Wasenberg (Mitterkirchen im Machland)
| Wasenberg near Hart | ||
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 Wasenberg from the north. Photo 2018 |
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| Creation time : | High Middle Ages | |
| Castle type : | Hill castle, moth | |
| Conservation status: | Earthwork | |
| Construction: | norman moth | |
| Place: | Kirchstettenerholz | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 12 '25.9 " N , 14 ° 42' 8.4" E | |
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The Wasenberg near Hart is the earthwork of a tower hill castle . It is hidden in the forest north of the village of Hart in the municipality of Mitterkirchen in Machland in Upper Austria.
Surname
The Old High German word waso = moist wasteland can be used as the origin of the word Wasen . Wasen is understood to mean something like wet meadow, floodplain, wet grassland, reclaimed wetland. Wasen was name-building throughout the German-speaking area. Examples are place names such as Wasenbach (Rhineland-Palatinate), Wasen (Bavaria), Waasen (Upper and Lower Austria) and Wasenberg with the obvious meaning of hill in a damp valley .
location
The Wasenberg is hidden in the forest area of Kirchstettenerholz 450 m north of the village of Hart in the municipality of Mitterkirchen im Machland in a flat, extensive meadow, arable and forest area that used to be crossed by watercourses. In the north it borders on an earlier watercourse of the Naarn , called Mettensdorfer Mühlwasser (Mühlbach) until it dried out. Lot 1950/1, plot 1090, cadastral municipality Hofstetten. No public road. Privately owned. Existing monument protection.
Wasenberg is not alone there. The Upper Austrian Cultural Atlas names other small surrounding earthworks or seats. A very small earthwork south of the village of Wörth still needs to be explored (coordinates 14 ° 40'28''E 48 ° 10'20''N).
history
Hill castles emerged in Central Europe in the High Middle Ages (period 1050 to 1250). In the subsequent late Middle Ages (period 1250 to 1500) the hill castles were abandoned over time. However, this only affected the castle complex, the farmyard was often preserved. In the case of Wasenberg, one can only assume that it was also created in this period and that it was abandoned again at some point. Documentary evidence is missing.
One can only assume that the Wasenberg's builder was a member of the noble family of the Lords of Perg and Machland and that the aim was to secure the Machland territory . The local aristocratic clan of the Kirchstettener (Kirchsteger) can be regarded as insufficiently powerful for such a large building project. The alternatively discussed view that the Wasenberg was built as a grave complex or during the Hussite Wars is no longer tenable.
description
The Wasenberg near Hart is a circular heaped up flattened mound of earth, supplemented with a ring ditch and ring wall, surrounded by outer bailey areas with ramparts. It shows all the characteristics of a hill castle, modeled on the Norman motte (château à motte, earth hill castle ):
- Mound of earth, ring moat, ring wall of the stronghold complex (core castle). The tower-like main building stood on the mound of earth.
- Ramparts and moats of the Vorgburganlage (Niederburg). The farm yard with cattle shelters, storage facilities, bakery etc. belonged to it.
In the majority of Central European hill castles, only the mounds of earth have been preserved. They appear far less grandiose than the Wasenberg near Hart with its ditches and ramparts in front of it.
Stronghold
In the current state of preservation, the hill plateau of the Wasenberg is 5 m above the grown terrain at a height of 242.72 m. Plateau diameter 19 m. This corresponds to an area of 280 m². Diameter of the ring trench bottom 37 m. The moat was flooded with water. It had a water connection to the Naarn watercourse via the trenches of the ramparts. The surrounding ring wall unfortunately has an interruption in the current state of preservation in the northwest. The alternatively discussed assumption that it would have been the water connection to the Naarn here is no longer tenable.
