The Felflitzerkeusche and its history
The history of the hamlet Aschbach on the Frankenberg above Rennweg am Katschberg begins in the Middle Ages. As early as the 12th century, a mighty castle stood here. The farmsteads have been inhabited since the 15th century. Since the early 1700s, the Felflitzerkeusche has been documented, in some sources also referred to as Wölflitzerkeusche.
The house, built in the typical single-farm style of the Katschtal (residential house and stable building under one roof), was probably originally constructed in the 13th or 14th century on the strategically important hill of Aspach (today Aschbach). At this site on the western slope of the Frankenberg, a fortified fort had already stood in ancient and medieval times to secure the mountain pass. The house is located on the still-preserved Roman road that leads over the Frankenberg and the Lausnitzsattel to Salzburg, and originally most likely belonged to Otto von Chaetz (pronounced Kaetsch), the namesake of the Katschtal, as the upper Liesertal is called here.
The name Aschbach comes from Aspach, “where aspens grow,” and indeed climate research provides evidence that in the 12th and 13th centuries, Central Europe was demonstrably a few degrees warmer, so that aspens (also called trembling poplars in popular speech) grew here at an altitude of 1,200 meters.
“Keuschen” were small estates, mostly built of wood and intended for younger children who did not inherit (“weichende Kinder”) or for retirees (“Auszügler”) from larger farms. In contrast to the more substantial “Huben” (stone or timber-built farms), they were significantly smaller in size and had less land and livestock. Since Keuschler could not live from their small property alone, they were usually also craftsmen, blacksmiths, weavers, miners, or carpenters.
The family of Chaetzer (Katscher) has been documented since 1123; they were owners of several estates in the Katschtal, including Rauchenkatsch Castle. Their second fortress, Castrum Chaetze superius (Oberkatsch Castle), has disappeared, but it likely stood in St. Peter or even on the western slope of the Frankenberg, the site of the former Roman fort. The castle must have been destroyed or burned down at some point; in any case, the building materials were reused in the stone farmhouses of the surrounding area.
On October 3, 1351, Otto der Chaetzer, a powerful vassal and feudal tenant of the archbishop, with the consent of his son Wilhelm, wrote his (still preserved) testament, in which he endowed the parish church of Chaetz (Katsch) and the church of St. Georgen, among other things, with five fields in Aspach, a small farm in the Chrembs (Kremsbach), and annual natural produce. He entrusted his son Wilhelm von Chaetz with his farm in Aspach along with the tithe, his cousin Liebhard with his house in St. Peter (held by the Chreutzer), and his cousin Wilhelm with another farm in Sumereck. From that time on, the owners of the Aschbach estate had to pay annual dues to the church.
According to the oldest church register (Urbar) of the Katschtal, as early as 1502 there were at least two documented dwellings in Aschbach, whose owners (named Genser and Aspacher) had to pay annual dues to the church in the form of natural produce (wheat, rye, oats, lambs, chickens), and probably also through compulsory labor. Around 1595, houses No. 1 and No. 2 were owned by two lines of the Aschbacher family. Presumably, though not documented, both lines had a common ancestor, after whom an inheritance division apparently took place between the two eldest sons, Christoff (Stoffbauer) and Martin (Mörtenbauer).
While the name Aspacher or Aschbacher (first names Sebastian, Adam, Christophorus, Johannes, Josef, Georg, Peter, etc.) can be continuously traced on house No. 1 since the early 1500s, house No. 2 Mörtenbauer (in 1598 still Georg Aspacher) passed to the Rauter family after the marriage of Maria Aspacher to Christian Rauter in 1641, remaining with them for more than 250 years or eight generations (Rauter first names: Martin, Andreas, Josef, Johann, etc.), and later to the Ramsbachers, a widely spread family clan in the area.
The Felflitzerkeusche also emerged at some point from such a division of farms. The first documented owner of the Felflitzerkeusche in Aschbach was Georgius Planckh. He is believed to have built the single-farmstead in its present log-house form around 1700. His daughter Elisabeth (b. 1732) took over the property after her marriage to Melchior Frankenberger in 1757. Melchior came from the Wastlbauer farm on the Frankenberg above the hamlet of Aschbach and became the successor of his father-in-law on the Keusche, which at that time was in service to the Marianum Collegium of Count von Lodron in Salzburg.
