Gneisenau Castle

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Gneisenau Castle

The Gneisenau Castle is located in the district of Rohrbach , in Kleinzell im Mühlkreis , 30 kilometers northwest of Linz ( Upper Austria ). From the former moated castle from the 16th and 17th centuries, only the massive gate tower and the arcades in the courtyard have been preserved close to the original.

history

The first documented mention of a noble residence at this place took place in 1161. It belonged to the Passauian ministerial family of the Gneusses (first was Sigeboto von Gneuss), then to the Teuerwangern (1338 to 1370), the Harrachern and the Diendorfern from Steyr (1434 to 1524). Next in possession was Georg Perkhammer (1524 to 1540), then Erasmus and Anna Kaplan von Tandleinsbach owned it. They sold it to their brother-in-law Seibold Raiger in 1547.

They were followed by the Neithart (1556-1589) to an originally from Ulm Dating patrician family . The first of this family, Zacharias Neithart, was a carer on Waxenberg . In the 18th century, the Neitharts acquired the title “von Gneissenau”. From this family came u. a. the Cardinal Johann Eberhard Neidhardt and the Prussian Field Marshal August Neidhardt von Gneisenau . The Hohenegg followed the Neitharts . In 1597 the castle went to Hanns the Pranter, keeper of willow wood . Erasmus Märk von Haimerhofen was the owner of the castle from 1602 to 1630 . Thanks to the clever attitude of Hans Christoph Mäerk, Gneisenau was spared looting during the Peasant Wars in 1626 . In 1630 the rule was sold to Christoph Heinrich Murhamber von Murau. From 1634 to 1767 the Counts of Fieger owned Gneisenau. Johann Philibert Freiherr von Fieger had the chapels Maria Hilf, Maria Trost and Johann Nepomuk built on the castle grounds . In 1767 the rule was sold to Count Franz Gundaker von Starhemberg . The administration was moved to Eschelberg .

In 1875 the miller Josef Penn from Zwettl an der Rodl bought the castle. He wanted to turn the castle with its associated land into a model property for the Heimstättenbund he founded . After a fire, Penn had to give the castle to the O.Ö. Selling People's Loan. From 1907 to 1910 he was succeeded by Captain Friedrich Engl. He had the castle rebuilt. In 1910 it came to Rudolf Wilhelmseder, then to Hugo Ferner (1911) and finally in 1917 to Heinrich Reinhardt (composer) . This made romanticizing and historicizing interventions in the building fabric. In 1924, following a renewed change of ownership, parts of the historic building were revitalized by the Viennese architect Fritz Zeymer, the entire building was adapted for modern living purposes and expanded with an extension. Until 1938 the castle was owned by Miss Whitehead from England.

Gneisenau Castle then and now

Gneisenau Castle, engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer , 1674

The castle, which was probably built at the beginning of the 16th century, was structurally changed several times in the following centuries and experienced numerous changes of ownership. The old walls of the original castle are likely to have been built into the new castle. As you can see in the engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer , Gneisenau was a compact building in the middle of a round pond. A stone bridge led to the still preserved gate tower and the inner courtyard of the castle. The four wings were built into the original curtain wall . More recently, more wings have been added to the now renovated castle.

The castle was sacked by Soviet soldiers in 1945 and was occupied by Russian soldiers until 1953. Because of the severe damage, the building had to be completely renovated. It was rebuilt according to plans by the architect Krohn and master builder Sparschuh. Since 1959 it has housed a district nursing home.

literature

  • 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 .
  • Georg Grüll : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria, Volume 1: Mühlviertel . Birken-Verlag, Vienna 1962.
  • Oskar Hille: Castles and palaces in Upper Austria then and now . Verlag Ferdinand Berger & Sons, Horn 1975, ISBN 3-85028-023-3 .
  • Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-218-00288-5 , p. 176.
  • Arthur Roessler, Gneisenau Castle. Restoration and extension by Fritz Zeymer: in: Österreichische Bau- und Werkkunst, 3rd century (1926/27), Vienna Krystall-Verlag, 1927, pp. 148–156.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Gneisenau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 27 ′ 20 ″  N , 13 ° 59 ′ 5 ″  E