Mergenthau Castle

The baroque Mergenthau Castle is located about one kilometer north of Kissing in the Aichach-Friedberg district ( Swabia ) am Lechrain . The former "Tusculum" (country house) of the Augsburg Jesuits still serves as an agricultural estate today. In 2006 the “Hiasl Adventure World” was opened in the castle area, which thematizes the life of the game shooter and robber captain Matthias Klostermayr .

history

The main building from the east

Today's castle property is enclosed by the ramparts of a large high medieval castle complex. The castle was probably built in the first half of the 11th century to protect the nearby city of Augsburg located Welf possessions. The weir system was particularly important due to its proximity to Gunzenle , the legendary meeting place on the Lechfeld . The fortress is believed to have been destroyed in 1078/79, but was subsequently repaired.

Welf VI. died in 1191 as the last of his tribe. Part of the inheritance fell to his friend and presumed relative Udalskalk, who was then Bishop of Augsburg. Shortly before his death, the bishop handed Mergenthau over to the bishopric of Augsburg .

In 1249 the episcopal castle appears as "castro nostro Mergatowe" in a document. In 1296 Mergenthau was captured and devastated during a feud between Duke Rudolf of Bavaria and the diocese. After the relief by Augsburg troops, the castle was rebuilt. In 1372 the Bavarians destroyed the facility again. The ruins were subsequently cannibalized as a welcome quarry. In the castle area and in the surrounding area, farming families settled who managed the associated property. In 1147 a Hans Meuting is mentioned. In 1561 Hans Holzkirchner received the monastery courtyard in the Burgstall. In 1602 Wilhelm Weikmann was "Paur zu Mergenthaw" (Kissinger Urbar). "Because this farm was before this ain Burgstall ..." the people of the nearby Kissing were obliged to do compulsory labor on the farm ("Hewen, Mehen und Schneid").

In 1642/50 the property came to the Augsburg Jesuits by way of exchange , who leased the Mergenthauer "Sedlhof". In 1695 an unspecified farm at Mergenthau was sold to a farmer from Aindling .

In 1703 the Jesuits complained that their estate in Kissing, "from which the Collegium derives its livelihood entirely ... had been plundered twice by the imperial and the Dutch / English". However, the residents were able to get to safety. ( War of the Spanish Succession ).

The previous destruction was probably the reason for the new Baroque construction of the "Jesuit Palace". Construction work began in 1713. Just two years later, the building was ready for occupancy. At the same time the castle in Kissing was built as the seat of the judge of the Hofmark .

The country house in Mergenthau cost a total of 17,455 guilders and 55 kreuzers. The design came from Hans Georg Mozart , a relative of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . A copy of the original invoices has been received.

In 1722 a barn and a carriage shed were added.

The original furnishings of the two “building yards”, ie the country house and the castle, are well documented by the inventory that has been preserved. The rooms were decorated with paintings and engravings, the chapel on the ground floor (Mergenthau) had three altars and a "chapel facility". The cellars were also well stocked with wine, beer and other supplies. It is noteworthy that the servants' rooms were also furnished with paintings and copperplate engravings, and that the staff also had their own kitchen. The beds were only provided with simple straw sacks. The most valuable piece of the former furnishings was a large picture of the Virgin Mary (2.07 x 1.43 meters) by the Augsburg master Hans Burgkmaier (around 1500). The work was still in the palace in 1865, but was put on the art market in 1906 and is now in a private collection in Schweinfurt. In Mergenthau, a good copy from the first half of the 19th century is reminiscent of the "Madonna on the lawn bank".

After the dissolution of the Jesuit order, the property came to the "Fromme Foundation" in Augsburg in 1773, which in 1776 passed it on to the Catholic Study Fund. In 1808 the student fund auctioned the furnishings, and a year later the buildings too. The baron von Münch acquired the property by way of exchange. In 1811 Sigmund Freiherr von Riedheim auf Harthausen was named as the owner. Then the owners changed twice, until in 1828 Andreas Samm bought the former Jesuit castle. His descendants still manage the castle to this day. Events and markets take place regularly on the site. In 2006 the “Hiasl Adventure World” was set up in the business section. The well-known poacher and robber chief Matthias Klostermayr , the "Bavarian Hiasl", was born in Kissing in 1736 and served the Jesuits as a hunting assistant for two and a half years until he fell out of favor because of a carnival joke.