The Frankenbergers lived in the house, with interruptions, for more than two centuries until 1992, as Keuschler, blacksmiths, and merchants, and in the last century also as retirees from the Hansbauer farm on the Atzensberg. The last of them – Georg Frankenberger – remained childless in the eighth generation.
A listed building
According to the decision of the Monument Authority, the Felflitzerkeusche is a cross-divided single-farmstead from the 18th century. The extension on the valley side dates back to 1798. During a survey of Carinthia’s rural architecture, the house was placed under monument protection in 1992 – mainly because of its original, well-preserved grain store on the upper floor of the house (today the bridal room), as the monument protection officer at the time recalls.
After the death of the last Keuschler, Georg Frankenberger, in 1992, the house was used as a weekend retreat and, in the rear utility section, for small-caliber shooting practice. At the time of its takeover by the new owner in 2004, the property was in a deep slumber. Apart from the newly re-covered roof in 1998, it was a dwelling severely affected by wind and weather, damp soil, and ammonia in the uphill stable section. It had also subsided by half a meter in the northwest part, with a roof edge that was completely out of alignment. Thanks to the new owner’s personal connection to the house and her childhood memories, the project was undertaken – with the goal of restoring it as authentically and monument-appropriately as possible.
How Napoleon came to Carinthia
The Fefflitzerhof owes its present name, however, to a completely different circumstance. During the renovation work in 2004/2005, in the newest part of the house – the valley-side “Auszüglerstüberl” – original drawings from the French era were found alongside an inscription from 1798 and the initials J.F. (Johann Frankenberger) on a wooden beam. The colored paper works, though heavily faded and torn, still clearly depicted scenes with French soldiers and Katschtal farmers and carpenters.
Further research revealed that the French invasion of Carinthia took place shortly before the small extension – in early 1797 – and that Napoleon himself first entered the provincial capital Klagenfurt on March 30, 1797. A second occupation by French troops followed in early 1801 and lasted several years. It is considered certain that the troops advanced into the remotest parts of the Katschtal and were also quartered there.
Napoleon’s armies invaded Carinthia several times from Upper Italy and fought partly bloody battles with the local militia and the Austrian troops of Emperor Francis I. During the French Wars from 1797–1813, Carinthia was severely plundered by high contribution payments and mass conscriptions, and many reports testify that hunger, disease, and death were ever-present.
When Napoleon sealed off the Habsburg Empire from the sea in the Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809, he merged the territories of East Tyrol, Upper Carinthia west of Pörtschach, Carniola, Gorizia-Gradisca, Trieste, and Croatia south of the Sava with Istria, Dalmatia, and Ragusa into the "Illyrian Provinces." From 1811, Upper Carinthia was incorporated into the political constitution of the Kingdom of “Illyria,” and the mayors (Maires), including those of Sumereck, Gmünd, and Rauchenkatsch (today Rennweg), had to swear allegiance to Emperor Napoleon. Administration was modernized and partly conducted in French. Many Germanized terms of French origin such as Gendarmerie (rural police), Plafond (ceiling), or Kalesche (carriage, sleigh) bear witness to this past.
The old drawings in the house gave rise to much speculation. Did the French, on their plundering campaigns personally led by Napoleon, reach as far as Rennweg? Did they have to be supplied with food, were there clashes? What impact did the years of occupation have on the simple lives of farmers, miners, and craftsmen in the area? Who made the drawings, and what was he trying to tell? What is the significance of the small roadside shrine on the south side of the house, and how and where did the young men hide from military service? Who is the mysterious beauty in the oil painting from that time? Much still remains to be researched, and much will be forgotten forever. Yet the memory of those turbulent times lives on.
The General’s Watchmaker
In 1776, a smallpox epidemic broke out. The disease, also known as “Blattern,” had no vaccine at the time. The young Peter Lechner from St. Peter am Katschberg was left completely blind as a result of the illness. However, his sense of touch developed remarkably as a consequence.
Already at the age of six, he was able to completely dismantle and reassemble a pocket watch. Under the guidance of Peter Sedlmayer from St. Georgen – a schoolmaster, sexton, and organist who also practiced the craft of watchmaking – the blind boy learned the watchmaker’s trade.
