Old bishop's seat
Seggau Castle shines in all its Christmas splendor
Just in time for the festive season, the old seat of the Styrian chief shepherds is revealed in all its splendor after a "fresh cell treatment". Diocesan Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl takes the "Krone" on a tour of the renovated Seggau Castle and opens up the magnificent prince's room including the secret passageway.
As we leave the dense fog in the valley and the serpentines winding up the hill behind us, Seggau Castle, bathed in glistening light, rises up before us. The sky over southern Styria is clear, we breathe frosty air that the sun can barely warm. Involuntarily, we think of the old church superiors and their ingenious master builders, who knew centuries ago: This is the most beautiful place to build a bishop's seat for eternity.
But a time-honored building that has defied icy snowstorms, relentless heavy rain and wild gusts of wind since the Middle Ages and will still tower over Leibnitz in a thousand years' time needs to be kept in good shape. However, it had been so long since the last restoration of the historic upper castle that nothing useful could be found in the church chronicles.
The ravages of time were gnawing away at the old walls, resulting in crumbling cornices and plaster, rotten window frames, broken roof tiles and cracks in the masonry. As a result, the Graz-Seckau diocese decided to carry out a general renovation of the extensive complex this year - and just in time for the festive season, a big tick can be placed under the most urgent building work.
"Fresh cell treatment" for the time-honored walls
"The first of three construction phases has now been completed. By 2026, the clock tower in the courtyard, the 'Liesl' tower with the largest historic bell in Styria and parts of the old fortress walls will also be renovated," explains Director Andrea Kager-Schwar, taking us on a tour of the upper castle. Diocesan Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl, whose second apartment is a few rooms away from the provincial capital of Graz, is waiting at the arcade - the "fresh cell treatment" has clearly done it good. But how did it come about that the Styrian chief shepherds also had a residence in Seggau?
Secret door brought the bishop into the chapel unseen
Let's turn the clock back 1164 years. In 860, the archbishopric of Salzburg took over the area, and in the 12th century, the upper castle was built as a missionary and administrative bastion for the colonization of southern Styria. In 1218, Salzburg Archbishop Eberhard II founded the diocese of Seckau and made Seggau Castle the episcopal seat of the Styrian bishops (Seggau is derived from Seckau Abbey in Upper Styria). "As a so-called refectory, it used to be used to support the diocesan bishop," explains Kager-Schwar. It was not until 1786 that Graz became the main seat, and Seggau remained the bishop's summer residence until the 20th century.
When Bishop Krautwaschl opens the doors to the Prince's Rooms in the Upper Castle, once magnificent rooms for prince-bishops, we get an impression of the long history that this sacred building breathes: a seemingly endless gallery of paintings by his predecessors in the episcopal office adorns the baroque walls. In the middle is a secret door - for undiscovered access for the bishop and his guests to the gallery in the chapel in the upper castle.
Christmas message: "Fear not!"
The hotel and congress center, which also houses Seggau, is the end point of the "restoration journey". A decorated Christmas tree in the breakfast room puts guests in the mood for Christmas. "In view of the many crises, the Christmas message for me this year is 'Fear not', as the angel said to the shepherds in the field," emphasizes Krautwaschl. "Fear not, I am with you, trust in me, then come what may."
The bishop's second message is one of hope. "The great worries about jobs, a bad economic situation, war and terror: despite all these various crises, believers can persevere in critical situations if they look to God." From a global perspective, we are not doing badly, but an objective view does not help personal feelings.
"Despite everything, I would like to remind you: let's look at the big picture. The auxiliary bishop of Lviv in Ukraine, for example, sends me pictures of life in war every few weeks. I can live and not just survive if I have hope, pass it on and tell people about it," says Krautwaschl.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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