Gösting Castle () is a ruined castle in Gösting, the 13th borough in the northwest of the

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

n capital

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Location

Due to its good strategic location, the castle controlled the narrow Mura valley north of Graz, which opens out into the Graz basin, and therefore the traffic and trade to and from Graz. The castle ruin, which is above Graz, is a popular place to visit, since it offers a panoramic view of the Graz basin and the eastern Styrian hill country even today.

History

The castle was built in the 11th century; the first record dates to the year 1042. It continued to be extended until the 15th century. In that century, the castle was expanded to a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

to provide protection against the Turks and

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. It was part of the signalling fire system, which was supposed to warn the population in case of danger. In 1707, the castle and domain were acquired by the Counts of Attems. On 10 July 1723 lightning struck the

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

magazine and a large part of the castle burnt down. It was not rebuilt, but was replaced as the new residence of the Attems family by the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Schloss Gösting or Neugösting at the foot of the mountain, which was completed in 1728. Since 1999 the ruin and surrounding forests have been owned by the Auer family, who are bakers.Land register of the district court Graz The ruin is maintained by the castle foundation, which was founded in 1925.

Construction

Today only the chapel, the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, and the remains of some of the walls are still standing. The tower now houses a small museum, and a tavern has been established. The castle can be reached on foot in only 30 minutes from the Schlossplatz in Gösting.

References

External links

Gösting at burgen-austria.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gosting Castle Castles in Styria Museums in Styria Ruined castles in Austria Buildings and structures in Graz

Location

History

Construction

See also

References

External links