| Griffen Castle | |
|---|---|
| Griffen, Austria | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 46°42′19″N14°43′39″E / 46.70528°N 14.72750°E |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Market Town of Griffen |
| Open to the public | yes |
| Condition | ruins |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1124-1146 |
| Built by | Otto of Bamberg |
| In use | until 1768 |
| Demolished | 1840 |
| Battles/wars | 1292-1293 occupied by Count Ulrich von Heunberg |
The Burg Griffen is a castle on a 130m/427 ft-high limestone mountain above the town of Griffen in the Austrian state of Carinthia. [1]
The castle was built between 1124 and 1146 by order of Bishop Otto of Bamberg. In an 1160 deed, Emperor Friedrich I mentioned Grivena as a Bamberg property. [2]
In 1292 the Carinthian nobleman Count Ulrich von Heunburg with support of Archbishop Konrad IV of Salzburg occupied the fort in an uprising against Albert of Habsburg, the son of King Rudolph I of Germany and Duke Meinhard II. However Ulrich was abandoned by his allies and one year later had to leave the castle. [3] In 1759 Bishop Adam Friedrich sold the Bamberg estates in Carinthia to Maria Theresa of Austria and the castle was incorporated into the Carinthian duchy. [4]
About 1520 a large reconstruction of the castle took place as a protection against the threat posed by the Ottoman forces with a base amounted of about 4000 m2, though the Turks never laid siege to Griffen. [5]
Within the mountain is the Griffener Tropfsteinhöhle (dripstone cave) with a length of 485m/1591 ft, which was not discovered until the late days of World War II. It is open to public and a natural landmark since 1957. [6]
Klagenfurt am Wörthersee is the capital and largest city of the Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as of the historical region of Carinthia including Slovene Carinthia. With a population of 104.862, it is the sixth-largest city in Austria after Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. The city is the bishop's seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt and home to the University of Klagenfurt, the Carinthian University of Applied Sciences and the Gustav Mahler Private University for Music. Klagenfurt is regarded the cultural centre of the Carinthian Slovenes, one of Austria's indigenous minorities.
Carinthia is the southernmost and least densely populated Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, forms of a South Slavic language that predominated in the southeastern part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority in the area.
Arnoldstein is a market town in the district of Villach-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Nötsch im Gailtal is a market town in the district of Villach-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Griffen is a market town in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
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, is not established.
Burgruine Federaun is a castle in Carinthia, Austria.
Finkenstein Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the market town of Finkenstein, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is situated on a steep cliff at the southern foot of the Karawanks mountain range, high above Lake Faak, at a height of 788 metres (2,585 ft). Today the castle ruin is the backdrop of the Burgarena, an amphitheatre with 1150 seats mainly used for concerts and festivals.
Burgruine Straßfried is a castle in Carinthia, Austria. It is located next to the Austrian–Italian border by Arnoldstein in Carinthia.
Virgil von Graben, also Virgil vom Graben, was an Austrian noble, politician and diplomat. He was one of the most important noblemen and officials in the County of Gorizia and in the Habsburg Empire of Frederick III. and Maximilian I.
Andreas von Graben zu Sommeregg was a Carinthian knight and nobleman residing at Sommeregg Castle. He served as a burgrave and castellan governor in the Ortenburg estates, held by the Counts of Celje until 1456. With the extinction of the Cillier family, Von Graben lost the post of captain of the County of Ortenburg under the Habsburgs, their successors as Ortenburg sovereign.
Rosina von Graben von Rain, also called Rosina von Rain, was an Austrian noble woman, a member of the Graben von Stein family and heiress of the burgraviate of Sommeregg Castle in Carinthia.
Siegfried I is considered the progenitor of the Carinthian ducal House of Sponheim (Spanheimer) and all of its lateral branches, including the Counts of Lebenau and the Counts of Ortenburg. He is documented as Count of Sponheim from 1044 and served as margrave of the Hungarian March in 1045/46 and as count in the Puster Valley and the Lavant Valley from 1048 until his death.
The House of Khevenhüller is the name of an old and important Carinthian noble family, documented there since 1356, with its ancestral seat at Landskron Castle. In the 16th century, the family split into the two branches of Khevenhüller-Frankenburg, Imperial Counts from 1593, and Khevenhüller-Hochosterwitz, raised to Imperial Counts in 1725 and, as Khevenhüller-Metsch, to princely rank (Fürsten) in 1763. The family belongs to high nobility.
Ulrich III von Graben was a member of the Austrian nobility, Lord of Kornberg, (Ober)Radkersburg, Grabenhofen, Graben and the Lordship Marburg, Obermarburg and Maribor Castle.
Ulrich III was the Lord in the March of Carniola from c. 1249 and Duke of Carinthia from 1256 until his death, the last ruler from the House of Sponheim. His rule had long-lasting consequences. In Carniola, he acquired the former Meranian possessions, thus becoming the first undisputed princeps terrae, provincial lord or landgrave, creating the power and legal basis of the future Duchy of Carniola. The center of his original Carniolan possessions, Ljubljana, became the new administrative center and thus the provincial capital, as well as the center of Ulrich's power. In Carinthia, which he took over after his father's death, his seal became the coat of arms of Carinthia up to today. Despite his attempts to secure the vast Babenberg inheritance through two marriages, first to Agnes of Merania, widow of the last Babenberg duke Frederick II of Austria, and then to Frederick's niece Agnes of Baden, Ulrich remained childless. After a short interregnum by his younger brother Philip of Spanheim, patriarch of Aquileia, the House of Spanheim went extinct, and all of Ulrich's possessions were inherited by his cousin Ottokar II of Bohemia.
The Manndorff zu Pfannhofen und Wissenau family is an ancient Austrian noble family, more specifically the Uradel. They are among the oldest Carinthian noble families still in existence today.
Ulrich I, of the House of Sponheim, was the Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1135 until his death. He was the eldest son of Duke Engelbert and Uta, daughter of Burggrave Ulrich of Passau, his namesake. His father abdicated in 1135 and Ulrich was appointed his successor by the Emperor Lothair II at an imperial diet being held in Bamberg.
Wolfsberg Castle, today also Henckel-Donnersmarck Castle, stands on a knoll in the north of the town of Wolfsberg in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Arnoldstein Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Arnoldstein in Carinthia, Austria. Its church was dedicated to St George and first mentioned in historical records in 1316 - its choir, tower, west door and a few buttresses can still be seen. The monastery buildings from the Gothic and 17th century eras were arranged around the church in an oval.
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