Schloss Eberstein

Schloss Eberstein stands on a steep rock above the Görtschitztal valley in the north-east of the Austrian province of Kärnten. The castle gave its name to the nearby village of Eberstein, which today includes the rocky outcrop within its municipal boundaries. The original 11th-century fortress, first mentioned in 1078, once crowned a higher point on the mountain but its ruins were cleared away in the mid-20th century. The lower stronghold, the present-day Schloss Eberstein, was a group of living quarters arranged around an inner courtyard. The conflict between the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Emperor led to its construction, with Eberstein and Friesach serving as Salzburg’s regional bases. The castle passed through several noble families, beginning with the Görzer ministeriales in the 14th century who took the name ‘Herren von Eberstein’. After their line died out in 1433, Moritz Welzer acquired the seat in 1457 and expanded the lower castle in the late 16th century. Protestant Welzers were forced to emigrate during the Counter-Reformation and sold the property in 1630 to the Christalnigg counts. Under this family, who had grown rich from iron mining in the Hüttenberg region, Eberstein reached its greatest prosperity. By the late 18th century the estate included villages, ironworks and even a town palace in Klagenfurt. The present castle dates from 1851–68 when Graf Alfred Christian Carl Christalnigg remodelled it in neo-Gothic Tudor style. The complex consists of interlocking buildings with stepped gables, battlements and small turret-like projections. A 13th-century chapel, dedicated to St George, is attached to the south side and was long used as the parish church. Its 19th-century stained glass and wall paintings from the Reformation period remain visible, along with painted apostle portraits on the gallery balustrade. The chapel’s high altar features figures of differing origins, with Saint George at its centre.