Borl Castle was first mentioned in written records in 1255 when the Magyar king Bela IV issued a bill to Friedrich, the Lord of Ptuj, regarding several castles, among which was Anchenstein or Borl.
The Anchensteins were the first known owners of the castle who lived there and had its coat of arms. They died out in 1323. The property passed on to the Lords of Ptuj who themselves died out in 1438.
The castle lies at an important point where, during the Middle Ages and even later, various borders crossed. There are a few strategic advantages to its position: a naturally formed rock prominence on which the castle is built; the river Drava with the traffic going on which had to be controlled as well as the passage across the river.
This position was also the cause of periodical fights for predominance.
Until 1620, the castle was the property of the Herbersteins, and from 1639 on, the Thurns were the owners. Most probably it was during that time that the casstle was adapted to the then living standards, and the arcade corridors were built.
Owners changed, and in 1922 the property was sold to a joint-stock company Borlin which was in the wine and beer business. Until World War II, the owner was Zora Weiss, but in 1941 the Germans established there a transit camp from where people were sent to exile until March 1943. After the war the castle was nationalised and remained uninhabited until 1948 when it was turned into a refugee camp.
Due to unsuitable conditions the camp in the castle did not last long. In 1952 it was renovated and it became a restaurant. The business grew and in 1972 the restaurant turned into a hotel. Unfortunately, reconstruction and renovation works were too often carried out in a reckless way, funds for its complete renovation were never sufficient, and therefore the castle slowly deteriorated. When in 1981 high waters swept away the bridge across the river Drava, the hotel was simply shut down.
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The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
