Seggau Castle
| Seggau Castle | ||
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 Seggau Castle from the Kreuzkogelwarte |
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| Alternative name (s): | Propstei Piber | |
| Creation time : | from 1218 | |
| Conservation status: | receive | |
| Place: | Seggauberg | |
| Geographical location | 46 ° 46 '51.4 " N , 15 ° 31' 25.5" E | |
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Seggau Castle is located in Seggauberg in the municipality of Leibnitz in southern Styria in Austria .
Geographical location
The palace complex stands on a wooded hill above the city of Leibnitz. The Sulm flows around the Seggauberg in a loop and separates it from the Kreuzkogel to the north . Not far from the castle are the pilgrimage site of Frauenberg on a hilltop and the Sulmsee . From the ridge of the hill there is a very good view of the Sulmtal and across the Mur plain to Slovenia and the Karawanken.
history
The history of the area around the castle dates back to the time of the Celts and Romans , as evidenced by a lapidarium . The area itself was owned by the Archdiocese of Salzburg from 860, the upper castle was built by the Salzburg archbishops in the 12th century as a mission and administrative bastion for the colonization of southern Styria and expanded by the bishops of Seckau from 1218 .
Over time, three independent castles and palaces developed side by side: first, Leibnitz Castle, owned by the Salzburg archbishops and today the Romanesque main building; second, the castle of the bishops of Seckau, a little lower than the upper castle; and thirdly, the somewhat secluded Polheim Palace, a seat of Salzburg ministers and burgraves. The Seckau castle was separated from the Salzburg castle by a wall, the ownership situation turned out to be difficult. In the court wing of the high castle, the official seat of the regional court was finally housed.
After devastation in the Hungarian War in 1479, the castles were later not besieged by artillery fire by the Ottomans during the Turkish Wars . A kennel and artillery bastions were then built to improve protection. The farm yard was given the status of an outer bailey. While the Turks sacked Leibnitz in 1529, Seggau Castle was spared.
In 1595 all three castles came into the possession of the diocese of Seckau under the Salzburg archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau . As a result, under Bishop Martin Brenner, Leibnitz Castle was connected to the castle of the Bishops of Seckau, the separating wall was torn down and a joint outer wall was built. The castle got its current appearance after many renovations under Bishop Johann Ernst Graf von Thun in the second half of the 17th century. After Graz became the headquarters of the Seckau bishops from 1786, Seggau Castle remained the bishops' summer residence until the 20th century. The name of the castle in today's spelling has been derived from the Upper Styrian Seckau Abbey since the 19th century. "Seggau" is an alternative spelling to "Seckau". During the Second World War, 34 forced laborers worked in the church farm.
Today the castle, which after the Second World War no longer functioned as a purely agricultural property and had become unprofitable, houses a modern congress, conference and seminar center, a hotel, a 300-year-old wine cellar with tasting facilities and a castle tavern.
Architecture and design
Vizedomhaus and court wing
The mostly three-storey buildings of the court wing and the Vizedomhaus are arranged around the castle courtyard of the high castle from northeast to southeast. The court wing has a Gothic core, inside it is dated 1491 on the northeast corner. Numerous late Roman stone monuments (2nd and 3rd centuries) are walled in on the courtyard side and in the inner corridor , which came to light when the old tower , which was located in front of the wing, was demolished in 1815 and 1831 . The better preserved pieces are in the lapidarium of the Universalmuseum Joanneum in Graz-Eggenberg. Mainly for the Roman province of Noricum typical round medallions of married couples and scenes from various ancient legends can be seen.
Farm yard
The farm yard is a complex from the 16th century, closed on three sides. A uniform expansion took place in 1682 under master builder Jakob Schmerlaib. The main gate in the west of the building leads into the inner courtyard; In front of the passage there is a statue of Johannes Nepomuk from 1729, the heraldic stones of the outer archway are from 1560, those of the inner one from 1561.
Between 1955 and 1960, the farmyard was converted into an education center, and now there is a conference center and a hotel in the premises. A modern extension houses hotel rooms and dining rooms. In the north, at the other end of the palace garden, there is the elongated garden hall ( orangery ) with its 13 arches, under which the wine cellar is located.
