Aichberg Castle (Styria)

Aichberg Castle with parish church, Styria

Aichberg in the 17th century, engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer

Aichberg Castle (formerly Aichperg Castle ) is located in Eichberg in the municipality of Rohrbach an der Lafnitz in Styria and is now part of the Schlösserstraße in southeastern Austria .

history

Property of the Aichberger and the Welzer

After armed conflicts with Hungary, the border between the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary on the Lafnitz was established around 1043 and a belt of castles was built at the end of the 12th century. In 1250, Konrad von Aichberg was first mentioned in a document as an Aichberger . He probably founded the Kleinschlag ( Khuenschlag = clearing of the Kuono / Konrad) named after him (today's Eichberger district) . Aichberg Castle was first mentioned in 1374. In 1378, Wulfing Ritter von Aichberg had the stone castle chapel , consecrated in 1378, built to John the Baptist . Hans Ritter von Aichberg, the last male descendant of the Aichberg family, received lordship from Duke Wilhelm of Austria in 1396 . At the beginning of the 15th century, Aichberg got his daughter, who was married to Hans dem Reuter . Their daughter Barbara in turn married Balthasar Welzer from the Augsburg patrician family in 1407 , who sold it to brother-in-law Moritz Welzer .

Headquarters of the Steinpeisser

The Welzer again sold Aichberg in 1412 to the knight Seyfried Steinpeiss . Aichberg was the ancestral seat of the Steinpeissers until 1772. They expanded it into a castle in the middle of the 17th century . The castle chapel was also expanded by today's Eichberg parish church , with the burial place and tombstones of the count's family in it. They donated a Marian column near the church. After the death of Karl Joseph Graf von Steinpeiß, the rule went to his cousin, Maximilian Freiherrn von Waidmannsdorf by will .

Change of ownership, decline and renewed use

This was followed by a rapid change of ownership and the decline of the castle and the rule. The castle came into the possession of Johann Edmund Edlen von Erko in 1779. A Prague paper dealer named Donat Hartmann wins the castle, drawn in a lottery, in 1817. The Aichberg rulership and the Reitau rulership were acquired a little later by the captain Ludwig Graf von Schönfeld , who died shortly afterwards after a riding accident in 1828. The wealthy state councilor Heinrich von Müller-Hörnstein acquires in an auction. After his surviving heirs passed the two lords to Maria Anna Cäcilie Henriette Freiin von Eskeles (March 2, 1802 Vienna; † August 11, 1862 Munich), daughter of the Austrian banker Berhard von Eskeles , granddaughter of Daniel Itzig and later wife of Count Franz from Wimpffen . The Wimpffen family then owned Aichberg for 100 years. The Greek princes Ypsilanti bought the castle in 1906. Castle Reitau was also sold.

In the course of its eventful history, Aichberg Castle was rebuilt or rebuilt nine times. The current state of construction dates back to 1669 and was designed by a master builder from the Carlone school . During the First World War , Galician refugees were housed in the castle, who used the wood of the roof truss as firewood. During the Second World War it was the quarters of the German Wehrmacht. The castle has been privately owned since 1986, has been renovated and now houses a museum. Local artists repeatedly exhibit their works in the castle.