Goldenstein Castle

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Goldenstein
Goldenstein Castle

Goldenstein Castle

Creation time : Middle Ages (probably around 1400), appearance baroque
Castle type : Hill castle
Place: Elsbethen -Goldensteinstrasse
Geographical location 47 ° 45 '31.6 "  N , 13 ° 4' 52.9"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 45 '31.6 "  N , 13 ° 4' 52.9"  E
Goldenstein Castle (State of Salzburg)
Goldenstein Castle

Goldenstein Castle is centrally located, not far from the parish church of St. Elisabeth , in Elsbethen , a southern municipality surrounding the city of Salzburg in Austria . The castle now houses a private girls' middle school for Augustinian choir women and is not open to the public.

description

Goldenstein Castle is slightly elevated on a rocky hill in the north of the street village-like settlement of Elsbethen (today Goldensteinstraße ). The palace complex consists of a tower-like, eight-story main building with an approximately square floor plan. In front of the entrance front is a rectangular inner courtyard, which is bordered in the south by the chapel from 1926/1927 and in the east and west by two-storey wing structures. The choir stalls come from the former Augustinian monastery in Hallein . The wing structures were built in 1882 by the builder Valentin Ceconi . In 1908, the castle was expanded by an extension on the northeast corner, which is now used as a school.

The palace complex is entered through the eastern side wing. From there you get into the inner courtyard and face the main front facing south. This is architecturally structured sparingly, three symmetrically placed window axes structure the five-storey facade. Another three floors are located under the steep hipped roof . A double staircase and the arched portal lead to the interior of the castle. The wide, arched central corridor characterizes the interior structure of the building up to the third floor.

On the ground floor, the baroque design language is recognizable in the occasionally preserved stucco decorations , and a door leaf with the representation of a second staircase represents a baroque element. The castle chapel , which today serves as a refectory , is also located on this floor . There are also storage rooms on this floor for the pupils' belongings, of which the partially basement area is accessible on three levels.

The Green Room is located on the first floor , and its furnishings, such as the coffered wooden ceiling, the door frames and the door leaves, date from around 1600. There is also a picture collection here, including the painting of the Annunciation , which is attributed to Martin Schongauer and dates from the second half of the 15th century.

The second floor houses the classrooms, the boarding school management, a teaching material room and the gym and piano room. In the corridor there are steel engravings by Antonio Picciani from 1805 with scenes from the life of Pope Pius VI.

Some of the furnishings from around 1600 have been preserved on the third floor. The hall floor made of Adnet marble and the cashed wooden ceiling of the knight's hall , which today serves as a study room, date from this time . The Feenzimmer than manual work space in use, Engelsaal turn serves as a classroom.

The fourth and fifth floors are modest, almost spartan and are mainly used as accommodation for the schoolgirls; they are modeled on monastic dormitories. The last three floors serve as storage .

In the inner courtyard of the palace there is a fountain with a marble border that bears the Salzburg city arms and the year 1598. The side wings of the palace complex, built in 1882 by master builder Valentin Ceconi as an extension, serve as a dormitory and dining room for the students. The gate and the consulting room are also located here.

In the dining room there are old views and portraits of the owners of Goldenstein as well as four views of the castle that are assigned to the watercolor painter Louis Walle , who came from Berleburg in the Principality of Wittgenstein , in 1830.

history

The garden prospect of Hellbrunn , Danreiter, approx. 1735: with the palace garden axis facing towards Goldenstein Palace ( Hellbrunnerberg on the right , Mühlstein and Schwarzenberg in the back )

There are no documents available about the builder or the year of construction of the castle, so one can only guess. The most likely date of origin is around 1400, which can be assumed from documented mentions, building dates and stylistic comparisons. But the Lords of Campanif are also credited with building the castle in 1271. From the 15th century, Goldenstein can be archived.

The gold panning operation, which was operated on the upper Salzach until the 19th century (albeit on a very small scale), was occasionally associated with the name Goldenstein . However, as Franz Hörburger Goldenstein confirmed, “has nothing to do with the metal gold; with its two parts of the word it is a typical castle name ”. From the high view of Hellbrunn Mountain and also from the viewing terrace above the stone theater, there is a historically important beautiful view over the alluvial forest and the Salzach to Schloss Goldenstein. In this context, Adolf Hahnl "makes it clear that the entire Mannerist garden axis of Hellbrunn Palace is aligned with Goldenstein Palace." Under Prince Archbishop Firmian, this important axis of the palace gardens was emphasized even more clearly by the court gardener Franz Anton Danreiter by creating an avenue of spruce trees facing Goldenstein Palace. In the adjacent riparian forest, this axis is clearly recognizable as an uncontaminated narrow "breakthrough". Another historical axis was from Anif Castle to Goldenstein Castle. This former long avenue has only survived in a very small area.

