Mautern Castle

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Mautern Castle, view from the northeast

The castle Mauterndorf , including Passau Castle and Schloss Schönborn called, is in the old town of the Lower Austrian municipality of Mautern an der Donau . The four wings of the listed palace complex come from different eras and enclose an almost square inner courtyard. Like the entire village, the complex had belonged to the Diocese of Passau from 972 and from the 10th to the 18th century served as the official residence of the administrators appointed by the diocese. After the Counts of Schönborn acquired the castle in 1734, it was then used for residential purposes. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the facility came into the possession of the municipality of Mautern, which is still the owner today. The castle is now used for residential purposes and can therefore not be viewed from the inside. Its courtyard is open to the public.

history

As early as 899 Mautern was mentioned as civitas Mutarensis in the Reichsannalen , then in 903 as a customs office in the Raffelstetten customs regulations . At that time there was an old Roman fort that belonged to the Margrave Isanrich and was conquered by Duke Arnulf I. From 972 Mautern was subordinate to the bishops of Passau, who appointed keepers (later called captain) to exercise secular rule and to monitor traffic over the Danube . These administrators lived in a defense yard that was integrated into the northwest corner of the city fortifications and in the area of ​​which the landing point of the ferry at the time and the toll station should also be found.

When Mautern received a new city wall in 1276/1279, the bishops moved their official seat to the west in a 7.3 x 7.8 meter residential tower , which was leaned against the city wall and separated from the city by a circular wall . The tower was in the 14./15. In the 18th century, an 11 x 22 meter building was added to the east, the structure of which is still partially present in the north wing of the castle. Parallel to the north wing, a 12.80 × 18 meter late Gothic building was built in the south of the walled area in the second half of the 15th century, including the curtain wall, which adjoined the castle chapel on the west side , which is believed to have been built around 1300 . This southern wing was extended in the first half of the 16th century to a size of 12.80 × 25.80 meters by providing the previous gate passage east of the wing with a barrel vault and building over it.

Mautern Castle on an engraving by Matthäus Merian , 17th century

In the 16th century, it was expanded to a three-wing castle by building the east wing and connecting the north and south wings. The Bishop of Passau, Wolfgang von Salm , had the south wing completely changed in 1551, as evidenced by an inscription panel, by dividing many of the previously large rooms in the wing into smaller rooms by dividing them with vaulted ceilings . To access the two floors of the south wing, a polygonal stair tower with a stone spiral staircase was built in the southeast corner . The bishop also had the castle chapel heavily modified by adding a gallery and two niches.

With the construction of the western wing in the 17th or 18th century, the castle was given its current, closed four-wing shape. In 1734, Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim , Bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg , acquired the Mautern castle and rule. The representative outer facade of the north wing and the construction of a farm yard to the west of the palace can be attributed to his family. Under the Schönborn, the chapel was also profaned in 1786 and probably converted into apartments in the course of the 19th century. Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim donated the altar to the Museum Krems in 1905 . In this way he was spared the fire that destroyed large parts of the palace on August 13, 1907.

Between 1913 and 1916 the castle came to the Mautern municipality, which is still the owner today. In the early 1980s she had the castle chapel dismantled and restored . In the future, it will serve as a museum, as a venue for smaller cultural events and as a wedding venue. To this end, the plan is to restore the eight-meter-high altar that has been stored in the Krems Museum's depot since the 1970s and to have it installed again in the palace chapel in 2019. The remaining parts of the castle are inhabited by tenants, but plans have been made to convert the complex into a hotel since 2017. The municipality hired a consulting company to look for investors and possible operators.

description

Plane tree in the courtyard

Mautern Castle stands on the northern edge of the old town of Mautern on the southern bank of the Danube, right next to the bridge over the river. The closed four-wing complex with hipped and crooked roofs is still medieval in some parts , but has been heavily redesigned by renovations in the early modern and baroque periods . Its wings enclose an almost square inner courtyard in which there is a large plane tree . This tree has been protected as a natural monument since January 1980 .

North wing

Front facade of the north wing

The current shape of the two-storey north wing dates from the 18th century, but the wing is the oldest part of the castle. In its basement are the foundations of a medieval tower from the second half of the 13th century. The visible side of the wing faces the Danube and is divided into nine axes by windows with late baroque roofs . Wrought- iron window baskets hang in front of the windows on the first floor . In the outer corners of the west and east wings, two three-story towers with mansard roofs are added to the north wing, which are set back from the front.

