Hochosterwitz Castle
| Hochosterwitz | |
|---|---|
| Sankt Georgen, Carinthia, Austria | |
General view
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| Type | Rock castle |
| Height | 664m. |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Khevenhüller noble family |
| Open to the public |
April–October |
| Condition | restored |
| Site history | |
| Built | c. 860 |
| Built by | Osterwitz dynasty |
Hochosterwitz Castle (German: Burg Hochosterwitz, Slovene: Grad Ostrovica) is considered to be one of Austria's most impressive medieval castles. It is on a 172-metre (564 ft) high Dolomite rock near Sankt Georgen am Längsee, east of the town of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia. The rock castle is one of the state's landmarks and a major tourist attraction.
Hochosterwitz is 664 metres (2,178 ft) above sea level on the rim of the historic Zollfeld plain north of Magdalensberg. It can be seen from a distance of up to 30 kilometres (19 mi) on a clear day.
The site was first mentioned in an 860 deed issued by King Louis the German of East Francia, donating several of his properties in the former Principality of Carantania to the Archdiocese of Salzburg. It was then named as ‘Astarwiza’, its name being of Slavic origin. In the 11th century Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg ceded the castle to the Dukes of Carinthia from the noble House of Sponheim in return for their support during the Investiture Controversy. The Sponheim dukes bestowed the fiefdom upon the family of Osterwitz, who held the hereditary office of the cup-bearer in 1209.
In his book Change the Austro-American psychologist Paul Watzlawick renders a popular tale of the siege of the castle by the troops of Margarete Maultasch ("Mouth Bag"), Countess of Tyrol from 1335 to 1363. According to legend first noted by the medieval chronicler Jakob Unrest and later by Jacob Grimm, Margarete, cheated by the House of Habsburg of her inheritance claims to Carinthia, invaded the duchy; her forces were however deceived and withdrew when the garrison of Hochosterwitz slaughtered its very last ox, filled it with corn and threw it over the wall, pretending it still had so many provisions in stock that they could be used as projectiles.
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Wikipedia