rooms, such as the event hall, the special exhibition rooms and the outdoor area are available for a wide variety of activities (concerts, exhibitions, festivals, etc.). Examples include the annual castle park festival of the Eichberg volunteer fire brigade, the Ö3 disco in the castle park, the medieval festival and the wedding exhibition “Wedding ideas & celebrations”.
A cafe-restaurant is open in the castle on weekends and public holidays, when the main excursion tourism is on the way. It has been led by Günter Brentrup since 2003 and has an extensive repertoire for events of all kinds; especially for weddings on the entire castle grounds.
description
This building, profaned in 1803, today known as a castle , is a three-story baroque building, the north side with a castle-like character. Through two gatehouses from the late Gothic period, of which the second is particularly interesting with its two-bay cross-ribbed vault, one arrives at the polygonal courtyard (formerly a mortuary), in the middle of which the church stands. The second gatehouse is adjoined by the 1.5 meter thick and 11.5 meter high medieval (15th, 16th century) circular wall with rectangular loopholes. The early Gothic (14th century) two- bay abbot's chapel, consecrated to St. Michael , has two entrances. In its lower part there was once an ossuary (Karner). In the short west wing is the staircase leading to the living rooms, probably earlier the guest room and to the gallery of the abbot's chapel.
The elongated southern part (70 m) with the components from 1588 to 1735 was the former prelature, it contained the apartment of the abbot, the provost, the refectory (dining room with stucco ceiling) and an estuarium (sweat bath) each for the provost and the conventuals. The staircase to the prelature leads through a beautiful wrought iron gate, in the upper part the ceiling is adorned with a large fresco (around 1730) depicting the apotheosis of St. Benedict represents.
The northeast wing (the convent house), also 70 meters long from the Renaissance period, contained the kitchen with the pantry and a hand cellar in the lower part (the large cellar was in the Meierhof), in the upper part, accessible via a three-part stone staircase Living quarters of the monks (cells) and the pastor of the parish. The arcades on the ground floor and the blind arcades on the first floor can be seen almost everywhere in the courtyard . The provost Franz Langpartner had the monastery baroque between 1730 and 1741.
When the Vornbach Abbey was dissolved in 1803, the Gloggnitz Provostry was also dissolved. It was sold as its own manor in 1825. The first private owner was Josef Ritter von Weyna. After that, the private owners changed quite frequently. It has belonged to the municipality of Gloggnitz since 1930.
Maria Schnee church
In the middle of the courtyard is the baroque monastery (castle) church, which is dedicated to Maria Schnee (Beate Mariae Virgini ad Nives) and Saint Oswald, with a Gothic core. In a document from 1485 it is also called Propsteikirche St. Godehard (St. Gotthard) in Gloggnitz . The oldest part is the women's chapel (probably the original Zell, 11th century) with a pointed arch girdle from 1260, which used to be independent and was not connected to the church until around 1760. It is also Gothic. The church underwent its greatest transformation under the provosts Perfaller and Wenckh. The church was redesigned in Baroque style in 1692, and the 36-meter-high tower with an onion roof, which was added a year later, was to house the first large bell (635 kg) and the second (1330 kg) in 1724. The sacristy and the oratory had provost Langpartner added in 1730.
The altarpiece of the church shows next to Mary and Jesus the crowned St. Oswald with the raven. Between the winding columns there are statues of Saints Gotthard and Benedict , on the sides of the altar there are statues of Saint Wolfgang and a guardian angel .
The right side altar in the nave shows St. Benedict with a poison bowl and snake. In a small image the upright death of the founder of the order is shown, next to the altar the Saints Bernhard and Benedict .
On the left side altar a Madonna in protective cloak is depicted.
On the left side of the altar there is St. Leonhard with a donkey.
Under the choir, with an entrance covered by panels in front of the steps to the presbytery , is a crypt in which the provosts were buried.
The Lady Chapel
On the south side of the church is the women's chapel by Angelus Rumpler, also called the abbot's chapel .
The Marien Altar comes from the baroque period . He has no altarpiece. The centerpiece was a Gothic wooden statue of Mary with the child, who fell victim to church thieves in the 1960s.
St. Michaels Chapel
Between the high defensive wall of the monastery that has been preserved and the former refectory is the St. Michael's Chapel , an early Gothic building that has been documented since 1322 and was only slightly changed during the Baroque period. The Karner was in the basement .
An exterior fresco of St. Christopher still exists, albeit badly damaged.
Web links
proof
- Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-218-00288-5 , p. 176.
- Entry via Schloss Gloggnitz to Burgen-Austria
Coordinates: 47 ° 40 ′ 26 " N , 15 ° 55 ′ 43" E