Aichelburg Castle

The Aichelburg ruin is the ruin of a hilltop castle on a wooded fallback hill of the slope descending into the Gailtal valley, south of the village of St. Stefan an der Gail in Carinthia. The castle was abandoned at the end of the 17th century – presumably due to damage caused by an earthquake – and the preserved remains are listed as a historical monument.

Little is known about the original medieval complex from the 13th or 14th century. The building, which was probably only a tower, was first mentioned in a document on June 11, 1307, when, on the occasion of a division of property among the Gorizia counts, the "turen bey sand Stephan bey der Geyle" (tower near St. Stephen by the Gail) fell to Count Heinrich. In 1432, an "Aichelburg" was first mentioned in a document, but it was largely destroyed by the troops of Emperor Frederick III by 1460 at the latest. After his father's death, Maximilian I allowed Leonhart Platzer to rebuild the castle in 1494.

On September 8, 1500, Maximilian enfeoffed Christoph Viertaler, a wealthy citizen of Graz, with the estate. Viertaler is considered the founder of the Aichelburg family, after he was ennobled in 1507 and was subsequently allowed to call himself "von Aichelburg". The castle burned down in 1516, and a new building was subsequently erected in its place, which probably looked as Valvasor depicted it in 1688. The castle was only inhabited until 1691 and was abandoned after a fire – however, it had probably already been so severely damaged by the earthquake of 1690 that its inhabitants left it. Subsequently, it was used as a "quarry" and partially dismantled.