Groppenstein Castle

Groppenstein Castle is located north-west of Obervellach, near the confluence of the Mallnitzbach and Möll rivers, on a rock face sloping down on three sides above the village of Raufen. Today, the castle is privately owned by Dr. Robert Schöbel.

Groppenstein Castle was first mentioned in a document in 1254 as "turris Cropensteine". At that time, Archbishop Philipp of Salzburg enfeoffed his archer Heinrich Swärhaupt with some possessions near Groppenstein. A ministerial of the Counts of Ortenburg named Pabo de Cropensteine was a witness to this enfeoffment.

However, the castle tower could have been built much earlier. The name can be derived from the Old High German personal name Groppo (OHG groppo - greenfinch, cress).

At the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century, Groppenstein came into the possession of the Counts of Görz. In 1324, Friedrich von Groppenstein appears as court scribe to Count Albrecht of Görz-Tyrol.

For centuries, Groppenstein was considered a tower castle, but it was already referred to as a fortress in 1342. Konrad der Gröppler is listed as administrator in this year, whose son Jörg called himself von Groppenstein. Veronika von Groppenstein, the last of her line, married Wilhelm Graf von Schernperg.

The castle was expanded into a late medieval fortified complex by Görz ministerials between 1470 and 1480. During this time, Jakob Gröppel von Groppenstein also built the current palas.

When Veronika died in 1486, the property fell to her three sons. 20 years later, Emperor Maximilian I enfeoffed Christoph Graf with the castle. He also received the administration of Goldegg in Pongau from Archbishop Matthäus Lang of Salzburg.

Around 1588, Bartholomäus Khevenhüller and Friedrich von Hollenegg, who had married into the Graf von Schernberg family, were in possession of the castle complex. They sold Groppenstein to Adam Jakob von Lind in 1612.

From 1693 to 1870, the Barons von Sternbach are listed as castle owners. Two years later, the Viennese architect Adolf Stipperger acquired it. He carried out a Romanesque-style overall restoration of the already heavily dilapidated castle, both externally and internally. This gave Groppenstein its current appearance.

Groppenstein has been continuously inhabited throughout its history and is therefore very well preserved. Restoration work has been ongoing since 1968.