At just 20 years old, he built the tower clock of St. Michael, and in 1797 he was called to Villach to repair the town’s tower clock. A day after his arrival, French soldiers marched into Villach. During a dispute and subsequent altercation between the Villach merchant Tomanelli and French General Rusca, sparked by French demands for money, the general’s astrolabe – which he wore like a wristwatch – was smashed. The astrolabe was connected to a mechanism that was supposed to indicate auspicious and inauspicious hours to the superstitious general.
The general flew into such a rage that he sentenced the Villach merchant to death for physical assault. The citizens of Villach petitioned the general for clemency, which he agreed to on the condition that his astrolabe be repaired by the next morning. No one dared to take on this difficult task, and the merchant’s fate seemed sealed.
Then they remembered the blind Peter Lechner, who, after all, did not need light to work. The general’s adjutants brought him to the French headquarters, where the young watchmaker worked through the entire night. At 5 a.m., he returned the repaired astrolabe to the general – and thus Tomanelli’s life was spared. After repairing the tower clock, the blind Lechner returned to the Katschtal richly rewarded. There, he not only continued working with clocks but also with the construction of mills, until he died in 1827 at the age of 51.
“Wiener Zappler” clock with double-headed eagle, dating from 1790
The first French in the Katschtal
On April 8, 1797, the Katschtal was occupied by French troops for the first time, and almost every larger farmstead was forced to host French soldiers and provide them with food and lodging.
Food supplies also included alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and schnapps. The French also conscripted Katschtal boys into military service, and to avoid this, many disguised themselves as girls or went into hiding altogether.
The Mühlbacherhaus in Mühlbach was converted into a French customs house, and all goods coming from the north had to be cleared there. The nearby border at Katschberg naturally encouraged smuggling. The most popular contraband was salt, and the still-existing “Salztragersteig,” leading from the Saraberger meadows to Zanaischg, was a favored smuggling path. According to old stories, young men and women from the Katschtal partied with the French customs officers at the Mühlbacher inn, while the farmers smuggled salt, tobacco, and livestock into the valley via the Saraberg and Adenberg.
Records of the costs caused by the French occupation can be found in the family chronicle of the Katschtalerhof.
On April 8, 1797, the French arrived here at 2 p.m.
the second time on January 3, 1801
the third time on February 22, 1805
the fourth time on July 2, 1809
In the year 1797, from April 6 to April 30, damage caused by the French amounted to 246 Gulden 7 Kreuzer.
In 1801, from January 3 to March 23, the damage, carefully and modestly calculated, amounted to 794 Gulden 32 Kreuzer.
For the year 1805, no record was written of the damage caused.
On August 19, 1813, Austrian troops arrived here early in the morning and caused me damage amounting to 370 Gulden for the entire year.
Old French Song
In the year 1810 there were many French,
that’s when they caught me, to that damned life.
For my fair Janka they gave me a white coat,
the knapsack on my back, such a lousy load.
They gave me blue trousers, which was really ill-fitted,
inside a big pocket, but never a penny in it.
Quellen: Georg Broll: "Aus Gmünds vergangenen Tagen", erschienen 1936 und 1938Dr. Matthias Lexer: „Kärntisches Wörterbuch“ von (Leipzig 1862); Anton Ueberfelder: Kärntnerisches Ifiotikon (Klagenfurt 1862); Geschichtsquellen des Dekanats Gmünd (Malta-, Katsch-, Liesertal bis Treffling/Lieserhofen), für die Zeit 1590 bis 1800, Kirchenurbare 1502ff, 1610, 1650. KLA; Bezirksgericht Gmünd; Buch Nr.82; Gewähr-Buch Von denen zum gräfl. v. lodron: Marian: Collegium zu Salzburg gehörigen Gülten; Lit A: - KLA; Bezirksgericht Gmünd; Buch Nr.84; Intabulationsprotokoll Denen zum gräfl. v. Lodron: Marian: Collegium in Salzburg gehörigen Gülten; Lit B. - KLA; Bezirksgericht Gmünd; Buch Nr.85; In- und Extabulations-Urkundenprotokoll von Graf v. LODRON MARIAN: Collegium Grundbuchamt; Lit C. – KLA; Das gräfl. LODRON`sche Archiv Gmünd; Gesamter Katalog und auszugsweise Urkunden.