Hasegg Castle | |
---|---|
Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, Austria | |
![]() The Mint Tower or "Münzerturm" is a landmark of the town of Hall. | |
Coordinates | 47°17′N11°30′E / 47.283°N 11.500°E |
Type | Castle, Mint |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Museum |
Site history | |
Built | mentioned 1306; established as mint 1477 |
In use | 1477–1806 |
Hasegg Castle (German : Burg Hasegg) is a castle and mint located in Hall in Tirol, Tyrol, Austria.
Construction was completed soon after 1300, when Hall was rapidly becoming the center of Tyrolean commerce and salt mining. The building was originally erected to protect the salt mines, the shipping industry, the bridge across the river Inn and the old Roman road. [1] The castle's mint was established by Sigismund, Archduke of Austria in 1477. The first dollar-size silver coin was struck in 1486: the Guldengroschen.
When Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria had the old mint transferred from the Castle of Sparberegg to Hasegg in 1567, Hall experienced a decisive upswing. [2] Between 1748 and 1768, Hasegg Castle became universally famous for its minting of silver Thalers of which it produced over 17 million specimens. [3] The Thaler, a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years, sees its name live on in various currencies as the "dollar" or "tolar".
The mint ceased production in 1806 due to the Napoleonic Wars and the increasing lack of local silver resources.
The mint is a museum since 1975 (Museum Münze Hall) and open to the general public. Demonstrations of historical minting techniques are given from time to time. [4] [5] The castle itself is an example of early Gothic era Tirolean fortress architecture. The pointed roof of the mint tower is of heavily tarnished copper.
Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Eastern Caribbean dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Trinidad and Tobago Dollar and several others. The symbol for most of those currencies is the dollar sign $ in the same way as many countries using peso currencies. The name "dollar" originates from Bohemia and a 29 g silver-coin called the Joachimsthaler.
Sigismund, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the County of Tyrol from 1446 until his resignation in 1490.
Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass 30 km (19 mi) to the south, it had a population of 132,493 in 2018.
A thaler or taler is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A thaler size silver coin has a diameter of about 40 mm and a weight of about 25 to 30 grams. The word is shortened from Joachimsthaler, the original thaler coin minted in Joachimsthal, Bohemia, from 1520.
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight, is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver. It was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Some countries countermarked the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency.
The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin and a type of Conventionsthaler that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It is named after Maria Theresa who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780 and is depicted on the coin.
Groschen is the name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in parts of Europe such as France, some of the Italian states, England, various states of the Holy Roman Empire, among others. The word is borrowed from the late Latin description of a tornose, a grossus denarius Turnosus, in English the "thick denarius of Tours". Groschen was frequently abbreviated in old documents to gl, whereby the second letter was not an l, but an abbreviation symbol; later it was written as Gr or g.
Merano or Meran is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to 3,335 metres above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Valley and the Vinschgau.
The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1946, it is the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.
The Guldengroschen or Guldiner was a large silver coin originally minted in Tirol in 1486, but which was introduced into the Duchy of Saxony in 1500.
Hall in Tirol is a town in the Innsbruck-Land district of Tyrol, Austria. Located at an altitude of 574 m, about 5 km (3 mi) east of the state's capital Innsbruck in the Inn valley, it has a population of about 13,000.
Ambras Castle is a Renaissance castle and palace located in the hills above Innsbruck, Austria. Ambras Castle is 632 metres (2,073 ft) above sea level. Considered one of the most popular tourist attractions of the Tyrol, Ambras Castle was built in the 16th century on the spot of an earlier 10th-century castle, which became the seat of power for the Counts of Andechs. The cultural and historical importance of the castle is closely connected with Archduke Ferdinand II (1529–1595) and served as his family's residence from 1567 to 1595. Ferdinand was one of history's most prominent collectors of art. The princely sovereign of Tyrol, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, ordered that the medieval fortress at Ambras be turned into a Renaissance castle as a gift for his wife Philippine Welser. The cultured humanist from the House of Habsburg accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum: the collections, still in the Lower Castle built specifically for that museum's purpose, make Ambras Castle one of the oldest museums in the world.
Runkelstein Castle is a medieval fortification on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten, near the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy. In 1237 Alderich Prince-Bishop of Trent gave the brothers Friedrich and Beral Lords of Wangen permission to construct a castle on the rock then called Runchenstayn.
Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special euro coins minted and issued by member states of the Eurozone. They are minted mainly in gold and silver, although other precious metals are also used on rare occasions. Austria was one of the first twelve countries in the Eurozone to introduce the euro (€), on 1 January 2002. Since then, the Austrian Mint has been minting both normal issues of Austrian euro coins and commemorative euro coins in gold and silver.
South Tyrolean Freedom is a regionalist, separatist and national-conservative political party in South Tyrol, Italy. The party, which is part of the South Tyrolean independence movement, seeks to represent the German-speaking population and proposes the secession of South Tyrol from Italy and its reunification with the State of Tyrol within Austria.
Tyrol Castle, less commonly Tirol Castle is a castle in the comune (municipality) of Tirol near Merano, in the Burggrafenamt district of South Tyrol, Italy. It was the ancestral seat of the Counts of Tyrol and gave the whole Tyrol region its name.
The Austrian Mint is located in Vienna and is responsible for minting Austrian coins. Since 1989 it has been a public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft) and a subsidiary of Austria's central bank Oesterreichische Nationalbank, which also has its headquarters in Vienna.
Burg Bruck is a medieval castle in Lienz in Tyrol, Austria. Burg Bruck is 711 metres (2,333 ft) above sea level.
Burg Freundsberg is a castle in Tyrol, Austria, that was constructed in the year of 1150 by the lords of Freundsberg. Burg Freundsberg is 675 metres (2,215 ft) above sea level. Originally the castle consisted out of a single keep, which is still intact up to this date. The chapel next to it was built afterwards in the year 1177. In 1467 the castle was sold to Archduke Sigismund of Austria, who rebuilt the castle and called it Sigismundruh for the duration of his reign.
Burg Laudegg is a restored castle ruin near the three villages of Ladis, Serfaus, and Fiss, Bezirk Landeck, in the state of Tyrol, Austria. Across the Oberinntal valley lies Castle Berneck at Kauns.