Burg Lockenhaus

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Aerial view of the castle curls House

The curls House Castle is a castle in central Burgenland in Austria. It is in Günser mountains in the transboundary nature park Geschriebenstein - Irottkö on the outskirts of the village curls house on a rock barrier at Günsbach and thus belongs to the type of the hill fort.

History

The first written mention of the castle curls house dates from the year 1242. It was built around the year 1200 and initially carried the name " Leuca ". The oldest parts are the keep and the curtain wall of the inner castle. Slightly younger the chapel tower and the two-aisled Gothic portico of the Knight's Hall. In the soffits of the window recesses of the castle chapel are fragments of frescoes from the 13th century. These are the oldest frescoes in a military or secular building in Burgenland.

From 1270 to 1337, the counts are of Güssing ( John I of Héder ) named as owner. Between the 14th and 17th centuries it belonged to the families Kanizsay ( 1390-1535 ) and Nádasdy ( 1535-1672 ). After the killing of Franz III. The castle to Nicholas Draskovich Nádasdy was pledged. In 1676 it passed into the possession of the Esterházy family, who remained lords of the castle until 1968.

1968 acquired Paul Anton Keller and his wife, the castle which was then in very poor condition. Using their total private wealth the family began their renovation, which was continued after the death of Paul Anton Keller in 1976 by ​​Prof. Paul Anton Keller Foundation castle curls house. Overall, Austrian Schilling was invested in the renovation of buildings since 1968 eleven million.

Templar castle or not?

With the Lockenhaus the controversy is connected, whether it could have originally been a Teutonic castle of the Knights Templar. While many historians deny the workings of this Order in Austria, the author Gerhard Volfing has collected evidence in favor of the theory of a Templar castle. To be found on the ceiling of the so-called cult space Steinmetz characters that are found in this way also in Templar castles in Spain and Portugal. The keystone in the sanctuary can also be found in a chapel in England. Volfing said also to recognize a patriarch, together with a Knights Templar in the frescoes of the chapel.

Contrary to what Volfings, suggest other castle researchers the cult room under the courtyard as the former cistern of the plant. It is one of the most elaborate, which has spawned the Romanesque architecture in Central Europe. Maybe the small hall also served as a church treasury or prison.

Description

The curls house castle consists of a bailey and a behind the main castle. A comprehensive study of the buildings has not taken place to date. Next to the chapel tower from late Romanesque period and the keep is obtained near the gateway to the main castle from the early construction period.