Hochosterwitz Castle

Burg Hochosterwitz sits on a rocky cone around 160 m high and is regarded as one of Carinthia's landmarks. The ascent leads through 14 successive gates, an extraordinary medieval fortification. Preserved largely since the 16th century, the castle is visible from afar and today houses a museum.

Highlights

• Striking rocky cone with a castle visible from afar
• Ascent through 14 staggered gates
• Well-preserved 16th-century fortification
• Castle museum and views

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Practical info

Background & History

Hochosterwitz Castle in Carinthia sits enthroned on a free-standing dolomite rock that rises about 160 metres steeply above the surrounding plain, and is considered one of the most impressive fortifications in Austria. The striking rock is mentioned in documents as early as the early Middle Ages, but the castle received its present form in the 16th century, when the Carinthian governor Georg von Khevenhüller expanded it into an almost impregnable fortress in order to protect the land and its people against the threatened invasions of the Ottomans. From then on the complex was regarded as a symbol of sovereign protection.

The heart of the castle is the famous winding ascent: fourteen gates staggered one behind the other, each fitted with its own defensive devices and traps, wind their way up the rock and made a frontal assault nearly hopeless. The castle was never conquered and remains to this day in the possession of the Khevenhüller family, who preserved it over the centuries. A well-known legend tells of a siege during which the almost starved defenders demonstratively threw their last ox over the wall in order to feign abundant supplies to the attackers, whereupon the latter withdrew disheartened. Thus Hochosterwitz combines defensive history with living legend and ranks among the best-preserved castles in the entire Alpine region.