School
CastleGraz-Straßgang
St. Martin Castle
St. Martin Castle is a castle in the Straßgang district of Graz. It stands on a southeastern spur of the Buchkogel.
St. Martin is documented as early as the first half of the 11th century as property of the Aribonids. Since 1144, the castle and the church have been documented as a provostry of Admont Abbey, with parts of the estate having been donated to the abbey as early as 1072. In 1557, it was converted into a Renaissance castle. In 1638, a further renovation of the castle was carried out under the master builder Peter Fasoll. The interior decoration of the separately standing castle church from 1738–1740 is one of Joseph Stammel's main works. In the 19th century, the extensive park "Bei den Weihern" (documented as "ad Wiarn" since 1185) around the source of the Bründlbach stream belonged to the castle, which was designed with numerous ponds, avenues, and grottoes. Since 1914, the building has been used as an adult education center. Until 1936, the castle belonged to Admont Abbey and has since been owned by the State of Styria.
The castle is a square, two-story building with an arcaded courtyard. At each of the building's corners, there is a square tower. Remains of the former moat systems can still be found today.
St. Martin Castle Church+
The church foundation of St. Martin is probably the oldest documented church in Graz. A first sacred building is presumed as early as the 9th or 10th century, and the church is first mentioned in 1055. Ownership changed from the Aribonids to the Archdiocese of Salzburg and finally to the Benedictine Admont Abbey, which commissioned the construction of the existing church in 1642. The sculptor Josef Stammel was commissioned to design the high altar in Baroque style. The otherwise simple building is dominated by this work of art. The side altars are dedicated to the Holy Family and Saint Barbara.
Inside the church, on the right side, there is a very remarkable bronze statue of Mary with the infant Jesus created by the sculptor Alexander Silveri. On the outside of the church door, there are four remarkable bronze reliefs (created according to designs by Silveri).
The castle church houses a historic organ, built in 1759 by the organ builder Caspar Mitterreither. The instrument has 6 stops on one manual (C–c3: Coppel 8', Principal 4', Flöte 4', Octav 2', Quint 11/3', Mixtur II 1'). The lowest octave is designed as a short octave.
Today, the church, which was long a private church, belongs to the main parish of Graz-Straßgang in the deanery of Graz-West of the City Church of Graz.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Austria_Styria_Graz_StMartin_20070901.jpg
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 47.0353, 15.3900