Stillfried an der March
Places with the name Stillfried
1. Stillfried in Lower Austria on the March, approx. 30 km
The important early historical excavation site, where a settlement since the Upper Palaeolithic period could be proven, brought to light very beautiful clay vessels and cups. The epoch of this fine, black-fired pottery was given the name "Stillfriedkultur". Roman-period finds were also discovered. In the area of the "Roman hill", excavator H. Stiglitz locates a small fort of the 4th century. A kiln was excavated in which clay balls were fired, which the Roman military units used as slingshots. Visit to the interesting Stillfried Local Museum
A legend tells how the village of STILLFRIED got its name:
The first settlers of the Marchfeld fought with a Slavic tribe. There, where the village of Stillfried is located today, a bloody battle finally took place that dragged on and would not end. Then one day the dark sky above the battlefield brightened. A goose slowly flew down from the hill and circled the battlefield. The warriors who saw the goose shouted loudly: "Make silence, peace"! When the Slavic enemies saw the goose circling above their heads, they fled in terror. Since then, the place of the battlefield has been called Stillfried. In the district where the goose was first seen, a street is still called "Gans" today.
(Source: http://www.stillfried-grub.at/stillfried-grub_at/index.htm)
Andere mögliche Erklärungen:
Excavations have shown that there used to be a pile castle in Stillfried (but the derivation pile = stalk? enclosure = Fried? is not probable according to the etymologist Dr. Stefan Hackl at the University of Regensburg, since the word Stiel(stil) was only ever used for thin stems or stalks, or at most tool handles, but not for stakes). It also speaks against the fact that there were many stilt castles, but this name occurs almost only in connection with Stoymir or the Stillfried family.
It is possible, however, that the castle and the village got their name from their builder, Stoymir, who was given the name Stillfried in Bavaria and was appointed by the Emperor here in the Marchfeld as a border count to protect against Avarians and Moravians. Conversely, the castle name may also have become a family name.
Stillfried appears in documents when King Henry III grants various properties to Margrave Siegfried between March and Thaya "proxime ville Stillefriede (near the village of Stillfried)" on 15 July 1045. Rudolf Stillfried mentions further documents. Thus in 1178 the castle is mentioned with its owner "Fidericus de perge Stillivridi". In 1207 "Hirzo de Stilfrit" is mentioned. Later, the Lords of Stenitz from the family of the Counts of Schinta (in Hungary) were enfeoffed with Stillfried. In 1277, a Chunradus called von Stillfried donated a mill in Stillfried to the Knights of St. John of Morberg (Mailberg). On the seal he is called Count of Schinta. In 1280 he appears as Chunradus de Stenitz, brother of Count Leupold de Schinta.
In 1299, the feudal lords were the Landenbergs and then the Zelking (Zelchinch), whose coat of arms shows a striking similarity to those of Smiřic.
On the Marchfeld near Stillfried (Stilvrit), the famous battle between Ottokar of Bohemia and Rudolf of Habsburg took place on 26 August 1278, in which the succession as emperor was at stake. The Stillfriede family was among the knights who remained loyal to Ottokar and the Přemyslids during this battle and beyond their fall. It seems to have been driven from the Marchfeld during the devastation of the war. The survivors were probably taken in by their cousins in Ratenice, where there is evidence of a church of St. James as early as 1384. This Ratenice is located near Podiebrad, east of Prague. The Bohemian Stillvrit, Stylfryd , from whom today's Stillfried descend, were called Raténice, Ratienicz, Radnicz, Raednitz, Rettnitz, Rednitz, Radnitz, Rattenitz, Radtonitz or Rattonitz. At the beginning of the 14th century, a Smrz of Radnicz is mentioned in a "liber erectionum" (list of elevations). Radnicz could refer to a place of this name near Pilsen (west of Prague), but probably Radnitz (Ratenice) with its St. James' Church east of Prague is meant.
The castle was largely destroyed by the Hussites between 1423 and 1427, from 1516 onwards it is only called "der öde Burgstall", in the fief book of 1587-1610 only "Platz und Burgstall der ehemaligen Veste Stillfried", near St. George's Church.
2 Stillfried (Czech: Víska u Dětřichova), village of Dittersdorf, East Bohemia, was established in 1693 under Count Johann Friedrich von Trautmannsdorf. In 1930, the village of Stillfried belonged to Dittersdorf, district and judicial district of Leitomischl. It had 205 inhabitants, all of whom were Sudeten Germans (German Bohemians). 1939 - 1945 belonged to the district of Zwittau. Church records (matriculation register) as of 1930: see Dittersdorf and Abtsdorf.
The composer Ditter von Ditterdorf lived during his last years in the house Stillfried in ... (Wisowitz, Silbitz???)
3. stillfriedsdorf (parish of Bscheschina), district of Kamnitz an der Linde (district) Upper district: Deutsch Brod Czech: Štilfrýdov
Source: Official German Town Book of the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, 2nd edition, Prague 1940, can be found at
http://exonyme.kilu.de/Board/showthread.php?tid=72&page=2)
Ist dieses identisch mit Stillfriedsdorf bei Roth-Lotha?
Laut Rudolf Stillfried ist der Ort Stillfriedsdorf bei Roth-Lhota im Tarborer Kreis, jüngeren Datums. Roth-Lotha befand sich im Eigentum von Ignatz Stillfried und seinem Sohn Karl. (s. Geschichtl. Nachrichten aus dem Geschlechte Stillfried von Rudolph Stillfried)
Zusammenstellung: Norbert Graf Stillfried, 2008