Schloss Weildegg

Schloss Weildegg stands in Würmlach, a village in the municipality of Kötschach-Mauthen in Carinthia. The building began as a farmhouse in 1537 when Hieronymus Weyland the Elder, a merchant and councillor from Villach, converted it into a Renaissance palace. Today the Aichwalder family owns the property and lets holiday flats while hosting occasional cultural events. The house is a fortified square block rising three or four storeys, with four round corner towers capped by a pyramid roof. Its attic floor is pierced by musket loops, and on the east side a machicolation projects above the main door. The stone façades carry sgraffito panels framing every window and door. Two paired-light windows above the east and west gates light a large hall whose walls once bore painted coats of arms of the Kulmer and Gängel-Ehrenwert families from 1648. The machicolation and the loops show the building’s defensive purpose, while the sgraffito decoration reflects its Renaissance elegance. Inside, the hall remains the most impressive space, its high ceiling and heraldic murals recalling the 17th century. Visitors walk past the machicolation and through the eastern gate into the courtyard. The four towers give the square a balanced look, and the pyramid roof unifies the silhouette. The sgraffito panels on the façades can still be seen at close range, their patterns faint but legible. The paired-light windows mark the great hall, where the painted arms once hung. Outside, the village of Würmlach offers quiet lanes and mountain views, making the castle a quiet stop in the upper Gail valley.