Burg Klingenstein, Styria

About

The ruins of Burg Klingenstein, also known as Burg Salla and in literature partly under the double name "Burg Klingenstein/Salla", are located west of the village of Salla in the market town of Maria Lankowitz in Western Styria. First named Klingenstein in 1834, the castle was built to protect the trade route from Voitsberg over the Gaberl to the upper Murtal. Its history can only be reconstructed incompletely due to a lack of written sources. Structural details, such as the masonry and the design of the embrasures, suggest that it was probably built in the second half of the 15th century, which is quite late compared to other Austrian castles. The Counts of Montfort, who ruled over the nearby village of Salla at the time, could have been the builders. From the 16th century at the latest, the castle was owned by the noble family Saurau and subsequently also by the Glojacher. The castle was probably destroyed by fire in the 16th century and never rebuilt. From 1982/1983, the ruins were rebuilt by the former mayor of the former municipality of Salla, although some of these rebuilds were new constructions and are controversial among researchers. Three archaeological excavations have also...

The castle is located in the north-western part of the market town of Maria Lankowitz, in the western part of the cadastral municipality of Salla. It lies around 900 meters west-southwest of the village of Salla on a narrow, wooded mountain ridge that slopes steeply to the north, east and south and is particularly rocky to the south. This is the last spur of a ridge branching off to the southeast and bending to the east from the Ofnerkogel, a peak in the Stubalpe mountain range, which rises around 150 meters above the Sallabach valley. It is bordered to the south by the Sallabach stream and to the north and east by the Lederwinkelbach stream.

In the past, access to the castle was probably from the west via a connection to the hinterland, which was protected by a ditch carved into the rock. Today's access road is a forest path that branches off in an easterly direction from Gaberl Straße (B 77) at the bend known as "Schlosskehre" or "Schlossreihe". (B 77) branches off. However, it is unclear whether the old trade route over the Gaberl had a similar course to the modern road in the Middle Ages and in the early modern era. However, there was probably another, more direct access route that led from the village of Salla over the northern slope of the castle hill. The historian Robert Baravalle located a path on the eastern slope, without going into more detail about its exact course. However, the location of the outworks to the west of the core castle suggests that the last part of the access was definitely from the west.

The Hofbauer farm mentioned in 1659 and the Gregorbauer farm, whose origins probably date back to the Middle Ages, could go back to former farm buildings of the castle.

Unclear early history and construction period

There are hardly any sources, especially about the origins and early history of the castle, so that many historians have made various assumptions about this. The area in which the later castle was built came to the Eppensteins through a gift from Emperor Ottos III. The area was probably settled in the 11th or 12th century. The village of Salla probably emerged in the 12th century at the latest and was first mentioned in a document in 1213. Robert Baravalle assumed that the Eppensteins gave the area to their servants, the Lords of Wildon, and that it eventually passed from them to the Lords of Walsee. The historian Herwig Ebner, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the later castle site was part of a foundation of the Eppensteins to the St. Lambert's Abbey documented in 1103. Due to a lack of historical sources, it is not possible to prove whether either assumption is true.

Both Baravalle and Ebner saw the remains of an early castle complex from the 13th century in the parts of the wall to the west of the core castle. However, such a complex cannot be found in any historical source and could not be proven by archaeological excavations. The historian Anton Mell placed the construction of the castle in the Late Middle Ages and considered the Stadecks or the Counts of Montfort to be the most likely builders. He also considered construction by the Saurau, who owned the castle in the early modern period, to be possible, but rather unlikely. It is difficult to precisely date the construction of the castle due to a lack of sources. The surviving embrasures, which with two exceptions were clearly designed for firearms, provide a decisive indication of the construction period. In addition, there are no traces of any subsequent changes to the shape of the embrasures. As firearms did not appear in Central Europe until the 1420s and 1430s, it can be concluded that the castle was built at this time at the earliest, if not later, which would be a relatively late construction by Austrian standards. If the embrasures do indeed date from the construction period, then the Counts of Montfort are the most likely builders, as they inherited the area around Salla from the Stadeckers at the beginning of the 15th century. A Montfort land register from around 1420 lists possessions near Salla and also mentions that the counts had lower jurisdiction in this area, but does not mention any fortification or castle.

