The ruins of the Mühlbacher Klause

The ruins of the Mühlbacher Klause (Italian Chiusa di Rio di Pusteria) is a roughly rectangular barrier with a fortified gate in the west (Mühlbacher Tor) and in the east (Vintler Tor) of the complex.

Position

The Klause is located in Mühlbach (South Tyrol, Italy), a few kilometers north of Brixen at the transition from the Eisacktal to the Pustertal. According to some regional definitions, the complex is understood as the border point of the two valleys.

History and predecessors

The older, no longer preserved Mühlbacher Klause (also called "Haslacher Klause") was first mentioned in 1269 and was built by the brothers Meinhard (later Meinhard II von Tirol) and Albert von Görz, while the younger one (about 200 m further east of the older one) was built around 1460 by Duke Sigismund of Tyrol. Both marked the state border between Tyrol and Gorizia until 1500. Only with the death of the last Count of Goriziaended this function. The hermitage continued to be used as a fortress and roadblock or customs post. The country road led through the inner courtyard of the castle complex, where tolls had to be paid. The customs station was important because it was where the medieval tolls from travelers from Treviso and Venice were collected. The hermitage was not only a difficult obstacle to avoid for carts and wagons, but also for pedestrians, especially since a barrier wall, which can still be seen today, stretched up the mountain.

The Mühlbacher Klause is more than just a customs station and saw many a battle. The hermitage was besieged in vain during the peasant wars of 1526. The barrier was badly damaged in battles in 1703 (War of Spanish Succession) and 1809 (Tyrol uprising against the Bavarian occupation) and was not rebuilt. Instead, it was subsequently sold to the citizens of Mühlbach and used as a "quarry". However, since mainly the inner components were removed, the hermitage is still quite impressive from the outside today. However, the hermitage was never demolished, even if it often tended to hinder the heavy traffic into the Pustertal, because the state road led through the hermitage.

Attempts to renew the hermitage repeatedly failed due to its relative insignificance, since it had been in the middle of the state of Tyrol since 1500. Only the construction of a new road and its relocation outside the walls of the complex or the commitment of some Mühlbacher led to the fact that from 1978 the hermitage was restored.

In Roman times it can be assumed that there was an Augustan roadblock here on the arm of the Via Julia Augusta leading from Aquileia via castrum Ursen (Irschen) to Veldidena (Wilten near Innsbruck) in order to control the road connection from friendly Noricum to enemy Raetia. The barrier wall lost its function, like that in Aguntum, after the Roman conquest of Raetia and its incorporation into the Roman Empire in 15 BC. Chr.

Attachment

It is divided into an upper, more fortified, and a lower, formerly inhabited, cultivated part. In the upper part only the left round tower is preserved. The one on the right was destroyed during the construction of the Pustertal railway line, as was the barrier wall outside the facility. In the lower part, the parterre of the customs building has been preserved, where the smithy and stables were located. On the left is the so-called Kaiserturm. It is so called because Emperor Maximilian I is said to have stayed here on his hunting trips. The remains of a chapel (dedicated to the Trinity) and a number stone can be found on the road leading through the complex.

See also

List of castles and palaces

literature

Waltraud Kofler-Engl , South Tyrolean Office for Architectural and Art Monuments (ed.): The Mühlbacher Hermitage: History, Archaeology, Restoration . Athesia, Bolzano 2009, ISBN 978-88-8266-617-0

Peter A. Larcher: Sigmund the rich in coins Mühlbacher Klause in Tyrol: construction and history of a monument of the art of fortification from the early days of firearms. A monographic representation with integral consideration of the Meinhardin predecessor building of the 13th century and the peculiarity of both systems as a sovereign customs house as well as d. early history d. locality. Dissertation, Innsbruck 1989

Astrid von Schlachta: Mühlbacher Klause. In: Magdalena Hörmann-Weingartner (ed.): Tiroler Burgenbuch. IX. Band: Val Pusteria. Verlagsanstalt Athesia, Bolzano 2003, ISBN 978-88-8266-163-2 , pp. 43-52.

web links

Commons: Mühlbacher Klause-Collection of images, videos and audio files

Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Provincial Monuments Office

The Mühlbacher Klause on burgenwelt.de

The Mühlbacher Klause on the castle side of South Tyrol

Castles and palaces in South Tyrol

Afing | Aichach | Altenburg (Eppan) | Altenburg (Caldaro) | Altrasen | Andrian | Annenberg | Ashburg | Auer | Boymont | Brandis | Bronzolo | Braunsberg | Bruneck | Brunnenburg | Burgstall | Castelfeder | Churburg | Dornsberg | Drossturm | Ehrenburg | English | Enn | Eschenlohe | Fahlburg | Festenstein | Fischburg | Fragsburg | Freudenstein | Fröhlichsburg | Fuchsberg | Furstenburg | Gandegg | Gerstein | Goyen | gold rain | Greifenstein | Gruonsberg | Haderburg | on the Hanging Stone | Haselburg | Hauenstein | Helfenburg | Appiano | Hochgalsaun | Hochnaturns | Hofburg | in the wood | Jaufenburg | Johanneskofel | Juval | Kaldiff | Kampen | Carneid | Carnol | Kasach | Castelbello | Kastellatz (Mals) | Castellatz (Tramin) | Katzenstein | cat tongues | Kehlburg | adhesive stone | Knillenberg | basket | Kranzelstein | Kroll Tower | Labers | Laimburg | Lamprechtsburg | Princely Castle | Laces | Lebenberg | Leonburg | Light Castle | Lichtenberg | Liechtenstein | Corn | Marech | Mayenburg | Michelsburg | Montalban | Moss | Mühlbacher Klause | Neuhaus (Gais) | Neuhaus (Terlano) | Neurasen | Nobody's friend | upper mud | Upper Montani | Ortenstein | Payrsberg | Pfefferberg | Planta | Prösels | Rafenstein | Rametz | Reichenberg | tire egg | tire stone | Reinegg | Rendelstein | Ried | Rodenegg | Rosenstein | Rottenstein | rotunda | Ruby | Rundegg | Runkelstein | Salegg | Salern | Schenkenberg | Scena | Schlandersberg | Schoeneck | Sigmundskron | Sonnenburg | speaking stone | Stachlburg | Stein am Renon | Steinegg | Stetteneck | Strassberg | Summersberg | Campo Tures | Thurn (St. Martin) | Thurn (Taisten) | Thurnstein | Tinzl Tower | Tyrol | Trauttmansdorff | faithful stone | Trostburg | Tschenglsberg | Tschenglsburg | underslush | Lower Montani | Uttenheim | Velseck | Velturno | Vintl | Voitsberg | Vorst | Walbenstein | Wangen-Bellermont | Warth | fortified castle | Weineck | Welfenstein | Welsperg | Werrenberg | Angle | Wolfsthurn (Andrian) | Wolfsthurn (Ratschings) | Selva | Zenoburg | Zwingenburg | force stone Burgen, Schlösser, Ruinen und historische Anlagen : Marcin Kosala