Building description

View from the outer bailey to the castle entrance

The former face towards the Lech Valley

The castle estate is about 20 m above the valley on a spur of the Lechleite . The ramparts of an early medieval ramparts can be traced in the area about 150 meters to the north. The last expansion stage of the ring wall in Ottmaringer Holz is likely to have been one of the smaller Hungarian fortifications on the right side of the Lech, which Widukind von Corvey already mentioned in his chronicle.

The ramparts and moats of the Guelph and episcopal predecessor castles are still largely preserved. The two archaeological monuments are separated by an incision and a small lake. The ramparts are up to five meters high, but are disturbed by some openings. In the east a ditch in front of the outer bailey protected the fortress, on the other sides the terrain is moderately steep. In the north and west, two suspected tower points jump out tongue-shaped. The southern part of the former outer bailey - following the terrain - is preferred. From the neck ditch between the main and the outer bailey, only the southern outlet and a shallow hollow can be seen.

The farm buildings almost completely enclose the area of ​​the former core castle. There is a gate in the southeast. The villa-like main building stands above the northeast corner, which can probably be explained by the reuse of the foundations of the medieval castle. Three floors are closed off by a renewed hipped roof. A risalit jumps out to the west , which was formerly closed by a volute gable and crowned by an onion dome. The structure is now mutilated, the overall impression of the former front side is rather sober. Today, however, the view from the Lech Valley is blocked by the forest.

The main entrance is opposite on the east side, but is not laid out in the central axis, but shifted into the third northern window axis. The carved door dates from around 1770. Above it, a small, volute-decorated gable breaks through the roof area, which was formerly used as a freight elevator. The storeys are separated by cornices. Here on the east side, the original facade structure has been preserved much better than in the west.

Remnants of the original furnishings could still be preserved inside. The former chapel still has the original stucco decoration by Matthias Lotter from 1714. You can see mainly vegetable motifs, but also angels and angel heads. The ceiling fresco was created by Vitus Felix Rigl in 1769. It replaced the original painting by a “painter from Haunstetten”, about which nothing else is known. Rigl's painting shows St. Wendelin praying before the hearts of Jesus and Mary. The representations of the castle, the parish church and the castle stables in the background are particularly valuable in terms of local history . The preserved fresco in the main hall on the second floor also comes from the hand of the Dillinger master. Christ is represented in the house of the rich man. The little-known Rigl proves himself to be a talented fresco artist through his two Mergenthauer works, whose works also achieve a remarkable decorative effect.

The area of ​​the spacious outer bailey is also used for the farm. There are some small animal enclosures in the south.

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation lists the earthworks of the castle's predecessor as a medieval castle stables under monument number D 7-7631-0060.

The "Wichtelenloch" earth stable

Immediately next to the castle district, a branching tunnel system was discovered around 1800, which was dug into the solid sand of the Lechleite . The system has the characteristics of a typical earth stable . The more recent research sees in the earth stables a cultic meaning in the distant sense in connection with early Christian conceptions of the afterlife.

In the Kissingen community area, three such systems have been preserved. In addition to the “Wichtelenloch” in the “Katzensteig”, the “Petersberg” and the “Kirchberg” are also undermined in this way.

The entrance to the "Wichtelenloch" had to be closed after the Second World War, as the narrow passageways were a popular but life-threatening playground for the village youth. The earth stable was scientifically examined and recorded several times in the 19th century.

The entrance tunnel is only about 0.60 to 1.10 meters high. An enemy who had penetrated could therefore only move forward by crawling or bent over. After about 15 meters you can straighten up. The corridor here is up to 1.76 meters high and one meter wide. Shortly before its end, a side corridor branches off to the north - another 15 meters long. Two more short side tunnels behind the entrance end in small chambers. Some light niches are worked into the side walls.

literature

• Felix Joseph Lipowsky: History of the Jesuits in Swabia . 2 volumes, Munich 1819.
• Kissing community (ed.): Kissing: history and present . Kissing 1983.
• Matthias Graf: History of the Hofmark Kissing at the couple . Donauwoerth 1894.
• Rudolf Schneider: What was when in Kissing: Local history after years . Kissing 1987.
• Sebastian Hiereth: The district courts Friedberg and Mering . Historical Atlas of Bavaria, part of Swabia, issue 1, Munich 1952.
• v. Braunmühl: The underground passages of the destroyed Rockenstein Castle near Alling, Bruck Regional Court. In addition to an appendix about the underground passages to Nanhofen and Mergentau by v. Hefner and Illing. In: Upper Bavarian Archive for Patriotic History , Volume 3, Munich 1841, pp. 397–411 ( online )

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Coordinates: 48 ° 18 ′ 52 ″  N , 10 ° 59 ′ 40 ″  E