Schloss Raggnitz

Schloss Raggnitz stands in the valley of the upper Drau in Carinthia, about half a kilometre south-west of the village of Lind. The two-storey building rises from a nearly square plan, its north-east front marked by two small towers under low pyramidal roofs. A broad perimeter wall, reinforced by a round tower in the north-west corner, encloses the grounds. The present appearance dates from the late 18th century, when older parts from the 15th century were reused in a late-baroque remodelling. The house carries the history of the region in its fabric. First recorded in 1254, it passed from Salzburg’s archbishop-elect to local lords, then to the counts of Görz in 1304. After the old castles at Lind fell into ruin, the family chose Raggnitz as their new seat and enlarged it as a schloss. In 1789 it was sold to the mining official Paul Matthias von Tschabuschnigg, who added the chapel and other changes. By 1872 the Wernisch family had become the owners and remain so today. Inside, the ground floor corridors are vaulted, one with a 16th-century ribbed net, the other with a simple barrel vault. The upper hall is flat-ceilinged and fitted with a rococo stove. At the south-west end the chapel displays illusionistic classical frescoes of Old Testament scenes and a painted altarpiece of the Virgin. The entrance bears the date 1795 and a second tablet records permission granted in 1797 to hold masses here. Outside, the walled garden and the round tower frame views across the valley floor toward the surrounding hills.