The St. Michael Chapel, which was consecrated in 1961, was located in the north wing of the farmyard until 2001. The concrete glass windows (1959) with depictions from the Johannes apocalypse come from Alfred Wickenburg . The sculptor Alexander Silveri created the cast iron crucifix and the statue of the Madonna (1961). In the course of the general renovation in 2004, a new Michael’s chapel was built in the burner wing of the castle (former armory). In 2005, Bishop Egon Kapellari consecrated the new eclogite stone altar and consecrated the chapel. Both the concrete glass windows by Wickenburg and the two sculptures by Silveri were taken over in the newly designed chapel. Since that time there has also been a valuable graphic representation of Michael by the Styrian artist Gerald Brettschuh and a cheerful picture by the Austrian artist Wolfgang Hollegha from Klagenfurt .
The former armory (today the Brennertrakt ) from 1586, which was redesigned at the end of the 17th century, borders the farmyard . The striking clock tower with a passage to the castle courtyard stands freely between the service yard and the high castle. This building was renovated several times, increased by one storey in 1964 and given a wedge roof. The tower, which is not open to the public, houses a bell with three bells (1385, 1587 and 1688), which is, however, out of order.
Polheim Castle
The Polheim Palace is a little deeper in the area than the Upper Palace and the farmyard and away from the entire complex . The castle, which today has not been preserved in its original form, served as an outer bailey to secure the access road. The hook-shaped late Renaissance building was the residence of the Lords of Leibnitz until 1369 , and that of Polheim's until 1575 . It dates from the middle of the 16th century and has two-story arcades and columns on the ground floor with Ionic capitals. The simple portal is adorned with a coat of arms of Bishop Rudolf Josef Graf Thun. In 1693 a large part of the castle was demolished. Polheim Palace is a listed building, but its condition is poor compared to the rest of the palace complex.
Attractions
- The baroque prince's rooms on the second floor were prince-bishop's representative rooms , which are still preserved today. They are only accessible as part of guided tours. Restoration 2005.
- A free-standing baroque vaulted wine cellar with large wooden barrels is over 300 years old. It is one of the largest and oldest wine cellars in Europe and is now used for wine sales, wine tastings and events. It is freely accessible during opening hours.
- The castle chapel in the upper castle (restoration 2010) and the modern Michael’s chapel in the Brennertrakt (altar solemnly consecrated by Bishop Egon Kapellari on June 17, 2005 ).
- The lapidarium built in 1831 (walled-in Roman stones - mostly gravestones).
- The Seggauer Liesl , the largest historical bell in Styria. It is a large bell (2 m in diameter) that can be viewed on the ground floor in the bastion tower on the south side of the castle as part of guided tours, and on Sundays and public holidays four strong men / women ring it by hand at 12.00 p.m.
- The Trinity Fountain (designed by Fred Höfler in 1995) in the lower courtyard.
gallery
Wall with roman stones (lapidary)
Walls and bastion of the fortifications
Garden with garden hall
patio
Wine cellar
Old and new
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literature
- Manfred Hainzmann, Erwin Pochmarski: The Roman period inscriptions and reliefs from Seggau Castle near Leibnitz. (The Roman stone monuments of Styria, vol. 1). Leykam-Verlag, Graz 1994, ISBN 3-7011-7283-8 .
- Heimo Kaindl: Seggau Castle: History, architecture and art of the Styrian bishop's castle. Dedicated to Bishop Johann Weber on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Graz 1997, ISBN 3-901810-00-5 .
- Johannes Mandl: Seggau Castle. Graz 1936, DNB 574981195 .
- Karl Wagner (Ed.): Seggau Castle. Leibnitz 1974, DNB 963904833 .
- Stephan Karl, Gabriele Wrolli: The old tower in Seggau Castle in Leibnitz. Historical studies on the oldest component of the Leibnitz castle complex in Styria. (Research on the historical regional studies of Styria, vol. 55). LIT-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-50313-8 .
- Gert Christian: Seggau Castle. A short art and cultural history of the Styrian bishop's palace. Graz 2012, ISBN 978-3-901810-27-5 .
- Kurt Woisetschläger, Peter Krenn (Ed.): Dehio Steiermark (excluding Graz) . Schroll, Vienna 1982, ISBN 3-7031-0532-1 , p. 520-522 .
Web links
- Homepage of the Hotel Schloss Seggau
- Article of the Federal Monuments Office (BDA) on the restoration of the princely rooms in Seggau Castle (November 2006)
- Entry via Seggau to Burgen-Austria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry about Polheim (Seggau) on Burgen-Austria
- ↑ Entry about Polheim (Seggau) on Burgen-Austria
- ↑ Entry about Polheim (Seggau) on Burgen-Austria