Weissenfels Castle (, , ) is a castle ruin above the settlement of

Fusine in Valromana Fusine in Valromana ( or ; ; Friulian language, Friulian: ''Fusinis'') is a ''frazione'' (fractional parish) of the ''comune'' of Tarvisio in the Province of Udine, in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. Name The loc ...

in the extreme northeast corner of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The ruins are located from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

between Slovenia,

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 ...

, and

History

Kranjska Gora Podkoren 20 Wappenstein ueber Portal 2011-08-26 389

The castle was ordered built after 1431 by Frederik II of Celje, as a well-fortified stronghold atop a hill of the same name. The

Counts of Celje The Counts of Celje () or the Counts of Cilli (; ) were the most influential late medieval noble dynasty on the territory of present-day Slovenia. Risen as vassals of the Habsburg dukes of Styria in the early 14th century, they ruled the County ...

had controlled the area—a nexus of important trade routes between

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, and the

Upper Sava Valley The Upper Sava Valley () is an alpine valley in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The Sava Dolinka River flows along it. It begins in Rateče at an elevation of 870 m and ends at Moste at 560 m. It is the geographical border between the Jul ...

—since 1418, having inherited it from the

Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of Ortenburg () were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Franconian House of Sponheim, ...

. In addition to its primary function of defending the house's area landholdings, the castle served to protect the iron-ore mines and smelting furnaces of the upper Sava Valley, a sovereign possession of the Counts and a jealously guarded one because the industry was at the time normally a

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...

. After the extinction of the house of Celje in 1456, the castle and associated lordship were inherited by the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

, who managed the estate via a succession of

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

. During the 16th century, its owners were the Bucelleni family of

Jesenice Jesenice (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is the tenth-largest town in Slovenia, located in the traditional province of Upper C ...

, also active in the iron industry. The castle's last owners were the Kos family, landlords of numerous area settlements, including Bela Peč,

Rateče Rateče (; , ) is a village in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora, in the far northwest corner of Slovenia. It is located in the upper part of the Upper Sava Valley, between the Sava Dolinka and Ziljica rivers, a tributary of the Drava. Further ...

Podkoren Podkoren (, ) is a village in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora, in the northwestern Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Geography Podkoren is located directly beneath the Wurzen Pass ("Koren" in Slovene), which lends its name to the settlement ...

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; ) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italy, Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. The tripoint between Austria, It ...

Gozd Martuljek Gozd Martuljek (; ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Name The name of the settlement was changed from ''Rute'' (a plural of "rut," a term for a wooded or grassy alpine slope.) to ''Go ...

Dovje Dovje (; ) is a village in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia, located on the southern slopes of the Karawanks at an elevation of 703 m. It has a rich history and rural tradition and is known as one of the s ...

, Hrušica,

Planina pod Golico Planina pod Golico (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 145.) is a mountain village in the Municipality of Jesenice, in the Upper Carnio ...

, Javornik,

Koroška Bela Koroška Bela (; ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Jesenice in northwestern Slovenia. The village has long been a center of iron mining and processing; until recently a majority of its inhabitants were employed in the steel industry. Geog ...

, Potoki and parts of Žirovnica,

Zabreznica Zabreznica (; ) is one of ten villages in the Municipality of Žirovnica in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the nort ...

, and

Doslovče Doslovče (; in older sources also ''Dosloviče'', ) is one of ten villages in the Municipality of Žirovnica in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is best known as the birthplace of the Slovene writer Fran Saleški Finžgar. His house ...

. The castle was abandoned in the 18th century and left to decay. The impressive ruins are nonetheless indicative of its former might.

Sources

*Jakič, Ivan: "All Slovene Castles" (''Vsi slovenski gradovi''), DZS, 1999, {{DEFAULTSORT:Weissenfels Castle Castles in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Ruined castles in Italy

History

See also

Sources