Haßbach Castle

Haßbach Castle was part of the defensive line that the Styrian dukes had built in the 12th century to protect their border against Austria. Gundachorus de Hauchspach, first mentioned in 1217, participated with Duke Leopold VI in a crusade to the Holy Land and also took part in the siege of Damietta. The Haßbach family was a collateral line of the Salzburg ministeriales of Lichtenwald.

Heinrich von Haßbach invaded Hungary around 1250, which triggered a counterattack by King Bela IV. Haßbach was also destroyed in the process but soon rebuilt. Around the middle of the 14th century, the family had great financial problems, so they had to sell their ancestral castle to Ulrich von Ebersdorf around 1360.

He and his successor Rudolf Scheuerbeck were also heavily indebted, so the castle passed to Wulfing von Stubenberg in 1385. Haßbach was then administered by stewards. At the beginning of the third quarter of the 15th century, the defensive capability of the complex was greatly improved by the construction of the outer ring wall. The Stubenbergs, due to their kinship with Andreas Baumkircher, became involved in his feud with Frederick III in 1469, which cost them their possessions. Imperial troops conquered Haßbach in 1470 after a short siege and destroyed it.

The emperor gifted the lordship to the Pauline monastery in Wiener Neustadt, which he had founded. In 1487, Haßbach fell into the hands of the Hungarians and could only be recaptured by the Imperial forces in 1491. In 1511, the Stubenbergs regained the Haßbach estates, but the castle was not rebuilt. In 1546, the land was united with Gutenbrunn and Grabensee to form the large lordship of Steyersberg, to which the ruin still belongs today.