Wernberg Castle

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Wernberg Castle from the south
Castle courtyard, view of the east wing
Supraporte of the north portal with reliefs from Georg von Khevenhüller and his two wives

Wernberg Castle is a largely Renaissance-era castle that stands on a rock above the Drauschleife east of Villach ( Carinthia ). It had numerous owners over the centuries, including the Khevenhüller and the Ossiach Abbey . Today it is a monastery of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood .

Building description

lock

The castle is a three-storey Renaissance building with three wings that surround a courtyard with two-storey arcades . The arbors are now partially walled up. The courtyard is closed off to the south by a breast wall. This is supported on the outside by twelve arches that rest on corbels. Further retaining walls continue downwards. There is a round arch portal on the east side of the surrounding wall. This has a flat triangular gable. At each of the four corners of the palace there is a massive tower that protrudes over the main front. The castle church adjoins the north-west tower to the west.

The north portal, designated 1575, has a double border made of diamond blocks. The keystone is the coat of arms of Georg Khevenhüller, the builder of the castle. The overhead door bears the chest reliefs of Georg Khevenhüller and his two wives, Anna and Sibylla. The figures are fully plastic and are characterized by a rigid posture, the eyes protrude, the pupils are hole-like. Clothing patterns and hairstyle show a strong decorative feature. The coats of arms of the two women are depicted in the gate spandrels. A coupled Renaissance window is located directly above the gate. The east portal dates from the Baroque and is marked 1755. It can be entered via a double flight of stairs. On the front wall of the staircase there is an inscription panel marked 1576. In the inner courtyard there is a fountain trough from around 1575. On the west wall of the courtyard there are frescoes above the doors showing Bible verses in cartouches and dating from the 17th century.

The original south-east wing was demolished in 1963 and replaced by a simple new building in 1969–1971.

Twelve heads of the apostles were walled up in the arcaded courtyard until 1928 and were then sold. They come from the same artist as the overhang reliefs. A corresponding Salvator relief has been lost.

Castle Church

The interior of the castle church with a view towards the high altar, this illusion painting by JF Fromiller

The castle church now has the patronage of the Precious Blood; it used to be consecrated to St. Catherine. The facade is decorated with pilasters , architectural and tendrils stucco . Above the entrance is the depiction of the blessing Christ, who is labeled 1575. The four- bay hall church is structured by stuccoed pilasters. The ceiling is a flat barrel with stab caps. In the east there is a two-story gallery . The second floor was only moved in in 1964, the lower ceiling is flat. The windows are rectangular with circular windows above the cornice.

The interior is decorated with stucco from the Wessobrunn school and decorated with frescoes by the Carinthian painter Josef Ferdinand Fromiller from around 1730/1740. In the middle of the ceiling, a dome is shown in illusion painting. To the west of it is the Assumption of Mary, to the east three female figures. The high altar is also shown in illusion painting, in front of it is a carved crucifix from 1964. The wall painting of the two side altars dates from the second half of the 20th century. In front of the high altar is an altar table with a baroque tabernacle and angels.

Fromiller designed the walls with painted pilasters and entablature zones. He painted the high altar with a high, cranked pedestal part, above it marble columns. The pillars once carried a real panel painting depicting the glory of St. Augustine. Above that there is a cranked entablature zone. Above it there is an essay with a segmented gable, in which there is an - illusionistically painted - oval panel with the Trinity. The high altar is flanked by two painted statues of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. Like the figures in the Klagenfurt castle chapel , they are made of ocher brown.

The ceiling painting shows rich architectural illusionism that structures the surface. The pictures show a coherent content program. On the lowest level, the four church fathers are depicted in the gusset surfaces or between the stitch caps , the four evangelists in the gussets in the middle. The eight figures are brightly colored and shown in moving sitting poses. The architectural painting begins above them: a cornice zone and above it a balustrade. A representation of the sky, which is divided into three parts, extends over the entire length of the ceiling. In front, above the high altar, the Assumption of Mary is depicted, an imitation of the depiction in the Augsburg Cathedral by Johann Georg Bergmüller . Mary floats on a cloud, carried by three angels and surrounded by putti. In the middle of the ceiling is a dome with a drum , in the dome, coupled columns support a shell ceiling with a lantern. Coming out of the dome, an angel, holding a crown, moves downwards. In the direction of the nave, the edge of the dome is covered by clouds from the next part of the celestial sphere. In it sit three women who form a loose triangular composition: Saints Catherine and Margaret and the Allegory of Faith (or Saint Barbara). Two putti that float down and one of which extends over the edge of the balustrade form the connection between the illusionistic and the real world.