From the 15th century, decay and subsequent owners

The fortification was intended to secure the so-called Reisstraße, the passage over the Gaberl, and possibly also ore deposits discovered nearby, but was probably of little military value. It is not entirely clear who succeeded the Counts of Montfort in ownership of the castle. In 1961, Baravalle assumed a handover to the Gradner family, while in more recent literature, the Herberstein family are seen as the main successors. In the 16th century at the latest, however, the fortification came into the possession of the Lobminger line of the noble family Saurau. The historian Anton Mell assumed that Klingenstein was already in the possession of Erasmus von Saurau, who died in 1532. However, it can only be confirmed with certainty that Gilg von Saurau, the son of Erasmus, was the owner from 1550. The castle remained in the possession of the Saurau family for a long time, for example it is mentioned in documents of Ehrenreich von Saurau, who died in 1618, as Schloss Salla. Emerich von Saurau eventually bequeathed it to his sister Christine, who was married to Ehrenreich von Rindscheit. When Christine's daughter Maria Magdalena married Ruprecht von Glojach, she brought the fortress into the marriage as a morning gift.

As both were avowed Protestants, they had to leave Styria and sold their property in the Salle together with the castle known as the öden gschloß im Khanachtal in der pfar Salath to their aunt Benigna, the wife of Veit Sigmund von Herberstein, in 1629. Another brief mention of the castle, which was presumably no longer inhabited at this time and left to decay, was made in 1638. The archaeological excavations carried out to date have also not produced any finds that can be clearly dated to a time after the 16th century. The finds made during these excavations, such as thicker layers of charcoal and the signs of greater heat exposure to building stones, also allow the assumption that the castle was destroyed by fire during the 16th century or even later.

In 1650, Klingenstein and the surrounding forests passed from the Herberstein family to Leonore Eusebia Countess Wagensperg, who combined it with her Herrschaft Greißenegg. In the following period, there are hardly any written sources that mention the castle, and the ownership structure also remains unknown. On the maps of the Josephinische Landesaufnahme from 1787, the castle is referred to as altes Gschloss. One of the oldest known depictions of the castle is in the background of a painting of St. Barbara in the parish church of Salla created at the end of the 18th century. There is also a pencil drawing from 1894 showing the ruins in detail. In 1834, the name Klingenstein was first mentioned in a document as the name of the castle. Its exact origin is unclear, but the part of the name Klinge- appears as early as 1586 as a place name for a sawyer an der Klingensag in the area around Salla.

It was not until the 19th century that the Grein family of stonemasons from Graz appeared as the new owners of the ruins. The first detailed description of the castle ruins dates back to 1925 by the historian Anton Mell. Since the 20th century, it has been privately owned by the Petrasch family from Graz. From 1982/1983, the ruins were secured and largely rebuilt for 25 years by Hubert Stiefmann, who was mayor of the municipality of Salla from 1980 to 1995, although this securing and restoration work has recently also taken the form of new buildings and is therefore controversial among castle researchers.

A total of three smaller archaeological excavations have been carried out on the castle grounds to date. The archaeologist Bernhard Hebert and the historian Ernst Reinhold Lasnik were in charge of all these excavations, some of which were carried out by untrained volunteers such as schoolchildren. The first excavation took place in 1993 as part of a school project and in five days the western building of the Vorwerk was uncovered and its walls secured and renovated. In 1994, the Bundesdenkmalamt carried out a five-day excavation in the core castle, which was only partially excavated. This excavation in the core castle was continued for two days in 2000, during which finds were also made that indicate a possible fire in the castle. Because an elaborate layered excavation was dispensed with during the excavations, an exact separation of finds is no longer possible despite the excavation diaries being kept.

In the summer of 2013, the municipality of Salla laid an electricity cable to the castle hill to illuminate the ruins at night. There are plans to use the castle as a venue for events such as choir concerts.

There are hardly any sources, especially about the origins and early history of the castle, so that many historians have made various assumptions about this. The area in which the later castle was built came to the Eppensteins through a gift from Emperor Ottos III. The area was probably settled in the 11th or 12th century. The village of Salla probably emerged in the 12th century at the latest and was first mentioned in a document in 1213. Robert Baravalle assumed that the Eppensteins gave the area to their servants, the Lords of Wildon, and that it eventually passed from them to the Lords of Walsee. The historian Herwig Ebner, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the later castle site was part of a foundation of the Eppensteins to the St. Lambert's Abbey documented in 1103. Due to a lack of historical sources, it is not possible to prove whether either assumption is true.

