Pottendorf Castle

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Pottendorfer Schloss in September 2011 - a castle that is left to decay.
Northwest corner of the castle
Pottendorf Palace Chapel

Pottendorf Castle was an important moated castle in the Lower Austrian municipality of Pottendorf until after 1945 .

Pottendorf Castle was first mentioned in a document with Rudolf von Pottendorf in 1130 and was probably built shortly before. It is now largely ruinous although it with a chapel and parks is a listed building .

history

Original usage

The originally Romanesque complex was given a Gothic and then above all Baroque overhaul; the initially free-standing, largely late Gothic chapel was connected to the main building in 1519. The three-story moated castle had an almost square courtyard. 1737–38 the two mighty Romanesque corner towers and the gate tower from the 13th century were included. The coat of arms of the Esterházy family who owned it for many years can still be seen above the arched portal .

The Fischa flows through the castle park . It was once one of the most important landscape gardens in Lower Austria.

Decay

The castle, which survived the Turkish wars undamaged, served as a military hospital for the German Air Force during the Second World War and then served the Russian occupation forces in the same function. In 1944 it was hit by a bomb, which was actually smaller, but this was likely to have triggered the subsequent decay through looting and devastation. One of the decisive factors was an accident tragedy in the owner family, who received the castle back in 1955, but did not pay much attention to the endangered building complex. In 1967 the towers and the chapel were re-roofed by son-in-law Manfred Schönborn, but soon afterwards the roof structure of the residential wing collapsed and the castle was left to decay.

Until 2006 the park was completely overgrown and therefore closed. The roofs of the castle have collapsed. The chapel was also largely destroyed. The renovated chapel was ceremoniously opened on September 1, 2018, the altar of the chapel is expected to return in spring 2019, it is currently in Forchtenstein Castle.

The park was declared a natural monument in 1979 ( NDM BN-090 Schlosspark-Pottendorf , 19 ha). It is also mentioned in the Monument Protection Act ( No. 18 in the appendix to Section 1, Paragraph 12 of the DMSG ) and added to the list of monuments in 2014. A special feature is the ancient linden tree southeast of the castle (natural monument NDM BN-004 linden tree (picture tree) , placed under protection in 1928).

Revitalization

In 2006 the municipality of Pottendorf acquired the ruins and castle grounds from Katalin Landon, b. Esterházy. According to media reports, the purchase price for the 211,000 m² park, including the castle ruins, mill and hunter's house, was 600,000 euros. A side agreement includes a down payment to the seller if the municipality should rededicate parts of the castle park to building land in the next 25 years.

Portal of the castle ruins (2011)

After the community was able to acquire the park, a redevelopment concept was drawn up and implemented with the support of all the authorities necessary for this. The park was carefully revitalized from 2008 onwards, taking into account nature conservation and monument protection, so that it could be reopened to the public on August 15, 2009. The opening took place with great participation of the population (estimated more than 1000 visitors). Perhaps the part beyond the Fischa should also be redeveloped; in 2014 a feasibility study was drawn up.

The future of the castle itself is still uncertain, the castle island is still not accessible today. During the garden renovation, the building was at least cleared of vegetation, so that it fulfills its garden-architectural effect again. It is also planned to renovate the two dilapidated castle towers and possibly to set up a viewing platform. There is an engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer of the once magnificent castle .

literature

  • Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria: Lower Austria south of the Danube. Part 2. M to Z. Pottendorf. Pottendorf castle ruins. Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.), Verlag Berger, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85028-365-8 , pages 1714 ff.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Pottendorf  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eva Berger: Historical Gardens of Austria: Gardens and parks from the Renaissance to around 1930 . tape 1 Lower Austria, Burgenland . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 978-3-205-99305-6 , Pottendorf, Schloßpark , p. 457 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ Parish of Pottendorf saves fairytale castle. In: pannonien.tv. pannonien.tv, September 10, 2018, accessed October 20, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Castle chapel officially opened. In: monatsrevue.at. monatsrevue.at, September 4, 2018, accessed on October 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Pottendorf Palace belongs to the Pottendorf residents ( memento from April 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: monthly review, issue 9, 2006.
  5. ↑ a b Wolfgang Burghart: Pottendorf - or how to save a castle park. In: Denkma [ i ] l - News of the Monument Protection Initiative, No. 03 / October 2009, p. 18 ( issue, pdf , initiative-denkmalschutz.at).
  6. ↑ a b Castle Park . In: Social Democratic Perspective 1b / 2015, Folder for the municipal council election on January 25, 2015, SPÖ Großgemeinde Pottendorf, Our program for the Pottendorf district , p. 4 ( pdf , pottendorf.spoe.at).
  7. ^ Parish of Pottendorf saves fairytale castle. In: pannonien.tv. pannonien.tv, September 10, 2018, accessed October 20, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Pottendorf castle ruins. In: wehrbauten.at. wehrbauten.at, accessed on January 4, 2019 .
  9. ^ Pottendorf. In: esterhazy.net. esterhazy.net, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  10. ^ Pottendorf. In: gedaechtnisdeslandes.at. gedaechtnisdeslandes.at, accessed on January 4, 2019 .
  11. ^ AK Pottendorf, Palace of Prince Esterhazy. In: oldthing.de. oldthing.de, accessed on January 4, 2019 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 54 ′ 41.4 ″  N , 16 ° 23 ′ 3.8 ″  E