Mühlegg Castle

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Mühlegg Castle in August 2013

Schloss Mühlegg , also spelled Mühleck , is a castle in the market town of Gössendorf in Styria . Its history goes back to the middle of the 14th century. The astronomer Johannes Kepler lived in this castle for a short time. Since 1974 it has been used by the Styrian Chamber of Commerce as a boarding school for apprentices.

Location

The castle is about 8 kilometers south of Graz in the market town of Gössendorf in the Auland der Mur . It has the address Schloßweg 2 and 4.

history

View of the castle from the courtyard

At the location of the later castle, a mill was first mentioned in 1355, to which it owes its current name. Until 1575 the farm belonged to the Grazer Hubamt (tax authority) and in that year it came into the possession of the miller Jobst Müller. The astronomer Johannes Kepler married Müller's daughter Barbara, who was twice widowed in 1597. Müller had an astronomical tower built for Kepler, which was removed in 1868. Kepler lived in the residence until 1599, but then had to leave the country due to his Protestant beliefs. In 1603, Michael Müller added the suffix “von und zu Mühleck” to his name. Later he was raised to the hereditary knighthood and the estate was exempted from the usual conditions and taxes.

Müller's heirs sold the castle in 1642 to Weikhart Fettauer, the owner of Alt-Sturmberg Castle . He sold it to Georg Andree von Schrampf in 1657. Schrampf, in turn, passed it on to Baron Johann Gabriel von Maschwander in 1661. Hans Friedrich Graf Galler bought the property in 1664, but in the following years accumulated such high debts that it was confiscated after the death of Countess Anna Theresia Galler in 1733 and auctioned off in 1741. Rudolf von Streitz won the auction. After Streitz there were frequent changes of ownership. From 1931 until their expropriation in 1940, the Barons Berger-Waldenegg owned Mühlegg. They were succeeded by Alfred Count Doret until 1959. After 1959, the Christian World Mission housed a branch in the castle building. The Styrian Chamber of Commerce has been using the castle as a boarding school for apprentices since 1974, for which it was rebuilt and other buildings were newly constructed.

description

The massive, two-story castle building from the 17th century has a hook-shaped floor plan. The facades are simply designed and provided with several coats of arms and memorial stones. On the courtyard side of the upper floor there is a two-story pillar arcade with basket arch arcades, which was partially walled up and more recently glazed.

Most of the interiors were adapted to today's use as a boarding school. The former palace chapel and some of the rooms have been preserved from the old interior design to this day. Kepler's astronomical tower was demolished in 1868 and can only be verified today in the construction of the roof structure.

Several new buildings were built around the old castle building to provide space for the boarding school.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Mühlegg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 46 ° 59'26.1 "  N , 15 ° 28'56.3"  E