Vöcklabruck city fortifications
The Vöcklabruck city fortification exists with two preserved city towers in the municipality of Vöcklabruck in the Vöcklabruck district in Upper Austria .
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history
First mentioned in a document in 823, whose construction was assumed to be in the second half of the 8th century, the pilgrimage church of Maria Schöndorf is enthroned as a former fortified church on a hill above Vöcklabruck.
In 1134, the noble pilgrim, as the owner of the nearby Puchheim estate , bought the bridge over the Vöckla (pons Veckelaha) from the Count of Regau and built a fortification with a hospice for pilgrims and the poor on the left bank and built a small cloverleaf-shaped church St. Aegydius. This Pilgrims Foundation was merged with the large parish of Schöndorf - incorporated into St. Florian Monastery since the 12th century - and the rectory of Schöndorf was relocated to the small settlement in the village on the left bank (villa vecclabrucce).
Third, the town fortifications of Vöcklabruck were built between the fortified Schöndorf on the hill and the bridge with the Dörfl on the other bank (see the engraving by Vischer). A city was mentioned in a document in 1353. An indication of the year for the city fortifications has not been handed down. In the second half of the 15th century, the wall ring was largely desolate. So in 1485 Emperor Friedrich III. the order to repair the fortifications and approved the collection of a toll. Emperor Maximilian I stayed like his travel itinerary and several documents often show in Vöcklabruck. In 1494 he set up the surcharge office in the city to collect a tax for the export of wine. The office received a house at the upper city tower and this house was available to him for his stays.
city wall
The city wall was about 5 m high, the battlement was about 2 m wide, outside the wall was a 4 m wide moat. In the 19th century the city wall was torn down and the moat was filled. The course of the walling can still be seen on the adjacent streets. Today, display boards and stories are attached to historically significant places.
City towers
The Vöcklabruck city towers are at the northern and southern ends of the Vöcklabruck town square , the administrative seat of the Vöcklabruck district in Upper Austria .
The two well-fortified towers were built in the 15th century. They close the town square. As you can see from the engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer from 1674, they were integrated into the city wall of Vöcklabruck. Originally they were provided with a drawbridge , portcullis and machicolation . In both arches, the pulleys for the pull gates, the slots for the portcullis and the recesses for the drawbridge can still be seen today.
The upper tower ( ⊙ ) in the southwest of the town square protected the exit towards Salzburg . On the outside of the city (south-west) are the coats of arms of the Austrian hereditary lands, above the Vöcklabruck city arms from 1503. The facade painting depicts knights in armor riding on their battle horses through the gate into the city. The frescoes were designed in 1502 by the court painter Jörg Kolderer . The shingle roof and carillon were renovated in 1981.
On the outside of the lower tower ( ⊙ ), Emperor Maximilian I is shown with armor, cloak and coronation insignia of the Holy Roman Empire . On the sides you can see the 18 coats of arms of the Burgundian countries. Above it is a shield with the double-headed eagle , surrounded by the coats of arms of the hereditary lands. On the facade facing the town square there is a fresco war memorial by Rudolf Steinbüchler from 1932. This tower was raised by one storey in 1580 and provided with a tower lantern on which the town's coat of arms is attached as a wind vane. This tower was used as a prison.
literature
- Herbert Erich Baumert, Georg Grüll : Castles and palaces in Upper Austria. Volume 3, Salzkammergut and Alpine Foreland, Birken-Verlag, Vienna 1983, ISBN §-85030-042-0.
- Franz Satzinger: Vöcklabruck. Art-historical sights of the city. Tourismusverband Vöcklabruck, Vöcklabruck 2019, 12 pages.
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