Waldstein Castle (Deutschfeistritz)

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Waldstein Castle in July 2012

The Waldstein Palace is in German Feistritz in Styria situated castle . Today it is owned by the Liechtenstein family .

location

The castle is located in the cadastral community of Waldstein , which belongs to Deutschfeistritz .

history

In 1468 the rule of Waldstein passed from the Pranckh family to the Windischgraetz family. In the 16th century, today's castle emerged from a yard of Waldstein Castle , which was significantly expanded by Christoph von Windischgraetz.

From 1555 Pankratz von Windischgraetz continued the expansion work. In 1598 the Windischgraetzers granted asylum to a Protestant teacher at the castle. Since they refused to dismiss the teacher on a state request, the palace was stormed by sovereign troops in 1602 and the teacher was captured together with Christof and Friedrich von Windischgraetz. In the first half of the 17th century, Waldstein Castle was finally abandoned and the Windischgraetzers only lived in the lower-lying Waldstein Castle. Since Friedrich von Windischgraetz, an avowed Protestant , had to leave the country in 1630, he sold the property to Johann Ulrich Fürst von Eggenberg, who later merged it with his rule of Stübing . He had the palace expanded to the east in 1667. Furthermore, the castle was connected to a regional court .

After the last prince of the Eggenberg family died in 1717, the property was married to the Counts of Zinzendorf . Franz Gottfried Graf Dietrichstein acquired the estate in 1730 and brought it into a Fideikommiß in 1747 together with Stübing Castle and Rabenstein Castle . Julie Countess Dietrichstein had the castle completely renovated. Prince Karl von Oettingen-Wallerstein married the countess in 1864 and thus became the owner of the palace. In 1883, Viktor Franz Hess , who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics, was born in the castle as the son of the then forester. In 1912, Moritz Prinz von Öttingen-Wallerstein sold the property to the Liechtenstein family, who are still the owners today. A renovation of the property was carried out in 1956. Zita von Bourbon-Parma , the last Empress of Austria, spent a few summers at the castle before her death because her daughter was married to the lord of the castle at the time.

layout

Today the castle consists of a two- to three-story four-wing building that encloses a rectangular courtyard. The northern part of the west wing is one of the oldest in the castle and dates from the 16th century. The remainder of the west wing as well as the north and north east wing date back to 1565. On the courtyard side of these wings, two-storey column arcades in the Baroque style, planned by Antonio Pozzo , were built in 1667 . On the courtyard wall there is a statue of the Virgin Mary from Rabenstein Castle . A Jewish tombstone from 1365 was walled into the stairs that lead from the courtyard to the forestry office. Several large wall paintings depicting deer date from the second half of the 17th century. Furthermore, two full-figure representations of forest masters from that time have been preserved. In the carriage hall you can find decorative paintings from the 16th century. Parts of the old furnishings such as furniture and stoves can still be found in the paneled state rooms. The insignia of Johann Seifried Prince von Eggenberg can still be found on some doors of the castle.

The whole building is dominated by a six-storey tower, which used to be an armory. It is vaulted on all floors and there is a ridge turret on its roof . Parts of the late Gothic crossings can still be seen on its windows . On the ground floor there are several grave slabs that were built into the masonry of the tower.

In the south wing of the castle there is a two-story hall church dedicated to Maria Immaculata , which was built around 1667. The altarpiece of Maria Immaculata was painted in 1681 by Hans Adam Weissenkircher . In 1730 the walls and the mirrored ceiling were decorated with Rococo stucco work. The three late baroque altars date from the same period . The church's small organ dates from the second half of the 18th century. Since 2005 there has been a relic of the beatified Emperor Charles I in the church .

A little to the north of the castle is an ornamental garden with a garden pavilion from around 1663. The pavilion is painted with scenes from the creation story from 1713. A little to the east of the pavilion is a bulk box that was built in 1608.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Entry about Waldstein - Schloss auf Burgen-Austria , accessed on September 18, 2011
  2. ^ Aquilin Julius Caesar , Description of the Duchy of Steyermark, Volume 2, p. 97
  3. ^ Aquilin Julius Caesar, State and Church History of the Duchy of Steyermark, Volume 3, p. 182

Web links

Commons : Schloss Waldstein (Deutschfeistritz)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 13 ′ 21.9 ″  N , 15 ° 17 ′ 28.3 ″  E