Festenburg Castle

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View from the south: in front Vorau with pen, behind the Festenburg
Festenburg, inner courtyard

The Festenburg is a monastery castle in the village of the same name Festenburg in the cadastral municipality of Köppel in the municipality of Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel . It was probably founded as Vöstenburg around 1200 by the Lords of Stubenberg . In the possession of Vorau Abbey since 1616 , it now houses the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Katharina with a series of six chapels in front . The Festenburg parish is appointed pastorally by the Augustinian Canons of Vorau. Since 1992 Sighard Schreiner has been pastor of the parish in the East Styrian transition country.

History of the Festenburg

Around 1200, a castle was probably founded by the Lords of Stubenberg on a rocky spur sloping steeply on three sides, which was first mentioned in 1353 as Vöstenburg . Around 1399 the castle fell to the later governor of Styria, Count Hugo von Montfort, as an inheritance from the extinct Lords of Stadeck , who were of the same tribe as the Stubenbergs . After the Lords of Montfort, the Lords of Saurau owned the Festenburg from around 1416 . The castle was besieged by the Turks unsuccessfully in 1529 and 1532 during the first Turkish siege of Vienna .

In 1616 the Vorau Abbey bought the Festenburg from the Counts of Saurau under Provost Daniel Gundau and expanded the castle into a monastery from 1700 to 1723.

Today the Festenburg is not only the seat of the same parish, but also a popular excursion destination as an integral part and starting point of the Styrian Schlösserstraße.

Parish church hl. Catherine and six chapels

The knight's hall of the castle was transformed into a parish church, which St. Catherine was consecrated. From 1709, the picturesque decoration of the Katharinenkirche, the Loreto chapel , the thorns chapel , the crib chapel , the Ölberg chapel , the flagellation chapel and the cruciform chapel by the Vorau monastery painter Johann Cyriak Hackhofer . In the ceiling fresco of the Katharinenkirche, the Festenburg women's heaven from 1710, the most important Styrian example of expressive illusionism in the late Baroque , holy virgins and angels are depicted.

From 1889 to 1928 the canon Ottokar Kernstock lived as a pastor and writer in the Festenburg. His reception, study and bedroom are open to the public as a museum.

Today, Holy Mass is celebrated on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays . The Festenburg traditional costume band also performs a concert in the courtyard every year.

The castle is open to the public from May to September from Monday to Sunday through guided tours. With the anniversary year, there will also be a special exhibition "Periods" 1616–2016, 400 years of Festenburg's membership of Vorau Abbey.

  • Festenburg, Katharinenkirche

  • Festenburger Frauenhimmel, larger view

  • Festenburger Frauenhimmel, detail view 1

  • Festenburger Frauenhimmel, detailed view 2

societies

The Festenburg shares its name not only with the town of the same name at its foot, but also with many clubs in the Festenburg area:

  • UPS Festenburg
  • Festenburg traditional costume band
  • Kameratschaftsbund Festenburg
  • Festenburg shooting club
  • Festenburg Theater Association
  • K.Ö.St.V Festenburg Hartberg

literature

  • Peter Krenn : Eastern Styria. Your works of art, historical forms of life and settlement. Festenburg. Pages 117-122, Verlag Styria, Graz 1997, ISBN 3-222-12601-1 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of the corporations of the StMV - Mittelschüler-Kartell-Verband ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stmv.mkv.at

Coordinates: 47 ° 28 ′ 14 "  N , 15 ° 55 ′ 22"  E