Schloss Lengberg

LENGBERG CASTLE The mighty Lengberg Castle watches over Nikolsdorf from a slight elevation. It is said to have existed in a smaller form as early as the 11th century under the Eppensteiner family. Either through purchase or inheritance, the complex – as well as Rabenstein Castle in Virgental – came into the possession of the Lords of Lechsgemünd, an old Swabian noble family whose ancestral seat was at the confluence of the Lech and the Danube. In the 13th century, both castles were sold by the same owner family to Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg. Romanesque building with a 2.20 meter thick curtain wall From a building history perspective, the castle at that time was a trapezoidal, Romanesque building, consisting of a two-story palas with a 2.20 meter thick curtain wall. The Archbishop kept the castle until Napoleon's invasion in 1805 when the area became part of Carinthia. It was not until 1916 that Lengberg Castle was awarded to the state of Tyrol. Today, the castle is used as a training center for social youth work. Playing cards, coins and medieval underwear During a renovation in 2008, numerous coins, playing cards, tools made of various materials, glasses, imported ceramics, clothing and bags, weapon parts, wax tablets, leather shoes, documents on paper, a one-hand flute, as well as bras, underwear and a pair of underpants were discovered. All small finds are dated to the period between the 14th and 18th centuries AD. The textiles are of particular scientific interest. The entire textile find consists of a total of more than 2,700 individual fabric fragments. An initial review of the material revealed a wealth of different textile forms, including several almost completely preserved garments and fragments of linen linings with sparse remnants of the former wool clothes. The scientific value lies primarily in the fact that extremely few and hardly completely preserved textile pieces exist that would allow conclusions about medieval clothing. The well-preserved finds from Lengberg Castle are therefore all the more spectacular. Opening hours: School operations, the inner courtyard can only be visited by prior arrangement. Outdoor area always accessible.