Gradenegg Castle

The castle ruin Gradenegg is located in the municipality of Liebenfels in Carinthia/Austria. The small castle complex, already heavily dilapidated, lies about 300 m above the Glantal valley floor on a low rocky spur.

The core of the complex is a massive Romanesque keep, around which several utility buildings from the 14th/15th century are grouped. To the west, separated from the utility complex, is the three-story palas. The building, originally from the first construction phase, was extensively rebuilt, expanded, and provided with marble window and door frames in the 16th century. The castle is surrounded by a curtain wall from the 15th century. In the northeast corner of this enclosure is a small corner tower. Access to the castle was also from the north side, where it is protected by a considerable neck ditch.

The first documented mention occurred on May 27, 1192, attested by Rudlandus de Gradnich as a ministerialis of the Carinthian Duke.

The Carinthian historian F. X. Kohla reports that in 1787 Roman copper and silver coins were found near or in the castle. Old mines are also mentioned by Kohla.

The severe earthquake of 1796 heavily damaged the castle, and soon after it was only used as stables and utility buildings. A now lost drawing by the artist Markus Pernhart shows that around 1870 the castle still had all its roofs, but was already in disrepair.