history

The castle garden of Wernberg in the Khevenhüller Chronicle
Relief by locksmith Georg Khevenhüller, 1572

A Werdenberch castle has been documented since 1227. This first castle was built under Duke Bernhard von Spanheim and was part of Bernhard's attempt to break the dominance of Bamberg ( Villach ) in southern trade. The castle later came to the Habsburgs , who pledged it to various castle keepers. Duke Friedrich the Elder enfeoffed the Villach citizens Kreutzer with the castle and their property. The castle came into the possession of the Khevenhüller family through inheritance in 1519 . Georg von Khevenhüller , governor of Carinthia, had Wernberg expanded into his summer palace.

Georg Khevenhüller had pictures of all the Carinthian governors exhibited in one room . They have not been preserved. In 1572 he had three large tapestries made for Wernberg. The carpet dedicated to his grandfather Augustin Khevenhüller is now in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg. The carpets dedicated to his father Siegmund and himself were in the Hearst collection for a while, but have been missing since 1943.

Around 1600 a palace garden was laid out in Wernberg, which has only been preserved as an illustration in the Khevenhüller Chronicle. It is considered the most elaborate of the numerous Khevenhüller palace gardens and was stylistically at the turn of the Baroque era. It consisted of flower beds, framed by trimmed hedges, of arcades made of wooden lattice, with green pavilions, figures and fountains. In doing so, it corresponded to the scheme of a pleasure garden from Italy.

Georg's successor, Paul Khevenhüller, sold the Wernberg castle and rule in 1630 when he had to emigrate as a Protestant in the course of the Counter Reformation. The buyer was Count Wagensperg. Because Paul Khevenhüller entered the Swedish service, the emperor confiscated his former goods, including Wernberg, but enfeoffed Count Wagensperg with the castle and estate. In the following years the castle changed hands frequently.

In 1672 Abbot Christoph Caponig von Stift Ossiach acquired the castle and its property and most of the Ossiach convent moved to Wernberg. Under Abbot Edmund Ibelbacher (1682–1737) several halls were furnished with stucco and frescoes. Abbot Virgil Gleissenberger (1725–1737) had the chapel built, which under Hermann Ludinger was given its current design with stucco and frescoes from 1737 to 1753. With the abolition of the Ossiach monastery in 1783, Wernberg was released for sale, the following 150 years were characterized by constant changes of ownership.

Since 1935 the castle has been owned by the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood . The sisters manage the estate belonging to the castle and run a guesthouse, a kindergarten and an educational center. A parament embroidery and a wafer bakery are also operated. In the years 1962 to 1964 the secluded castle church was restored and consecrated again.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Dehio-Handbuch Kärnten . 3rd edition, Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , pp. 1064-1066.
  2. ^ A b c Barbara Kienzl, Wilhelm Deuer: Renaissance in Carinthia . (Carinthian Art History) Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85378-438-0 , p. 52f.
  3. ↑ a b Barbara Neubauer -Kienzl, Wilhelm Deuer, Eduard Mahlknecht: Baroque in Carinthia . (Carinthia's Art History) Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2000, ISBN 3-85378-489-5 , pp. 127–129.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Ilse Spielvogel-Bodo: The Ossiacher See between yesterday and today. History, art, regional studies . 2nd edition, Kärntner Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Klagenfurt 1998, ISBN 3-85391-149-8 , pp. 75-78.
  5. ^ Barbara Kienzl, Wilhelm Deuer: Renaissance in Carinthia . (Carinthian Art History) Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85378-438-0 , p. 121.
  6. ^ Barbara Kienzl, Wilhelm Deuer: Renaissance in Carinthia . (Carinthian Art History) Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85378-438-0 , p. 143f.
  7. ^ Barbara Kienzl, Wilhelm Deuer: Renaissance in Carinthia . (Carinthian Art History) Verlag Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85378-438-0 , p. 66.
  8. ^ Homepage of the Wernberg Monastery , accessed July 20, 2011.
  9. ^ Homepage of the Wernberg Monastery , accessed July 20, 2011.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Wernberg  - Collection of images

Coordinates: 46 ° 37 ′ 16 ″  N , 13 ° 55 ′ 52 ″  E