Burgruine Hardegg

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Burgruine Hardegg
Carinthia, Austria
Coordinates	46°43′02″N 14°15′29″E / 46.7172222222°N 14.2580555556°E / 46.7172222222; 14.2580555556Coordinates: 46°43′02″N 14°15′29″E / 46.7172222222°N 14.2580555556°E / 46.7172222222; 14.2580555556
Type	Castle
Site history
Built	Before 1134

The Burgruine Hardegg are castle ruins located near Zweikirchen, southwest of the main town of Liebenfels in Carinthia.

Story[]

The castle was a small Romanesque twin castle complex on a wooded hill north of the town of Zweikirchen. Nearby are the Burgruine Liebenfels, the Burgruine Gradenegg and the Burgruine Liemberg, which, together with Hardegg, are among the main castles of the castle ring that surrounds the ducal capital St. Veit surrounded.

Hardenegg was first mentioned in a document in 1134, when Mengotus de Hardeche et filius eius Gotpoldus was mentioned. His family died out in 1176 with Hertwig von Hardegg, a Ministerialn^{[disambiguation needed]} of the Duke of Carinthia. Seifried von Mahrenberg, a later owner of Hardegg, redeemed it from the bishop of Bamberg in 1264 as a donation for the construction of a Cistercian monastery. However, the construction of the monastery did not materialize because Seifried died soon after, but the castle remained in Bamberg until it was returned to the possession of the Carinthian dukes at the beginning of the 14th century. In 1346, it was bestowed by Duke Albrecht of Austria on Friedrich and Konrad von Auffenstein, followed by the Khevenhüller, and at the beginning of the 16th century the Leininger brothers were lords of the castle. In 1527 it came as a feud to the Carinthian mint master Hieronymus Puecher. This was followed by a rapid change of ownership, during which the castle fell into disrepair as early as the 17th century. The roof tax introduced in the 18th century may have accelerated the decline.

The area on which the ruins are located is now privately owned by a farmer. Entering the ruins is prohibited due to the acute danger of collapse and the constantly loosening stones.

Building description[]

Main Castle[]

The listed complex, which was last rebuilt and expanded in the Renaissance period, originally consisted of two mighty Romanesque towers, which over time were connected by residential buildings and formed a small courtyard with them. Thick-walled remains of the north-eastern tower have been preserved, the south-western one has collapsed. The tower square was already occupied in prehistoric times, as corresponding finds show. The forecourt with the drawbridge gate to the south of the castle can still be seen.

From the upper floors of the castle there is visual contact to all "Four Mountains" (Magdalensberg, Ulrichsberg, Veitsberg, Lorenziberg) as well as some fortifications (including Hohenstein Castle, Taggenbrunn Castle, Liemberg Castle.)

Watchtower and Chapel[]

On a hilltop with a rampart, almost 200 meters south of the main castle, there is a Romanesque round watchtower (drop tower) with a high entrance and the remains of a round chapel with a semicircular apse above a moat. During a restoration from 1978, late Gothic, ornamental mural fragments were uncovered here; but nothing can be seen of that anymore.

See also[]

• List of castles in Austria

Literature[]

• Dehio Carinthia 2001. Verlag Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X, p. 277 f.
• Siegfried Hartwagner: Carinthia. The district of St. Veit an der Glan (=Austrian art monograph, volume VIII). Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1977, ISBN 3-900173-22-2, p. 98.
• Hugo Henckel-Donnersmarck: castles and palaces in Carinthia. Publisher Joh. Leon Sr., Klagenfurt 1964.
• Franz Xaver Kohla, Gustav Adolf von Metnitz, Gotbert Moro: "Carinthian castles, first part - Carinthia's castles, palaces, residences and fortified sites". History Society for K