Schloss Stainz
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Schloss Stainz is a former
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in
Stainz Stainz () is a municipality in the district of Deutschlandsberg in the Austrian state of Styria. A notable building there is Schloss Stainz, a former monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters a ...
, located in the
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n state of
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
. Today, the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
complex belongs to the Counts of Meran and hosts two museum collections from the Universal Museum Joanneum. __TOC__


History

Stainz Priory () was a monastery founded by the
Augustinian Canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religio ...
in 1229, when Leutold I von Wildon,
lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
of Stainz, allowed a small church with a monastery attached to be established on the mountain where his castle stood. The monastery was settled by
canons regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...
from Seckau Priory. The priory experienced its heyday during the early 16th century under provost Jakob Roselenz (1596–1629), under whom the community was reorganised and the church, previously neglected, was enlarged. The interior was later refurbished in the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style, with extensive
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
decoration. The church
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
counts among the largest and most melodious in Styria and was restored in 1980. The monastery was dissolved in 1785 as part of the rationalist reforms of the
Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...
. The church however remained in use. In 1840,
Archduke Johann Archduke John of Austria (, ; (or simply ''Nadvojvoda Janez''); 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverweser'') of the short-lived German Emp ...
, son of
Emperor Leopold II Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tusca ...
and an avid hunter, purchased the building complex from the town for the sum of 40,000
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...
s for use as a hunting lodge, known thereafter as
Schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...
Stainz. Since his death in 1859, it has remained in the family estate of his descendants, the Counts of Meran.


Present day

Today, besides offering gardens and rooms to rent for engagements, the castle houses two collections from the Universal Museum Joanneum. On 16 September 2006, the ''Steirisches Jagdmuseum'' ("Styrian Hunting Museum") was opened. The interdisciplinary approach of this collection combines contemporary technology with historic equipment, weapons and specimens to explore the historical, sociological and anthropological, as well as the philosophical and ethical, phenomena of the human practice of hunting, in addition to wildlife ecology. In 2009, the ''Landwirtschaftsmuseum'' ("Museum of Agriculture and Forestry") also opened, displaying collections of rural Styrian
folk culture Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes mat ...
. The main focus of the exhibition is on the agricultural implements and the household effects of the Styrian countryside from the
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
to the present. The exhibition displays objects related to the different branches of agriculture and husbandry, and it offers a fitting companion to the Hunting Museum. In addition to the two permanent exhibitions of the Joanneum, areas of the castle, for example the courtyard, the cellar, the arcades and the terrace, are also rented out for private events.


External links

*
Schloss Stainz

Joanneum Museum of Hunting

Joanneum Museum of Agriculture and Forestry
{{Authority control Palaces in Austria Museums in Styria Hunting museums Agriculture museums in Austria History museums in Austria Hunting in Austria