Hollenburg Castle, Köttmannsdorf, Austria

Schloss Hollenburg is a medieval castle near Köttmannsdorf. It is on a rock of the northern slope of the Drava valley. One Swiker, Lord of Hollenburg in the Duchy of Carinthia was first documented as a witness in the 1142 deed of the foundation of Viktring Abbey. He may have been a liensman of the ducal House of Sponheim; his son Reginher is mentioned as Lord of Steuerberg, he accompanied King Conrad III of Germany on the Second Crusade in 1147 and later appeared as a ministerialis of Margarve Ottokar IV of Styria.

The castle was of strategical importance due to its location at a Drava river crossing and the road to the Loibl Pass and the March of Carniola. Upon the extinction of the Hollenburg dynasty in 1246, it passed to the Styrian Lords of Pettau, in 1438 it was inherited by the House of Stubenberg. The structure had been severely damaged by the 1348 Friuli earthquake.

In 1514 the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I, stuck in the War of the League of Cambrai against Venice and highly indebted, sold Hollenburg to Lord Siegmund of Dietrichstein, elevating him to the rank of a Freiherr (Baron). The House of Dietrichstein had the castle rebuilt in a Renaissance style, finished in 1588. The Dietrichsteins held the castle until the extinction of the branch in 1861, it was acquired by the Wittgenstein family in 1913.

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User Reviews

Viru G. (2 years ago)
The entrance is free. The castle is not entirely open to tourists, people still live in it, and as far as I understand, people have apartments there. You can walk around the castle outside and in the courtyard. There's nothing special to see, I don't recommend wasting your time. And the residents are not very happy that some tourists are buzzing there.

johann petscharnig (2 years ago)
Short but nice

Robert Csarnai (3 years ago)
I used to live in Klagenfurt for some months and I saw everytime this castle when I went to make klettersteig tours in the Karavanken ? Austria is beautiful one of my favorite place. Bled is really close so you don’t miss it if you nearby.

Bandit xyz (3 years ago)
Very nice castle. Inhabited, so you can only visit the battlements and the inner courtyard. In the battlement a collection of old sleighs and carriages. Brilliant outlook.

marmusic100 (3 years ago)
Wunderschöne Burg, leider im Privatbesitz. Immerhin dürfen Teile der äußeren Burg besichtigt werden.

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