Gaberkirche: Surviving Chapel of Gaber Castle in Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Austria, Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Chapel
History
Gaberkirche is a ruined medieval chapel in Drosendorf-Zissersdorf, Austria, and the best-preserved surviving part of Gaber Castle, built around 1300 in Lower Austria near Luden. The castle was a motte-and-bailey fortification, a medieval stronghold formed by a raised mound and an adjoining enclosed yard. The chapel remains preserve the most substantial part of the former castle complex.
Gaber Castle was already described as deserted by the fifteenth century. As the chapel retained the most complete walls, the name Gaberkirche became established and was also adopted on maps. The site is additionally known as Burg Graber and, less commonly, Gaberwaldkirche. The chapel ruin is said to have served as a pilgrimage site known mainly within the surrounding region. It is protected as a listed monument in Austria.
Remains
The surviving structure consists chiefly of the former chapel, located in the Gaberwald area near Luden. Its nave, the main longitudinal space of a chapel, retains a partly preserved west wall and a completely surviving south wall, while the north wall survives only in its foundation. The west wall contains a segmental-arched doorway. In the south wall, a square stone-framed window stands alongside a narrow pointed-arched window. The recessed choir, the liturgical area at the eastern end, also had pointed-arched windows.
Inside the ruin, the springings of three grouped ribs remain. These are the points where ribs, projecting members of a vaulted ceiling, begin. The remains of the springing of the triumphal arch, which separated the choir from the nave, are also preserved. Together, these elements indicate the former interior arrangement and the chapel’s vaulted construction.
