Nieder-Hornburg Castle

Nieder-Hornburg Castle was built with its twin castle, Hoch-Hornburg, in the 12th century. They were owned by the Counts of Görz, who enfeoffed them to their ministeriales.

As such, around the middle of the 12th century, we encounter a "Seilbunch and Hermann de Horinbrech". In 1152, a "Gotefridus de Hornbrech" is mentioned in a Salzburg document. Around the turn of the 12th century, the castles seem to have come into the possession of the Dukes of Styria. In 1315, the Brothers of Hornburg bought the castles from Count Heinrich of Görz as their rightful property, yet they seem to have remained in the possession of the Görz family, because in 1381, Fritz der Ebersteiner reversed the dwelling at Hornberg to Count Meinhard of Görz.

The castles had probably returned to the Görz family after the extinction of the Hornbergers, who then enfeoffed them to the Ebersteiners. Through the Peace of Pusarnitz, the possessions of the Görz family fell to Emperor Frederick III, who enfeoffed Hornburg to Andrä von Greiseneck in 1461. After the Greiseneggers ran into financial difficulties, the creditors sold Hornburg to Siegmund Welzer in 1581. In 1584, Welzer was enfeoffed with the lordship by Archduke Karl. Around 1630, the lordship came by purchase to Georg David Christallnigg and remained in his family until 1940. The decay of both castles probably began in the 17th century, as they were already ruins according to Valvasor in 1688. Today, both ruins are in private ownership.