Meeting Castle (Carinthia)

Castle (old) meeting
Creation time :	around 1065
Castle type :	Höhenburg on a Felskogel
Conservation status:	Ruin; not secured, left to decay
Standing position :	Count
Construction:	Quarry stone masonry
Place:	Meeting (Carinthia)
Geographical location	46 ° 41 '10.4 " N , 13 ° 50' 33.2" E Coordinates: 46 ° 41 '10.4 " N , 13 ° 50' 33.2" E
Height:	750 m above sea level A.

The Treffen castle in Treffen am Ossiacher See was the administrative seat of the lordship Treffen in the Middle Ages.

Geographical location

Floor plan of the Treffen castle (Carinthia)

The Treffen castle ruin is located on a throwback knoll of the Steinwender Höhe, at the outlet of the valley to the Villach Basin near the Ossiacher See , about 10 km north of Villach . The now heavily dilapidated ruins of the former Treffen castle are located on the eastern side of the valley, approx. 220 m above the valley floor at about 750 m above sea level. NN on a mighty Felskogel on the western foothills of the Gerlitzen massif. The location was strategically well chosen, as the castle enabled very good views and contact options through the Krastal to the Drau (which at that time formed the rule border) and to Finkenstein am Faaker See . The castle covers an area of 5,400 m ² .

Ownership

The history of the castle goes back to the 9th century. In 878 King Karlmann gave the Hof Treffen to the Bavarian monastery Ötting . The later castle is likely to have developed from this courtyard over time. In the 10th century, the meeting came to the diocese of Salzburg. In 993 it was owned by the Passau bishops. They exchanged it with King Heinrich II in 1007 .

The castle was founded around 1065 by Count Markwart v. Eppenstein . The Counts and Carinthian Dukes of Eppenstein were among the most powerful dynasties in the southeastern Alpine region at that time.

Around 1090 the castle and other Eppensteiner possessions passed through a marriage to the Swabian Count Wolfrad I from the Swabian dynasty of the Counts of Veringen . From 1121 he appeared as Count "von Treffen". Counts Wolfrad I and II were always prominently mentioned in the ranks of witnesses and must have had a high social position in the country.

On August 8, 1161 Ulrich II von Treffen , the son of Wolfrad II and his wife Hemma, was elected Patriarch of Aquileia . Thereupon in 1163 the castle together with the possessions in Treffen and the neighboring Tiffen were transferred to the Patriarchate of Aquileia. This moved the Carinthian Duke Hermann II von Spanheim to besiege the castle Treffen and to occupy it in 1177. Emperor Friedrich I (Barbarossa) confirmed the patriarch's legality of the donation and the Carinthian duke had to give it back.

From 1163 to 1245 the Patriarchs of Aquilea owned the estate and castle. During this time she was object of controversy several times and was overrun by servants of other gentlemen. In 1199 the Archbishop of Salzburg raised claims to the castle, but this time the Patriarch Wolfgang was again confirmed his ownership by Emperor Friedrich II . In 1277 Count Friedrich von Ortenburg was enfeoffed with meetings. In 1306, Patriarch Ottobonus pledged the castle, then known as "turris de Treven", to the Carinthian dukes Otto and Heinrich for 30 years . Two years later they passed this on to Konrad von Aufenstein as a pledge . In 1324 the Aufensteiner passed the rule on as an afterfief to Engelmar von Villanders .

In 1361 the Auffensteiner meetings returned to Aquileja and asked the Patriarch Ludwig to enfeoff Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg with the reign of the meeting . Duke Albrecht III. enfeoffed Rudolf of Liechtenstein with the rule in 1371. From 1473 to 1483 the Turks rob and pillage Carinthia. The viceroy of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus , has also been involved since 1480 and attracts Niklas von Liechtenstein with a private peace treaty. This treaty was signed by Emperor Friedrich III. viewed as treason and he had the castles of the Lichtensteiner, Treffen and Seltenheim , destroyed in 1489 and deprived him of the hereditary marshal's office . Niklas von Liechtenstein was ostracized for his support of the Hungarians and was given to Lasla Prager in 1490. This repaired the damage and improved the fortifications of the castle.

Emperor Ferdinand II returned it to Georg von Liechtenstein in 1538. The Liechtensteiners built the new castle in the valley, so that the castle was no longer inhabited and fell into disrepair. Georg's grandson Otto VI sold the estate to Barbara von Seenuss in 1552. In 1623 Christian Proy inherited the property. After the death of his son Georg Philipp in 1647 Anton Freiherr Grotta von Grottenegg bought the estate. In 1690 the castle was completely ruined by a severe earthquake. In the middle of the 18th century, Count Theodor Christalnigg bought the rule. He was followed in 1781 by his daughter, Countess Marianne Goess and in 1808 by Josef Sebastian Pobeheim.

In 1818 Count Peter Goess bought the estate back for his family. It stayed there until 1885 when it was sold to Count Theodor de la Tour en Voivre . In 1916 Rudolf von Gall inherited the property, which passed to his daughter Ilse von Sallmann in 1961. She was followed by Karoline Kramer, who is still the landowner of Alt-Treffen today.

Picture gallery

Meet Castle (Carinthia) around 1890 with a view from the south-west.
Sketch of the Treffen castle (Carinthia) by Markus Pernhart with a view from the east.
Entrance tower to the service yard of the Treffen castle (Carinthia), view from the west.
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the south-west.
Meet Castle (Carinthia) (Photo by Hermann Truschnig) View from the south-west.
Meeting Castle (Carinthia)
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the north-west.
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the south-east.
Meeting Castle (Carinthia)
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the north.
Meeting Castle (Carinthia)
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the east.
Meet Castle (Carinthia) view from the east.
Sketch Burg Treffen (Carinthia) view from the east.