Restoration against oblivion.
1932 was supposed to be the final end. After all the attacks, wars and historical events that had taken place at Reichenau Castle. The abandonment to decay was to seal the history of the castle. But perhaps at the very last moment the tide turned ...
The chronicle of Reichenau Castle begins in the 14th century. It was built in 1310 or 1315, at any rate before 1397 - because a bill of sale still testifies to the handover. It doesn't take much imagination at all to picure what must have happened inside (and outside) the old walls. There were wars, fires, changing owners and changing rulers. How often did the unfree peasants make pilgrimages to the castle hill to pay their taxes - their tithe?
Last chance for preservation
At the turn of the millennium, not much was left of these adventures. The roofs of the castle had collapsed, the walls had largely fallen into disrepair, the frost had blown some of it away, the wind had carried much of it away. After the last keeper had left, the castle was left to its own devices. Time was pressing, so that the historical past would not completely disintegrate. Josef Rechberger, the mayor of Reichenau, who passed too soon, also saw this and was instrumental in saving the castle ruins. In 2004, our office was commissioned to carry out and coordinate the previously decided restoration measures and to start a step-by-step revitalization process, which has accompanied us to this day.
Middle Ages meets 21st century
Now to the architecture. We have carefully carried out the first, urgently needed conservation work without cutting wounds into the old masonry. For almost 700 years now, the architectural history of Reichenau Castle has been subject to constant change. Our revitalization and adaptation adds another building block. However, the new elements deliberately speak the material and formal language of the 21st century.
We did not want to deny the resumption of history with a break of almost 100 years, without the eras competing with each other. New structures were inserted in connection with the existing ones - some of them even reversible. Nevertheless, with the background: "It should be possible to let grow from the old walls, something new!"
In several stages, a significant improvement in quality was created for the theater and cultural operations as well as for the tourist use of the castle ruins. New, modern and handicapped accessible toilet facilities were built. The outer walls of the south-east wing, which were threatened by decay, were secured with a surrounding concrete ring. In addition to its static function, this also serves as a support for a future temporary stage roof. There was already a roof here in the Middle Ages - and the original feeling of space could thus be experienced again.
The remains of the keep were in such bad shape that the area had to be closed off. We secured it statically and rebuilt the wall closure - this method is known from many renovations of old, free-standing masonry, such as the Colosseum in Rome.
The culture of repair
In the course of dealing with the building structures, we dove deeper and deeper into the history of the castle. Basically, very typical for our office. But especially in the case of the Reichenau Castle Ruins project, we quickly realized that we wanted to preserve not only the old walls, but also the ancient knowledge and significance of the castle for the history of the region. We researched in the regional archives, in the regional museum, ask ourselves through, led discussions with contemporary witnesses and descendants of inhabitants of the castle. We not only incorporated the knowledge gained from this meticulous examination into our work - we also used it to create a book. The 162-page work is entitled "Burgruine Reichenau" and can be purchased from the municipality or the tourist office. (The proceeds will be used entirely for the restoration work).