Owner of the castle

The first verifiable owner of Goldenstein is Hans von Haunsperg , who is mentioned as the owner in 1417. After his death in 1449, his son-in-law, Ritter Ulrich von Fladnitz, is listed as the owner. The owners changed several times until Raimund Anton Meinrad von Rehlingen sold the castle to the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter in 1710 , as he joined the Carmelite order in Rome. From this point on, the castle was the seat of the estate administration and was also used as a place to relax.

In 1869 the St. Peter Monastery decided to sell Goldenstein and in 1877 left it to the Augustinian choir women who had been expelled from Rastatt near Baden . Since 1897 this Order of the Regulated Choir Women of St. Augustine of the Congregation of Our Loving Lady owner of the facility. Goldenstein Castle was then adapted as a monastery and educational center.

Goldenstein in the 18th century

The diversity of cultural life and work in Goldenstein in the 18th century includes the building activity, the economic basis, the equipment and the artists. The external appearance of the castle at the beginning of the 18th century is recorded on a portrait of Raimund von Rehlingen, which is located in today's dining room. The baroque palace complex is illustrated even more clearly in a painting from 1768, which is also in the dining room. The towering building is shown from the south with the so-called manorial staircase, the two wing buildings and the pleasure garden with the strictly symmetrical arrangement typical of the time. The extent of the property associated with Goldenstein can be seen from a purchase letter from 1695, which is in the St. Peter's Abbey Archives. In 1710 there are 29 manorial subjects and estates belonging to Goldenstein.

There is also evidence that extensive renovation work was carried out inside and outside in the course of the 18th century. For example in the years from 1761 to 1768 and especially 1772 when many artists and craftsmen were entrusted with adaptation work. Window frames, windows and curtains were replaced, the carpenter Josef Krimpacher made tables and boxes. Plasterers were employed to furnish the rooms and pictures were purchased. The painter Franz Xaver König also worked in the four guest rooms and in the dining room. In 1790 the entire castle was refurnished by a carpenter named Rödl.

The castle was mainly used as a place of relaxation in the autumn months of September and October. A guest book kept from 1790 records the names of all visitors who dined in Goldenstein for lunch and dinner. Not only abbots of the St. Peter monastery, but also family members, professors, monastery brothers as well as Salzburg nobles and citizens as well as visitors from the surrounding counties regularly came to the castle to have their meals there. Even Michael Haydn , the younger brother of Joseph Haydn was a frequent visitor to the castle Goldstein, who regularly stayed from Friday to Saturday in Goldstein dined.

Goldenstein Castle

school

St. In 1597, Petrus Forerius and the Blessed Alix Le Clerc founded the regulated women choirs of St. Augustine of the Congregation of Our Lady in Love . Petrus Forerius worked in the parish of Mattaincourt where he recognized the lack of education and social need of the population, which led to the foundation of the Congregation of Our Lady in Love . When he died in 1640, there were 50 independent houses, mainly in Lorraine and France. Goldenstein is the only house of the order in Austria. The regular monastery of the regulated women choirs in Goldenstein was in Rastatt in Baden.

On January 11, 1768, the girls' school opens in Rastatt. In the 19th century Rastatt was plagued by the chaos of war, from which the monastery was not spared. Because of this, the monastery was closed in 1876 because the nuns refused to give up their educational goals and did not want to submit to a secular school administration. While looking for a new branch, the Rastatt nuns were temporarily accepted into the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg . Finally, the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter made the Goldenstein Castle in its possession available.

On May 8, 1877, 19 women choirs and four lay sisters moved into Goldenstein, which was in a poor state of construction. In order to be able to resume the educational work, the civil integration was also necessary. Elsbethen initially refused to grant the nuns the right of home, but in the end the request for permanent settlement and the application for the opening of a private school as well as the recognition of the exams of six teaching women in 1878 were approved. The purchase contract of March 12, 1897 ultimately regulates the ownership structure between St. Peter's Abbey and the nuns.

One of the most famous students was Romy Schneider , who attended the Goldenstein boarding school from 1949 to 1953.

literature

  • Goldenstein Castle. In: Kunsthistorisches Institut der k. k. Central Commission for Monument Preservation (Ed.), Max Dvořák (Red.): Austrian Art Topography. Volume 11: Paul Buberl, Franz Martin (archival part): The monuments of the political district of Salzburg. III. Part: Salzburg judicial district. (The monuments of the judicial district of Salzburg). Schroll, Vienna 1916, pp. 52–66 (PDF) .
  • Robert Karl: Elsbethen. A place through the ages . Elsbethen municipality, Elsbethen, 1994.
  • Adolf Hahnl: The country seats of the abbots of St. Peter. In the office of the Salzburg state government - cultural department (ed.): The oldest monastery in the German-speaking area. St. Peter in Salzburg. 3rd State Exhibition, May 15 - October 26, 1982. Treasures of European Culture (pp. 54–58). Salzburg: 1982.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Goldenstein (Elsbethen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Hörburger: Salzburg place name book. Published by the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies, Salzburg 1982
  2. ^ Adolf Hahnl: The country seats of the abbots of St. Peter. In: St. Peter in Salzburg , catalog for the 3rd state exhibition in 1982