Schloss Oberthal

Schloss Oberthal stands on the eastern slope of the Kogelwald ridge in the south-west of Thal, a small municipality in Styria. The building began as a farm in the late 14th century and later became a fortified manor for the Windisch-Graetz family. After damage in the 1532 Turkish raid, Erasmus von Windisch-Graetz rebuilt it in the 16th century and added a French-style park behind the house. The house is a four-winged structure from the 17th century, with a crenellated gate tower and an outer gate building from the 19th century. Two octagonal towers on the north side were remodelled in the English manner in the early 19th century. Inside, the dining room holds antlers, armour and weapons, while the baroque chapel of St John the Baptist, built in 1656, contains a contemporary painting of the Baptism of Christ. A high wall encloses a spacious French garden with grottoes and a pleasure pavilion from the mid-17th century. The inner courtyard is lined on three sides by three-storey arcades restored in the Renaissance style. A 1563 courtyard gate bears a red-marble slab from 1515 and leads to a partly walkable underground passage towards Graz.