Bled castle

---

Bled castle

The castle's history dates back to 1004 when the German king Henry II conferred the estate of Bled on Bishop Albuin of Brixen. The first castle was built by the bishops around 1011 for defensive purposes. The bishops of Brixen never lived in the castle so there were no elaborately decorated rooms.

In the Middle Ages additional towers were built and the fortification system with the wall and lifting tower above the ditch were upgraded. The ditch has now been covered.

In 1511, the castle was strongly damaged by an earthquake, but it was rebuilt in the image as it is today. The castle buildings are decorated with the images of coats-of-arms, painted in fresco technique, some are engraved in stone.

The castle was restored in the period from 1951 to 1961.

The castle's printing works contains a replica Gutenberg wooden press which was demonstrated for us.

Whilst under the ownership of the Diocese of Brixen, the Bled estate was managed by ministeriales, (people raised up from serfdom to be placed in positons of power and responsibility), castle keepers, or governors of the castle and its lands, castellans. Later, the Bishops of Brixen leased out their land. One of the leaseholders was Herbard Auersperg of Turjak, who had made a name for himself through his heroism fighting the Turks. Under Auersperg, the castle became a stronghold of Protestantism and, in 1561, it was visited by the leader of the Slovenian Protestant movement, Primož Trubar, the author of the first two books written in Slovene, Katekizem, or Catechismus, and Abecedarij, Abecedary. Both books were printed on Gutenberg's old printing presses in Tübingen in 1550.

A special room above the printing works is dedicated to the life and work of Primož Trubar, and his importance for the development of standard Slovene.

The castle chapel

The upper courtyard is dominated by a stunning, 16th century, Baroque chapel, which we entered, a sacred space adorned with Barowue frescoes. The chapel is dedicated to the patrons of the Diocese of Brixen in Tyrol, St Albuin and St Ingenuin.

After the second major earthquake, which nearly destroyed Bled Castle in 1960, the chapel was increased in height and Baroque vaults were added. In this time, or slightly later, the chapel was also adorned with frescoes. The fresco on the northern wall depicts German Emperor and King Henry II, who ceded ownership of the Bled estate to Bishop Albuin of Brixen on 10 April 1004, and his wife Kunigunde is painted on the southern wall of the chapel.

The views across and down onto Lake Bled were magnificent.

http://www.heygo.com

---