Riegersburg Castle is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

situated on an extinct

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

above the town of Riegersburg in the

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 ...

n state of

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 ...

. The castle is owned by the

Princely Family of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein (), from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne. The dynasty ...

and contains a museum with changing exhibitions. Riegersburg Castle is situated at a height of .Riegersburg Castle Height and Location
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Location

The castle was built on a hill which had once been an ancient volcano. To be precise, it is the petrified remains of the solidified molten interior, a volcanic neck of a large

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

that probably became extinct two or so million years ago, like other similar hills in north-central Europe. The peak is at 482 meters above sea level. The ancient basalt of the hill was used to build the castle.

History

People have been living in the area around Riegersburg for a few thousand years. A large village was founded in the 9th century B.C. with 300 people living here. Later, from 15 B.C. until 476 A.D. the region was part of the Roman Empire. In the 3rd and 9th century Bavarians immigrated and Hungarians invaded from the East. It was the beginning of a long time of armed conflicts. The history of the castle begins in the year 1122. The first knight who is known to have lived there is Rudiger von Hohenberg. Over the centuries the castle had many different owners, but only few played an important role. Among the later owners is the family of the Walseer who had feud with the sovereign of

in 1415. The Lords of Graben auf Kornberg appear as Wallseer administrators in Gleichenberg in the 14th and 15th centuries. The most important owner was the

baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

Katharina Elisabeth von Wechsler, who married Galler and who was known as Gallerin. Between 1637 and 1653 she finished the castle, making it one of the biggest and strongest castles in the country. It is surrounded by of walls with 5 gates and 2 trenches and it contains 108 rooms. In the 17th century the border with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

was sometimes only 20 to 25 km away from the castle and the area was troubled by conflicts with the Turks and Hungarians. The castle was a safe place for the people nearby, sometimes offering refuge inside its walls for a few thousand. Lady Galler married three times and had one daughter who married a Count Purgstall. The castle passed to the Purgstall family, who died out in 1817. In 1822, the castle was bought by Sovereign Johann Josef von Liechtenstein. It has belonged to the von Liechtenstein family until the present day. The castle was taken by the 10th Guards Rifle Division of Soviet forces advancing towards Graz on 8 May 1945.

Museum

The castle is owned by the

, who live in a house in the town of Riegersburg. The castle serves as a museum with 25 out of the 108 rooms open to tourists. Sixteen of the rooms show the history of Riegersburg Castle and nine deal with witches and sorcerers. Riegersburg - Burg, Gesamtanlage.JPG, Entire complex of the Riegersburg Castle Riegersburg - Burg, Westansicht.JPG, Palace complex of Riegersburg Castle Weinberge Riegersburg.jpg, Vineyards on the top of the fortified hill, surrounding the castle proper Riegersburg05.jpg, Footpath leading to the castle Wenzeltor Riegersburg.jpg, Wenzel gate, the main entrance (1653)

References

External links

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Interview with Dr. Emanuel Liechtenstein, the owner of Riegersburg Castle
{{Authority control Riegersburg Museums in Styria History museums in Austria