Vichtenstein Castle or Vichtenstein Burg is a medieval citadel in the Danube River valley in Upper Austria region of Austria.
Location: Upper Austria Map
Constructed: 1090 by Henry II
The year the hilltop castle was built cannot be documented; it is
assumed that the castle was probably built around the year 1100 and
belonged to the County of Formbach. The first mention can be found
in 1116 with the Counts of Formbach at Schloss Vornbach, who also
called themselves "von Vichtenstein". It is possible that Heinrich
II von Formbach, who died in 1090, was the builder of the first
castle complex.
Hedwig von Vichtenstein from the Formbach
family had brought the rule of Vichtenstein as a dowry to her
husband Engelberg, Count zu Hall und Wasserburg at Wasserburg
Castle, when her family of origin had ceased to exist in the
namesake family. In 1217, King Andrew II of Hungary took part in the
fifth crusade, the Damiette Crusade, to the Holy Land, in which many
German, but above all Bavarian knights took part, including some
from the vicinity of the Counts of Wasserburg and Vichtenstein. The
attempt to enter the Holy Land failed and King Andrew returned. Most
of the German knights stayed behind and tried to conquer Egypt,
because the Holy Land was under Egyptian political influence. They
summoned more knights and Count Konrad von Wasserburg and
Vichtenstein prepared for war. On October 22, 1218, he borrowed the
money of 1,000 marks of silver he needed for the war journey from
Prince Bishop Ulrich II of Passau and pledged his Vichtenstein
Castle, together with all the extensive possessions in the upper and
lower Kößlbach valley, to the Bishopric. In addition, it was agreed
that when the count returned home, he would only be able to redeem
the castle from his own funds and only pledge it for his own use, so
that the diocese could not be cheated by strangers in the donation
mentioned. Shortly after the contract was signed, Konrad married and
signed Vichtenstein Castle over to his wife Kunigunde, Countess of
Lambach (Hirschberg). Towards the end of 1218 Konrad marched into
Egypt at the head of a crusader army detachment and in the summer of
1219 began the siege of the fortress of Damietta. Although the
fortress fell, the crusade failed a little later and Konrad and
Bishop Ulrich von Passau, who had followed, fled back home.
Bishop Ulrich died on October 30, 1221. Count Konrad von Wasserburg
and Vichtenstein returned safely to Vichtenstein about six months
later. In the meantime, a fierce dispute had broken out in Passau
about the legality of the transaction because of the transfer of
Vichtenstein Castle to Konrad's wife. In the course of this feud,
the vassals and burghers of Vichtenstein and other robber barons
devastated episcopal property, so that Bishop Gebhard of Passau
turned to the German King Heinrich VII of Worms for help. The
emperor outlawed the affected knights on March 13, 1222, which led
to a brief peace. After his return, however, Konrad again took part
in the raids and raids of the unscrupulous robber barons and
obstructed trade routes and shipping by blocking the Danube. As a
result, Konrad was excommunicated several times and finally only
managed to shake off the imperial ban under the harshest of
conditions.
Under the chairmanship of Emperor Friedrich II,
it was decided that Hallgraf Konrad von Wasserburg and Vichtenstein
had to hand over the ownership of Vichtenstein Castle, including its
accessories and all goods that they owned between the Salza and Enns
and from the Isar to the Bohemian Forest, to the Bishop of Passau .
As a visible sign of Passau ownership, the bishop took over the
Vichtenstein castle tower and the two adjoining and associated
fiefdoms. The guards and gatekeepers of the castle were to be
provided at the expense of the bishop, these and the other tenants
of the castle had to swear allegiance to both the bishop and the
count and undertake not to harass travelers any more. In return, the
bishop pledged 1,200 marks of Passau weights to the Count for
Vichtenstein, including his belongings and ministerials, and gave
him a house in Passau as a fief.
The bishops of Passau had
the castle, which they also pledged when they needed money, managed
by caretakers or burgraves. The Passau city judge Andreas Haller was
the lienholder of the castle in 1367, but also the leader of the
Passau citizens' uprising against the rule of the bishop. After the
defeat of the citizens, he sold the castle to the knight Friedrich
von Puchberg. This, in turn, entailed a feud over the property that
lasted for several years. When he was facing financial ruin in 1370,
the bishop decided to pawn Vichtenstein Castle and the associated
manorial estate to the nobles of Schaunberg. After the defeat of the
Schaunberger against Duke Albrecht III. from Austria, Vichtenstein
returned to the diocese of Passau. From 1661 to 1691 the lordship of
Vichtenstein was administered by Burgrave Georg Franz Ebenhoch von
Hocheneben, remained with the Passau Monastery until secularization
on January 3, 1803, and then became the property of Austria.
Vichtenstein Castle and the land were sold to private investors.
After the peasants were liberated in 1848, the castle and large
estates came into the possession of the Counts of Pachta through
purchase in 1868. The current owners acquired the castle and the
associated possessions from the inheritance of the leasehold. In the
last months of the Second World War in May 1945 and the subsequent
period of expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia, the castle
was a reception camp for expellees and refugees. The castle is owned
by Klaus Schulz-Wulkow and cannot be visited.
The castle is located above the right bank of the Danube on a
steep hillside above the village of Vichtenstein. The castle was
inhabited without interruption. As a result, the castle area was
often rebuilt and renovated over the centuries.
A massive
high Romanesque tower rises on the narrow ridge that connects the
castle to the forecourt. The oldest parts of the castle are the
isolated keep and the gate building. Access to the tower is via a
brick bridge leading to the gate tower with a lancet arched gate and
pulleys above for an earlier drawbridge. The two square residential
towers were built in the 15th or 16th century. After the gate hall
is the elongated front courtyard, bounded on both sides by walls.
After a sharp bend, the actual courtyard opens up. The residential
and farm buildings are based on the circular wall. This is
reinforced by towers that were used to paint the sides.
The
palace chapel dedicated to Saint Hippolytus of Rome, which was built
in the 14th century and expanded in the 17th century, is also of
art-historical importance. The interior of the chapel has a ribbed
vault with figural keystones.