The façade of the wing facing the courtyard presents itself to the viewer as three-storey, because in addition to the openings on the first and second floors, there are also windows and an ogival entrance to the lower floor. In the two corners to the east and west wing, two wooden-covered open stairs are built in front of the wing . At the height of the top floor there is a sundial designed as a fresco , which is marked 1721.

West and east wing

The three-storey west wing dates from the 17th or 18th century. One of his possible builders was Freiherr Friedrich Karl Josef von Caretto, after whom he is also called "Caretto wing".

Most of the three-story east wing probably dates from the 16th century. The yellow painting on its outside is interrupted by wide, white vertical stripes, thus dividing the facade vertically.

In the corner of the east and south wing facing the courtyard is a three-storey stair tower with a polygonal floor plan. It is divided by two cornices and has a relief from the Renaissance period above the entrance , which is flanked by depictions of coats of arms. Inside the tower there is a stone spiral staircase that winds around a twisted stone spindle.

South wing

Arched gate with inscription plaque on the south wing

The south wing, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, has two floors. At its western end there is a Renaissance, arched entrance gate, above which hangs a marble plaque with the coat of arms of Passau bishop Wolfgang von Salm and an inscription from 1551. Your text reads:

REVERENDISSIMVS IN CHR (IST) O / PATER ET D (OMI) N (V) S
WOLFFGAN / GVS EX FAMILIA COMITVM A / SALM EP (ISCOP) VS
PATAVIENSIS / CVM HANC DOMVS PARTE (M) NOVA (M) /
ERLXISSET ANNO D (OMI) NI MD LI / HVNC LAPIDEM
APPONI IVSSIT.
( German  Father and Mr. Wolfgang from the dynasty of the Counts of Salm, Bishop of Passau, who were venerable in Christ, had this stone attached after he had this new part of the building erected in 1551. )

Behind the gate is a 6.4 meter wide and 9.85 meter deep gate passage with a barrel vault.

The facade facing the courtyard shows late Gothic cross- frame windows on the upper floor with partially renewed window crosses, while simple window frames from the 16th century are built in on the ground floor. The stone window frames on the outer facade of the wing also date from the same period.

In the interior, despite residential use since the 18th century, much of the furnishings from the 16th century have been preserved, including groin vaults, floor tiles and a stucco mesh vault.

Castle chapel

Palace chapel in the south wing

The castle chapel, first mentioned in a document dated April 1, 1302, was consecrated to St. Andrew before it was profaned in the 18th century . The small church building has a floor area of ​​around 8.40 × 12.20 meters and has been a listed building since 1982 . It connects to the south wing on its east side and jumps out with its rectangular choir end about three meters from the front of the east wing. Its interior is illuminated by narrow lancet windows in the south wall and the end of the choir. Its glazing was created in 1985 by the artist Peter Bischof. Today's plastering on the outside stems  from a restoration in the 1980s, just like the corner blocks . In the process, the presumably Roman spoil of a grave stele was uncovered at the southeast corner.

The interior of the chapel shows a roughly 9.40 meter high rectangular room, which is spanned by a three- bay cross vault from the 15th century. Its ribs show remains of ornamental painting from the Gothic period. Two of its hanging keystones show reliefs depicting the Lamb of God and a rosette . The entire width of the western end of the chapel is taken up by an approximately 1.70 meter deep gallery from the 16th century: it can be entered from a room on the upper floor of the south wing. The gallery is supported by a groin vault, which ends in the middle of the room with round arches and a narrow Tuscan column .

literature

  • Peter Aichinger-Rosenberger a. a. (Editing): Dehio Handbook. The art monuments of Austria. Lower Austria south of the Danube . Part 2: M – Z. Berger, Horn / Wien 2003, ISBN 3-85028-364-X , pp. 1377-1378.
  • Rudolf Büttner: Castles and palaces on the Danube. 2nd Edition. Birken, Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-85030-017-X , pp. 106-107.
  • Franz Eppel: Austrian art monograph. Volume 2: The Wachau. 3. Edition. St. Peter, Salzburg 1975, ISBN 3-900173-02-8 , p. 143 ff.
  • Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). Vienna 2010 ( PDF ; 18.3 MB).
  • Adalbert Klaar: Contributions to plan photographs of Austrian castles, part 2, Lower Austria, part 4. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1978, pp. 244–245.
  • Patrick Shift: Mautern Castle. In: Falko Daim (Ed.): Castles Waldviertel, Wachau and Moravian Thayatal. 2nd Edition. Freytag & Berndt, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7079-1273-9 , pp. 324-325.
  • Hans Tietze : The monuments of the political district Krems (= Austrian art topography. Volume 1). Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1907, pp. 317–318 ( digitized .

