Schloss Frauenstein

Schloss Frauenstein stands in the village of Frauenstein, north of St. Veit an der Glan in Carinthia. Built in the late Middle Ages, it is one of the best-preserved late-Gothic castles in the region and was once a water fortress, rare in Carinthia. The site includes a three-storey east wing with a round tower and a square lookout turret, built in 1519 by Christoph Welzer and his wife Agnes. A stone tablet above the south gate records this work, and the Welzer and Hohenwart coats of arms appear on the ground-floor halls. The castle later passed through several noble families, including the Trautmannsdorfer, who are commemorated by a sundial in the courtyard bearing their arms. The castle’s outer ward is framed by the steward’s house with its round corner tower and a curtain wall linking the main building to the outer defences. A bridge leads to the iron-bound main portal in the west wing, opening into a cobbled inner courtyard. Three sides of the courtyard are lined with pointed-arch and cross-vaulted arcades, while the south side has three round-arched arcades and a staircase to the upper floor and the old round tower. The ground floor contains vaulted rooms once used by guests and servants, and the first floor holds reception and living rooms such as the 18th-century Jägerzimmer with wall paintings and a stucco ceiling. A large salon and an adjoining library open off the first floor, and in a north-east round tower stands the Zirbenkabinett, panelled in the style of about 1550. The west wing contains a spacious living room with a Renaissance coffered ceiling from Mölltal, and the Kapuziner-Stüberl. The north tower houses a two-storey round chapel whose portal is dated 1521, and its upper level features a star-ribbed vault with Rococo stucco work from the early 1700s. The castle remains in private hands and is protected as a listed monument.