The motte “Katzelwehr” at Gleinstätten – a special type of castle.
The so-called Katzelwehr is a particularly interesting archaeological monument in the cadastral commune of Maierhof. This is because it is a classic motte – a medieval fortification with an earthen mound artificially raised in the plains. This is a rarity in Styria, where comparable small fortifications were otherwise mostly adapted to the natural height formations or formed out of them. First mentioned in the 12th century, the Katzelwehr was probably abandoned as early as the 14th century. The name is derived from the Salzburg ministerial dynasty of Kelzen.
The so-called Katzelwehr in the cadastral commune of Mayerhof is a small medieval fortification that corresponds to the motte type of castle. The term motte comes from the French and means something like “heap of earth,” “earth sod” or “lump.” The main characteristic of a motte is a mound, which is heaped up in the plains or formed from the terrain in areas with natural heights. The castle hill is connected to either a likewise fortified outer castle with farm and residential buildings or, as in the case of the Katzelwehr, a nearby Meierhof, from which the castle was maintained and supplied in peaceful times. On the hill there was usually a representative tower or a fixed building, which was closely surrounded by a palisade or wall. The buildings were made of stone or wood.
The remains of the Katzelwehr
The motte Katzelwehr is located in the middle of the now drained alluvial landscape of the Sulm river, at the mouth of the St. Andrä creek into the Sulm, south of the village of Maierhof. It is still recognizable today as a rectangular truncated pyramid (base area: approx. 50 by 39 m, including erosion material; crown area: approx. 15 by 18 m), which rises about 3.50 m from the Sulm river valley floor. The hill is clearly sloped on all sides and is surrounded by a ditch, which is today for the most part strongly flattened and about 4 to 6 m wide. On the eastern side, a small remnant of a former rampart (max. height: 1 m, previous width probably about 5 m) is preserved. Originally, the mound was probably surrounded by two ditches, between which the rampart was located. The outer edge of the mound plateau is also surrounded by a wall (max. height: 0.75 m), which has been flattened considerably; it is probably the remains of a masonry ring. Probably a rectangular tower once stood on the mound plateau, which – as indicated by stone and mortar remains – had at least a brick basement, but was otherwise built of wood.
The Kelzen in Maierhof
In 1940 Otto Lamprecht was able to prove that the Katzelwehr was a high medieval manor house, to which a rural hamlet was assigned in the immediate vicinity (probably at the foot of today’s Kamperkogel hill). The Katzelwehr was therefore the noble seat of the settlement named after Kelzenwert castle. The settlement owes its name to the ministerial family of Kelzen from Salzburg. The Katzelwehr was first mentioned in a document in 1168, when the priest Konrad of St. Florian an der Lassnitz received the village of St. Andrä im Sausal (“Suscintellrn”) from Archbishop Adalbert II of Salzburg in an exchange deal. In the document, the Katzelwehr is referred to as “Warth” (“colliculus qui dicitur Warth”) in the course of a border description. Together with the fortress Entrich, which is located at the neighboring Kamperkogel hill and appears in historical sources only in 1312, it was the Katzelwehr’s task to secure and monitor the Sulm river valley at this narrow point. However, the fortress was presumably abandoned in the 14th century; at least it no longer appears in any historical sources. The associated peasant settlement existed until the first half of the 16th century.
Etymological facts
The name “Katzelwehr” is a folk etymological modification of the historical name “Chelchzenwerd,” which refers to the ministerial family of Kelzen. The Kelzen, as the burgraves of the sovereign, probably sat on this motte since the 12th century and performed military duties as servants of the respective owners (Wallseers, Pettauers). The Kelzen can be traced in Styria until the 15th century, in the 16th century they appear to have died out.
The basic word “wert” is already a reinterpretation of the original word “wart/warth” (in the sense of a scout post) into the German term “wert”, which means island. Obviously, the original meaning of the name was no longer understood, and the naming referred to the fact that the hill protruded from the Sulm river like an island in high water.
After the Kelzen
After the Katzelwehr had disappeared, the Kelzen built a new seat above the flood plain, probably near the present village of Maierhof. It was probably the former Meierhof zur Katzelwehr, which at that time was developed into a noble seat. Already in 1394 Reinhard der Kelz called himself “zu Mayerhofen.” After the Kelzens died out, the Meierhof experienced a varied history of ownership. It finally developed into today’s street village of Maierhof by breaking and dividing up.
Text: Mag. Dr. Christoph Gutjahr
