Hanfelden Castle in Unterzeiring in the Pölstal is one of the few renaissance castles in Styria, ... more Hanfelden Castle in Unterzeiring in the Pölstal is one of the few renaissance castles in Styria, or rather in Austria, that has hardly been massively remodeled and changed in its aftermath. Starting from a tower building from the middle of the 14th century, the complex was rapidly extended in the early 16th century to a four-sided building complex with an inner courtyard with attached arcades. The ensemble also includes an outbuilding standing close to the castle. Probably around 1600, a enclosing wall with four corner towers was added around the ensemble. The castle is of special importance because of two well-preserved blockwork chambers. Apart from a few baroqueizing changes in the 17th century, hardly any fundamental alterations were made, so that today in Unterzeiring still a more or less unchanged Renaissance castle is standing. Since 2016, comprehensive excavations, building research, conservation and restoration have been carried out there; these investigations are accompanied by various natural scientific analyses such as dendrochronological investigations, 14C- dating and geophysical prospections. In this article the first summarizing results will be presented.
The castle of Hanfelden in Styria has gained supra-regional significance with an inscription in t... more The castle of Hanfelden in Styria has gained supra-regional significance with an inscription in the parlour of the so called Maximiliansstube. It describes a visit by King Maximilian in 1506 during which he took care of local affairs. At the same time the inscription states, that since then the manor should be called Hanfelden and that Maximilian I. resided in that room. The inscription was placed there some 100 years after the described visit when Maximilian Rauchenberger was the owner of the castle. It can be assumed that Maximilian Rauchenberger deliberately wanted to create a remembrance to his namesake Maximilian I. He focused on local issues whereas global political events like the convocation to the Reichstag in Konstanz which were initiated in nearby Zeiring are not addressed. Archaeological and architectural research has shown that the section of the complex in which the parlour is located has not yet existed at the time of the visit.
Alongside the Morava, the border river between Austria and Slovakia, a significant historico-cult... more Alongside the Morava, the border river between Austria and Slovakia, a significant historico-cultural area developed from the Prehistory on. Fertile soil pandered to the procession of formation of settlements. Good transportation routes on land and water boosted the supra-regional contacts which ranged from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea. Also, medivial settlements as well as mottes are known from this region. The metal artefacts presented here, which were gathered around Bernhardsthal, Ringelsdorf, Drösing and Jedenspeigen, come from a private collection. The corpus of finds document the spectrum of metal everyday objects from clothes and jewellery of the Middle Ages. Finds from the late High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages predominate. Beside the common Europe-wide forms, some few stand out through meticulous workmanship and gilding. Most of the medivial finds were dated to the time as the settlement Drösing (around 1296) was relocated to a dry area to the West. Finds which are dated to the Early modern prove that the area of the abandoned settlement did not fall into oblivion. In the future, systematic excavations in the radius of the church, the medieval cemetry, the deserted village and the motte shall be conducted.
Hanfelden Castle in Unterzeiring in the Pölstal is one of the few renaissance castles in Styria, ... more Hanfelden Castle in Unterzeiring in the Pölstal is one of the few renaissance castles in Styria, or rather in Austria, that has hardly been massively remodeled and changed in its aftermath. Starting from a tower building from the middle of the 14th century, the complex was rapidly extended in the early 16th century to a four-sided building complex with an inner courtyard with attached arcades. The ensemble also includes an outbuilding standing close to the castle. Probably around 1600, a enclosing wall with four corner towers was added around the ensemble. The castle is of special importance because of two well-preserved blockwork chambers. Apart from a few baroqueizing changes in the 17th century, hardly any fundamental alterations were made, so that today in Unterzeiring still a more or less unchanged Renaissance castle is standing. Since 2016, comprehensive excavations, building research, conservation and restoration have been carried out there; these investigations are accompanied by various natural scientific analyses such as dendrochronological investigations, 14C- dating and geophysical prospections. In this article the first summarizing results will be presented.
The castle of Hanfelden in Styria has gained supra-regional significance with an inscription in t... more The castle of Hanfelden in Styria has gained supra-regional significance with an inscription in the parlour of the so called Maximiliansstube. It describes a visit by King Maximilian in 1506 during which he took care of local affairs. At the same time the inscription states, that since then the manor should be called Hanfelden and that Maximilian I. resided in that room. The inscription was placed there some 100 years after the described visit when Maximilian Rauchenberger was the owner of the castle. It can be assumed that Maximilian Rauchenberger deliberately wanted to create a remembrance to his namesake Maximilian I. He focused on local issues whereas global political events like the convocation to the Reichstag in Konstanz which were initiated in nearby Zeiring are not addressed. Archaeological and architectural research has shown that the section of the complex in which the parlour is located has not yet existed at the time of the visit.
Alongside the Morava, the border river between Austria and Slovakia, a significant historico-cult... more Alongside the Morava, the border river between Austria and Slovakia, a significant historico-cultural area developed from the Prehistory on. Fertile soil pandered to the procession of formation of settlements. Good transportation routes on land and water boosted the supra-regional contacts which ranged from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea. Also, medivial settlements as well as mottes are known from this region. The metal artefacts presented here, which were gathered around Bernhardsthal, Ringelsdorf, Drösing and Jedenspeigen, come from a private collection. The corpus of finds document the spectrum of metal everyday objects from clothes and jewellery of the Middle Ages. Finds from the late High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages predominate. Beside the common Europe-wide forms, some few stand out through meticulous workmanship and gilding. Most of the medivial finds were dated to the time as the settlement Drösing (around 1296) was relocated to a dry area to the West. Finds which are dated to the Early modern prove that the area of the abandoned settlement did not fall into oblivion. In the future, systematic excavations in the radius of the church, the medieval cemetry, the deserted village and the motte shall be conducted.
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