Burgruine Rauchenkatsch

Rauchenkatsch is a former castle in Carinthia Katschtal. She served for a long time the archbishopric of Salzburg to secure the trade route over the Katschberg and was temporarily headquarters of Salzburg court, but lost in the late Middle Ages gradually in importance and fell into disrepair. The ruins of the castle finally fell in the 1960s, the road to the victim.

Location

The castle was located at about 1050 m above sea level in today's municipal area of ​​Krems in Carinthia. Just north of the town of Krems bridge where the gorge-like valley of the Lieser merges with the Wider sweeping Katschtal to the north, was built on a steep cliff beside the river Lieser the castle Rauchenkatsch.

History

Exactly when the castle was built is not known. According to legend, which existed at the time of the Romans there a fort or watchtower, but for which there is no evidence.

The area around the castle became in 1007 by a gift of Henry II to the bishopric of Freising. For Freising, who possessed at that time over vast estates in Carinthia, but the material was too remote to the upper Lieser, so they ceded it in the course of an exchange with the Archbishop of Salzburg.

The oldest written reference to the castle as a castrum chaetze comes from a document from the year 1197, in a barter of Archbishop Adalbert with the Benedictine Abbey Millstatt was sealed, one of the items in question was located close to the castle. On 4 May 1201, the castle was destroyed by a massive earthquake that caused devastating damage to the Drau valley down. However, it was apparently rebuilt soon and in a deed of 1241 it is the first time as " Rouhenkaze ", ie Rauchenkatsch called; the attribute " rough " is " firmly, indomitable " within the meaning of to interpret.

Rauchenkatsch was managed by ministry officials, so noble followers of the archbishopric of Salzburg. The fortress wall of the castle pulled down the street, and ranged from the other side on a steep slope up into the forest, so that the gentlemen of Rauchenkatsch could block off the road at any time.

As is apparent from a document dating from 1487, had Rauchenkatsch at that time a castle tower and had the lower courts. The blood was incumbent on the district court of jurisdiction in Gmünd.

In 1605 the Archbishop of Salzburg, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau sold the castle Rauchenkatsch to his brother Hans Rudolf von Raitenau, who was only in 1601 came into possession of the town of Gmünd. 1639 changed the fort with the new city Gmünd Men Christoph Lodron again the owner. Even if the importance of the castles had been steadily declining since the late Middle Ages, Rauchenkatsch still had in 1811 a private castle judges.

The remains of the ruins Rauchenkatsch were destroyed in 1967 during the laying of the federal highway 99 after a landslide.

To the Lords of Katsch, some of which are attested as a nurse and a judge on Rauchenkatsch recalls the arms of the municipality Rennweg am Katschberg, which took over the crest with each other to shake hands reaching arms.