Chronicle
Chronicle
Carved stones and a rampart indicate that already at the time of the Celts a settlement had been established on the site of the Marienhöhe in close range to the town of Ybbs. Its name might be derived from that period. The Celtic river name Ivesis could have been taken over later by Romans settling along the Danube. In the course of the time the name of Ips developed from sound shift.
The town’s parish church and adjacent buildings form the area of the old castle. Already before the year of 900 a Carolingian imperialcastle, by the name of Eparesburg, was erected. The area belonging to this castle got the name of “Ipspurch” or “Isepurich”,from the 13th century onwards only “Ips” or “Ybbs”. The Bavarian noble family of the counts of Sempt-Ebersberg preservedEparesburg and the adjoining settlement by way of heritage,and established a toll gate during the years of 903 and 905. After the death of the last holder of the name Sempt-Ebersberg, the Eparesburg fell into possession of the Salian Franks. Being crowned German emperor under the guardianship of his mother Agnes, 8-year-old Henry IV took quarter in Ybbs in 1058. This Salian emperor should later become famous for his travel to Canossa.
In the course of time Ybbs finally came into the possession of the Babenberg dynasty, henceforward being country-royal property.The first town of lower Austria opened its gates to the Habsburg sovereign Rudolf I in 1276. As time went on it became equipped with a set of privileges. In the year of 1317 Frederick the Fair sealed the municipal law by the bestowal upon a blood spell condemning the right to death by the sword or the gallows, which was otherwise reserved for the national sovereignty.
