Weitra Castle

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Weitra Castle
South view

South view

Conservation status: renovated
Place: Weitra, AustriaAustriaAustria 
Geographical location 48 ° 42 '0 "  N , 14 ° 53' 39"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 42 '0 "  N , 14 ° 53' 39"  E
Height: 601  m above sea level A.
Weitra Castle (Lower Austria)
Weitra Castle

The Weitra Castle is a Renaissance castle in the forest area , which in the late 16th century through the reconstruction of a medieval emerged castle. It is in an elevated position south of the Weitra old town in the Lower Austrian district of Gmünd .

The renaissance courtyard.

history

Original castle complex

The castle was like the city Weitra 1201-1208 by Hadmar II. Of Kuenring founded. Heinrich IV von Kuenring-Weitra , since 1274 Marshal of Austria, who rose against Rudolf I , fled to Weitra.

After the battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen , Weitra was besieged by Stephan von Maissau, whereby the Kuenringers lost the command of Weitra. It was drafted by Rudolf I, whose sons briefly gave it back to Leuthold von Kuenring.

The castle was often besieged in wars such as by the Hussites in 1426 and 1431 or the Hungarians in 1486. ​​In 1508 the rule was pledged to Laslav of Prague, Baron of Windhag. In 1582 Rudolf II gave the castle and town of Weitra to his chamberlain Wolf Rumpf Freiherr von Wullroß . Wolf Rumpf's widow Maria, née Countess Arco, married Count Friedrich von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg († 1617), to whom she bequeathed the former castle, which has since been converted into a Renaissance palace, and the town of Weitra.

Today's castle

Since 1606 Weitra has been owned by the princes and landgraves of Fürstenberg . The renaissance castle, which is preserved today, was built directly above the original castle complex towards the end of the 16th century according to plans by Pietro Ferrabosco from 1588 . The castle was unsuccessfully besieged by Swedish troops in 1645. After several fires, baroque and rococo elements were added.

When the Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg line died out in 1716, Weitra Castle finally fell to Landgrave Ludwig, the younger brother of Prince Joseph Wilhelm Ernst zu Fürstenberg-Stühlingen, in 1744 . Landgrave Ludwig († 1759) founded the line of the Landgraves of Fürstenberg-Weitra, which split up into the two lines Weitra and Taikowitz after his death. Cardinal Friedrich Egon von Fürstenberg († 1892) emerged from the line in Weitra .

In the course of the Second World War , the palace ensemble suffered badly from destruction by devastating Soviet occupation troops. In view of the proximity to the Iron Curtain and the structural weakness of the surrounding area, it fell into disrepair. On the occasion of the Lower Austrian State Exhibition in 1994, the castle was renovated by Johannes Prince zu Fürstenberg and made accessible to the public.

use

Open umbrellas in the courtyard

Since 2006, the Schloss Weitra Festival, founded by Felix Dvorak , has been taking place in the covered and heated courtyard of the castle . In order to be able to use the courtyard even in bad weather, large umbrellas were installed, with which the castle courtyard can be covered. This venue is also used for a variety of events. The traditional garrison ball has also been held since the 1980s . The castle also houses a brewery museum and a permanent exhibition about the Iron Curtain.

In 2014 Peter Hofbauer took over the management of the festival at Weitra Castle. The performance of Wiener Blut planned for 2020 has been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

literature

  • ARGE Burgen, Stifts und Schlösser des Waldviertel (Ed.): Castles, monasteries and palaces of the Waldviertel. History, culture, hiking destinations, gastronomy . St. Pölten / Vienna, Lower Austria Pressehaus 1994, ISBN 3-85326-999-0 , Volume II, p. 100 ff.
  • Wilfried Bahnmüller: Castles and palaces in Lower Austria. The 103 most beautiful excursion destinations . Kral-Verlag, Berndorf 2015, ISBN 978-3-99024-001-4 , p. 92.
  • Evelyn Benesch, Bernd Euler-Rolle , Claudia Haas, Renate Holzschuh-Hofer, Wolfgang Huber, Katharina Packpfeifer, Eva Maria Vancsa-Tironiek, Wolfgang Vogg: Lower Austria north of the Danube (=  Dehio-Handbuch . Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs ). Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna et al. 1990, ISBN 3-7031-0652-2 , p. 1275 f .
  • Georg Binder: The Lower Austrian castles and palaces. 2 volumes, Hartleben Verlag, Vienna / Leipzig 1925, II, p. 80 f.
  • Castles, pens and palaces. Regions Waldviertel, Danube Basin, South Bohemia, Vysočina, South Moravia. Destination Waldviertel, Zwettl 2007, ISBN 978-3-9502262-2-5 , p. 119 ff.
  • Falko Daim , Karin Kühtreiber, Thomas Kühtreiber : Castles - Waldviertel, Wachau, Moravian Thayatal . 2nd edition, Verlag Freytag & Berndt, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7079-1273-9 , p. 577 ff.
  • Erwein H. Eltz, Wolfgang Katzenschlager, Arno Strohmeyer (eds.): Weitra Castle . Artstetten 1996.
  • Franz Eppel : The Waldviertel . Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1978, 232 ff.
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: Castles of the German Middle Ages, floor plan dictionary . Würzburg 1994, p. 653.
  • Martina Lorenz, Karl Portele: Castles Palaces Austria . Verlag Portele, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-901818-03-0 , p. 70.
  • Laurin Luchner: castles in Austria I . Beck, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-406-04507-3 , p. 216 f.
  • Georg Clam-Martinic : Österreichisches Burgenlexikon , Linz 1992, ISBN 978-3-902397-50-8 , pp. 207 f.
  • Walter Pongratz , Gerhard Seebach : Castles and palaces Litschau - Zwettl - Ottenschlag - Weitra. Lower Austria's castles and palaces III / 1 (birch row) . Vienna 1971, ISBN 3-85030-007-2 , p. 49 ff.
  • Gerhard Reichhalter, Karin and Thomas Kühtreiber: Castles Waldviertel Wachau . Verlag Schubert & Franzke, St. Pölten 2001, ISBN 3-7056-0530-5 , p. 420 ff.
  • Georg Matthäus Vischer : Topographia Archiducatus Austriae Inferioris Modernae 1672. Reprint Graz 1976 VOMB, No. 135.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Hofbauer takes over Schloss Weitra Festival. In: derstandard.at . April 11, 2013, accessed August 17, 2020.
  2. ↑ Not until '21: “Starnacht” and four summer theaters. In: ORF.at . May 22, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Online at Austria Forum