Dietrichstein

Dietrichstein was the name of one of the most prominent Austrian noble families originating from Carinthia. The family belonged to high nobility. The Nikolsburg (Mikulov) branch was elevated to Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1624.

Dietrichstein Castle near Feldkirchen in the Duchy of Carinthia was first mentioned in a 1103 deed. It was probably named after one knight Dietrich in the service of the Carinthian dukes. In 1166 the Dietrichstein estates were acquired by the Prince-Bishops of Bamberg and enfeoffed to a family of ministeriales officials, who began to call themselves after the castle. When the line became extinct in the early 14th century, the fief was inherited by Nikolaus I, another Carinthian ministerialis from nearby Nussberg Castle, whose descendants also called themselves von Dietrichstein.

In the late 15th century, the strategically important fortress overlooking the trade route along the Glan valley down to Sankt Veit was occupied by the Hungarian forces of King Matthias Corvinus and finally destroyed by Ottoman invaders in 1483. A new castle was erected below the ruins about 1500 and rebuilt in a Neoclassical style in 1840.

In 1514, Siegmund von Dietrichstein (1484–1533) purchased Hollenburg Castle from the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I, who also elevated him to the noble rank of a Freiherr. In 1572 Siegmund's son Adam von Dietrichstein (1527–1590) was vested with the extended estates of Nikolsburg (Mikulov) in Moravia by Emperor Maximilian II. Adam's grandson Maximilian II von Dietrichstein was created Graf (Count) on 18 September 1612 and his uncle, the Olomouc bishop Franz von Dietrichstein (1570–1636), was elevated as Fürst (Prince) von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg on 1624.

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