Web links

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

Footnotes

  1. ^ Entry by Gerhard Reichhalter on Mautern Castle in the " EBIDAT " scientific database of the European Castle Institute, accessed on October 9, 2018.
  2. ↑ Harry Kühnel: Mautern. In: Karl Lechner (ed.): Handbook of historical sites . Band: Austria. Volume 1: Danube countries and Burgenland (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 278). Reprint of the 1st edition 1970. Kröner, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-520-27801-4 , p. 416.
  3. ↑ Entry on Mautern Castle in Burgen-Austria , accessed on October 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ Information about the castle on the website of the city of Mautern . Accessed October 9, 2018.
  5. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 4.
  6. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 6.
  7. ↑ Patrick Shift: Mautern Castle. 2009, p. 324.
  8. ↑ According to Patrick Shift: Mautern Castle. 2009, p. 324. Adalbert Klar thinks the building is older. See Adalbert Klaar: Contributions to plan photographs of Austrian castles, part 2, Lower Austria, part 4. 1978, p. 245.
  9. ^ Adalbert Klaar: Contributions to plan photographs of Austrian castles, part 2, Lower Austria, part 4. 1978, p. 245.
  10. ↑ a b c Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 59.
  11. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 53.
  12. ↑ Patrick Shift: Mautern Castle. 2009, pp. 324-325.
  13. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 60.
  14. ↑ Adalbert Klaar states that the west wing was built in 1675 as a storage facility. See Adalbert Klaar: Contributions to plan photographs of Austrian castles, part 2, Lower Austria, part 4. 1978, p. 245. The Dehio manual adds that this wing was converted in the 18th century. See Peter Aichinger-Rosenberger et al. a. (Editing): Dehio Handbook. The art monuments of Austria. Lower Austria south of the Danube. Part 2. 2003, p. 1378. Patrickschicht, on the other hand, attributes the construction of the west wing to Count Schönborn and thus dates it to the 18th century. See Patrickschicht: Mautern Castle. 2009, p. 325.
  15. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 9.
  16. ↑ a b Patrick Shift: Mautern Castle. 2009, p. 325.
  17. ↑ a b Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 47.
  18. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 10.
  19. ↑ Historical report of the castle fire in Mautern on the Krems fire brigade website , accessed on October 9, 2018.
  20. ↑ a b Rosenberger u. a. (Editing): Dehio Handbook. The art monuments of Austria. Lower Austria south of the Danube. Part 2. 2003, p. 1377.
  21. ↑ New space for “Mauterner Altar” on the website of the City of Krems , accessed on October 9, 2018.
  22. ↑ Sabine Knoll: Mauterner Altar returns home to the castle in 2019 . In: Niederösterreichische Nachrichten . Edition of May 11, 2016 ( online ).
  23. ^ Franz Aschauer: "Hotel is a great opportunity". In: Niederösterreichische Nachrichten. Edition of July 27, 2017 ( online ).
  24. ↑ Protection notice from the Krems district administration dated January 29, 1980 ( PDF ; 163 kB).
  25. ^ Rudolf Büttner: Castles and palaces on the Danube. 1977, p. 107.
  26. ↑ Quoted and translated from Andreas Zajic: Die Insschriften Niederösterreichs. The inscriptions of the political district of Krems (= The German inscriptions. Volume 72, Wiener Reihe, Volume 3). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-7001-3955-3 , pp. 244–245.
  27. ^ Adalbert Klaar: Contributions to plan photographs of Austrian castles, part 2, Lower Austria, part 4. 1978, p. 245.
  28. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 24.
  29. ↑ a b Rosenberger u. a. (Editing): Dehio Handbook. The art monuments of Austria. Lower Austria south of the Danube. Part 2. 2003, p. 1378.
  30. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 8.
  31. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 19.
  32. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 42.
  33. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 18.
  34. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 43.
  35. ↑ Ralf Gröninger: Building research in the south wing and the chapel of Mautern Castle on the Danube (Lower Austria). 2010, p. 48.

Coordinates: 48 ° 23 ′ 42.1 ″  N , 15 ° 34 ′ 33.1 ″  E