In the case of hill castles such as the Wasenberg, one should imagine their appearance as follows: The slopes of the castle hill were steep and protected against erosion by means of turf (turf tiles). The hill plateau was surrounded by palisades. Access to the hill plateau was via a wooden staircase or ramp that spanned the moat and led to the entrance gate in the palisade. At Wasenberg this ramp is believed to be in the south. The middle of the hill plateau was always occupied by a main building, often a tower. Probably also at Wasenberg. The hill castle thus became a tower hill castle. The tower was usually closed at the top by an open or covered defense platform. The tower and the rest of the buildings were mostly built entirely from wooden beams in block or post construction.
These wooden castles were in use at the same time as the stone castles. Because of the old age of the hill castles, the wooden superstructures did not survive.
Outer bailey
The outer bailey areas (Niederburg) of the Wasenberg protected arched ramparts and in the north the watercourse of the Naarn. The entire protected castle complex was thus ~ 5100 m² in size and claimed the current plot of 1090 almost from west to east. The rampart in the north along the watercourse is rather easy to see in the current state of preservation. Additional palisades or fences can be assumed. It can be safely assumed that the meandering watercourses of the Naarn changed with the times and that this also affected the Wasenberg and its outer bailey areas. Currently, however, a tractor runway also crosses the outer bailey area there in the north.
In the current state of preservation, the other arched ramp systems are rather faint. They consisted of ramparts and flooded trenches. Additional palisades or fences can be assumed. The flooded trenches started in the west and east from the watercourse of the Naarn and met approximately in the south at the ring wall. Here there was a water connection to the flooded moat. And here in the south the ramp probably led to the hill plateau. The outer bailey area offered space for an attached farm yard with facilities such as servants' and kitchen houses, storage facilities, horse and cattle stables. Sometimes the home of the lord of the castle and his family was in the Niederburg and not in the stronghold.
Because of the old age, the wooden facilities of the Niederburg did not survive the times any more than the wooden superstructures of the stronghold. An angled trench can be seen in the south about 30 to 50 m in front of the ramp system. It can be assumed that this ditch indicates a meandering watercourse (i.e. no ramp system) that used to lead around the Wasenberg in the south.
Picture gallery
Interruption of the ring wall in the north
Dry Naarn and Vorwallstück in the north
A tractor runway crosses the rampart in the northeast
Vorwallstück in the east
Arch in the southeast
Ridge piece in the south
View from the south
Sketched access ramp
Matrix arch in the northwest
Dry upper Naarn river
literature
- Franz Asanger: Mitterkirchen. A historical portrait of the Machland community . Edited by the municipal office in Mitterkirchen im Machland, 1999, pp. 51, 63 (Wasenberg weir system).
- Fritz Felgenhauer: The local mountain to Gaiselberg (Lower Austria). In: Journal of Archeology of the Middle Ages. Bonn 1973, p. 59, PDF
- Günther Kleinhanns: Castle Landscape Mühlviertel. Architectural monuments as important evidence of a cultural epoch. In: Catalog MUE_88 of Upper Austria. State Museum. Wasenberg (in the text) p. 369, PDF on ZOBODAT .
- Paul Löffler: History about the southern central Mühlviertel in the graying time. In: Heimatgaue . Linz 1931, floor plan Wasenberg, p. 101, plate 11, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
- Leopold Josef Mayböck : Manuscript Hausberganlagen. Schwertberg 2018.
- Wladimir Obergottsberger: Burgstall Wasenberg . In: Catalog for the state exhibition Thousand Years of Upper Austria. Catalog part 2, Linz 1983, p. 131.
- Christian K. Steingruber : A critical consideration of the historical-topographical manual of the fortifications and mansions of Upper Austria. Landesarchiv Upper Austria, 2nd edition, Linz 2013 (Marktgemeinde Mitterkirchen, No. I / 11/2 and I / 11/5).
- Austrian Society for Medieval Archeology, Scientific Advisory Board of the German Castle Association EV, Univerza v Ljubjani, Filozofska fakulteia, Oddelek za arheologijo, Styrian State Museum Joanneum: Motte - Turmhügelburg - Hausberg. On the research status of a medieval castle type. Hollenegg, October 8-11, 2006. ÖGM proceedings 23/2007, PDF at univie.ac.at.