Both Baravalle and Ebner saw the remains of an early castle complex from the 13th century in the parts of the wall to the west of the core castle. However, such a complex cannot be found in any historical source and could not be proven by archaeological excavations. The historian Anton Mell placed the construction of the castle in the Late Middle Ages and considered the Stadecks or the Counts of Montfort to be the most likely builders. He also considered construction by the Saurau, who owned the castle in the early modern period, to be possible, but rather unlikely. It is difficult to precisely date the construction of the castle due to a lack of sources. The surviving embrasures, which with two exceptions were clearly designed for firearms, provide a decisive indication of the construction period. In addition, there are no traces of any subsequent changes to the shape of the embrasures. As firearms did not appear in Central Europe until the 1420s and 1430s, it can be concluded that the castle was built at this time at the earliest, if not later, which would be a relatively late construction by Austrian standards. If the embrasures do indeed date from the construction period, then the Counts of Montfort are the most likely builders, as they inherited the area around Salla from the Stadeckers at the beginning of the 15th century. A Montfort land register from around 1420 lists possessions near Salla and also mentions that the counts had lower jurisdiction in this area, but does not mention any fortification or castle.

The fortification was intended to secure the so-called Reisstraße, the passage over the Gaberl, and possibly also ore deposits discovered nearby, but was probably of little military value. It is not entirely clear who succeeded the Counts of Montfort in ownership of the castle. In 1961, Baravalle assumed a handover to the Gradner family, while in more recent literature, the Herberstein family are seen as the main successors. In the 16th century at the latest, however, the fortification came into the possession of the Lobminger line of the noble family Saurau. The historian Anton Mell assumed that Klingenstein was already in the possession of Erasmus von Saurau, who died in 1532. However, it can only be confirmed with certainty that Gilg von Saurau, the son of Erasmus, was the owner from 1550. The castle remained in the possession of the Saurau family for a long time, for example it is mentioned in documents of Ehrenreich von Saurau, who died in 1618, as Schloss Salla. Emerich von Saurau eventually bequeathed it to his sister Christine, who was married to Ehrenreich von Rindscheit. When Christine's daughter Maria Magdalena married Ruprecht von Glojach, she brought the fortress into the marriage as a morning gift.

As both were avowed Protestants, they had to leave Styria and sold their property in the Salle together with the castle known as the öden gschloß im Khanachtal in der pfar Salath to their aunt Benigna, the wife of Veit Sigmund von Herberstein, in 1629. Another brief mention of the castle, which was presumably no longer inhabited at this time and left to decay, was made in 1638. The archaeological excavations carried out to date have also not produced any finds that can be clearly dated to a time after the 16th century. The finds made during these excavations, such as thicker layers of charcoal and the signs of greater heat exposure to building stones, also allow the assumption that the castle was destroyed by fire during the 16th century or even later.

In 1650, Klingenstein and the surrounding forests passed from the Herberstein family to Leonore Eusebia Countess Wagensperg, who combined it with her Herrschaft Greißenegg. In the following period, there are hardly any written sources that mention the castle, and the ownership structure also remains unknown. On the maps of the Josephinische Landesaufnahme from 1787, the castle is referred to as altes Gschloss. One of the oldest known depictions of the castle is in the background of a painting of St. Barbara in the parish church of Salla created at the end of the 18th century. There is also a pencil drawing from 1894 showing the ruins in detail. In 1834, the name Klingenstein was first mentioned in a document as the name of the castle. Its exact origin is unclear, but the part of the name Klinge- appears as early as 1586 as a place name for a sawyer an der Klingensag in the area around Salla.

It was not until the 19th century that the Grein family of stonemasons from Graz appeared as the new owners of the ruins. The first detailed description of the castle ruins dates back to 1925 by the historian Anton Mell. Since the 20th century, it has been privately owned by the Petrasch family from Graz. From 1982/1983, the ruins were secured and largely rebuilt for 25 years by Hubert Stiefmann, who was mayor of the municipality of Salla from 1980 to 1995, although this securing and restoration work has recently also taken the form of new buildings and is therefore controversial among castle researchers.