Location: Tyrol Map
Kropfsberg Castle is a medieval fortress that sits on top of a strategic hill in the Inne Valley above the village of Saint Gertraudi in the Tyrol province of Austria.
Kropfsberg Castle was constructed in the early 12th century by the orders of Archbishop Konrad I of Salzburg. Originally it started as a central tower surrounded by the wall. The archbishops used the citadel as the seat of the Salzburg court and administration. Kropfsberg was first mentioned for the first time in 1286 in the official documents. Archbishop Eberhard II of Regensburg extended the defenses of the citadel further. Much of its current appearance date back to these renovations.
The Archbishops of Salzburg received large parts of the Zillertal.
The first castle was built under Archbishop Konrad I of Salzburg in the
first half of the 12th century at the entrance to the Zillertal. It was
probably just a tower surrounded by walls. The castle was used by the
archbishops as the seat of the Salzburg court and administration.
Kropfsberg was first mentioned in a document in 1286.
Archbishop
Eberhard II von Regensberg had the castle expanded. The castle owes its
current appearance to these expansion measures. Above the old tower was
the main castle, which contained two mighty keeps.
In the 15th
century, Kropfsberg Castle was the venue for important negotiations. In
1412, a dispute between Tyrol and Bavaria was settled on the "Prince's
Day". In 1416 there was a reconciliation between Duke Frederick IV and
his brother Duke Ernst of Austria, which ensured Frederick continued
possession of Tyrol.
In the course of time, Kropfsberg was
expanded twice in the Romanesque style, but there was no major building
activity in the Gothic period. Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach had
the complex re-fortified around 1500. 40 years later the loopholes, 900
m long, 8 m high and 3 m thick ring wall and the semi-circular bastions
were built.
In the following century Kropfsberg was one of the
largest castles in Tyrol. It was protected by a double ring wall. With
this expansion, the aim was to further illustrate the sovereign power
and strength. The area extended to an area of 26,000 m², but it only
had accommodation for 60 to 80 people.
In 1592 the court seat was
moved from Kropfsberg to Zell am Ziller, which led to the decline of the
castle complex. Because the castle was only inhabited by people and no
longer maintained, the first buildings collapsed in 1673. During the
"Bavarian hype" in 1703, the castle was involved in the fighting because
Bavarian soldiers had established themselves there. However, the
Tyrolean riflemen drove the intruders away again.
When Tyrol came
to Bavaria in 1809, the castle complex shared the same fate as many
others. The castle, which has now become a ruin, was auctioned off. In
1850 the gate tower was renovated to make it habitable again. In 1905
the material from the still-preserved ring wall was used to build the
Inn.
In 1940 Sepp Auffinger from Meran bought the property. He
had the gate tower renovated again. In the last year of the Second World
War, the western palace wall collapsed due to bombardment in the
vicinity. The castle ruins have been preserved and restored since 1985.
Therefore, the remains of the cistern and the Gothic castle chapel are
still preserved today. Today the castle is privately owned by Hanno
Vogl-Fernheim.
A prehistoric hilltop settlement with flat ramparts and small terraces was largely destroyed when the medieval castle was built over it. The castle with its three almost equally high towers is unique in Tyrol. All that remains of the first castle today is the free-standing tower, which was shifted to the west. The Romanesque stronghold, built around a hexagonal courtyard, dates from the second construction, of which only the two keeps remain. The middle tower only has light slits in the lower area. Archbishop Leonhard added the living quarters with their large windows and different brickwork. After the Second World War, the keep was converted into an observation tower. In addition, the ruins of the Rupertus chapel from the 16th century still exist. The 47 m deep cistern is located in the middle of the courtyard. The outer ring wall including the bastions is still partially preserved.