Castle of Grades

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Castle of Grades
Castle of Grades
View of the inner courtyard

To the north of the market settlement of Grades in Carinthia , on a steep rocky hill above the Metnitzbach , Grades Castle watches over the central part of the Metnitz valley . It is in the municipality of Metnitz in the St. Veit an der Glan district . At times the castle was viewed as a separate village; today it is part of the village of Grades.

history

Its previous building was probably rebuilt under Bishop Heinrich I von Gurk around 1173 or under Bishop Gerold von Gurk after 1326. In any case, it was first mentioned in a document in 1285. The building got its current appearance through alterations and extensions of the Romanesque core substance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Century as well as in the 17./18. Century. Originally, the episcopal administration of the upper Metnitztales had here its principal and seat of the court in which the viscount functions as a Steward exercised the Gurker bishops. In the middle of the 18th century the castle housed a silk wallpaper manufacture and a cloth factory. Grades Castle was never given as a fiefdom and remained in the possession of the Gurk diocese until the end of the 20th century and was recently used as a rest home for children at times. Today the property is privately owned. After the sale, the new owner announced a repair in 2015; some windows, doors, floors and installations would have to be installed.

description

The irregular inner courtyard is surrounded by a mighty four-wing complex, in the west a defensive wall encloses a courtyard, in the north-western area of ​​which a Gothic granary has been preserved. The western entrance gate to the castle courtyard is marked 1661. There are late Gothic gates and windows in the courtyard. One of the late Gothic doors leads into the old kitchen with an open stove. The entrance tower of the castle building has an onion helmet . Ceilings stucco from the first third of the 18th century adorn the rooms in six halls on the main floor. It is very likely that they come from Kilian Pittner . In the west room of the south wing there is a circular central mirror with the coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Jakob I Maximilian von Thun-Hohenstein (1709–1749). A framed canvas picture " Ahasuerus and Haman at the meal of Esther " by Josef Ferdinand Fromiller , inscribed 1741, is set into the ceiling of the north room of the east wing. The former double chapel in the northeast corner of the palace probably dates from the 12th century with walled-up round window and stucco foliage and banding around 1725.

  • Gate into the castle courtyard

  • Ceiling painting (damaged) by Fromiller

  • Allegorical ceiling painting

  • Coat of arms as ceiling painting (see text)

  • Wrought iron band of a room door

  • View into the former chapel

Formerly a village

At times the castle was viewed as a separate village. In 1869, as part of what was then the municipality of Grades, the village of Schloss Grades , consisting of 3 houses with 30 residents, was managed.

literature

  • Gerhard Stenzel: From castle to castle in Austria . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1973, ISBN 3-218-00229-X .
  • Georg Clam Martinic: Austrian Castle Lexicon. Castles and ruins, mansions, palaces and palaces . 2nd Edition. Landesverlag, Linz 1992, ISBN 3-85214-559-7 .
  • Michael Leischner, Alois Brandstetter: Castles and palaces in Carinthia . Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2000, ISBN 3-85378-520-4 .
  • Hermann Wiessner, Gerhard Seebach: Castles and palaces in Carinthia. Wolfsberg, Friesach, St. Veit . Birken, Vienna 1977.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: The Grades Castle opens up to culture.
  2. ↑ Carl Sykan: local repertory of crown land Carinthia. Klagenfurt 1875. p. 65.

Coordinates: 46 ° 59 ′ 2 ″  N , 14 ° 15 ′ 17 ″  E