Burgstall Steinbach

Burgstall Steinbach stands on a small terrace above the Steinbach stream in Schwabegg, a village in the municipality of St. Georgen bei Grieskirchen in Upper Austria. The site rises about twenty metres above the stream bed on a steep slope. A deep, narrow ditch cut into the rock once defended the main hilltop, now partly filled and dry. A second ditch surrounded the lower bailey, though its eastern rampart has long since been levelled. The main enclosure measures roughly twenty-five by thirty metres, an oval shape typical of early medieval fortifications. The site was home to the high-born Steinbach family in the 12th century. Alram and his sister Richezza appear in records from about 1158. After Richezza married Gundacker of Steier the castle passed to his line, which later became the Starhembergs. In 1171 Duke Henry II of Austria besieged and destroyed the fortress during war with the Styrian margrave Otakar IV. A chronicle simply notes that the duke ‘destroyed Steinbach castle’. Partial rebuilding followed, but by the early 13th century the family had moved to Starhemberg near Haag. A local official may have stayed on, for Helmhard of Steinbach witnessed charters here in 1185 and 1204. The ruined site is still called Geißschädel, or ‘goat’s skull’, after a folk tale in which defenders tricked besiegers by displaying a goat’s head on a pole. Today the hill shows clear traces of its defences. The main ditch remains deep and narrow, while the filled pond on the north side marks where the ditch once widened. Archaeologists found the stone foundations of a strong 12th-century castle, burnt down and never fully restored. Fragments of 12th-century pottery lay beneath the fire layer, while 14th-century tiles, nails, a lance head and a foot soldier’s gertel came from later layers. A small depression on the south-east edge may once have held a well. The name Pfleger survives in a nearby farm, the last reminder of the castle’s long vanished presence.