Schmirnberg Castle

The castle ruin Schmirnberg (Schmierenberg) is located on a small wooded hill in a forest area sloping northwards in the municipality of Schloßberg near the Slovenian border in Southern Styria.

The castle is first mentioned around 1250 as castrum Smilnburch in the possession of a Hadmar von Schönberch, but was probably built by the Spanheimers in the 11th century and given as a donation around 1100 to their monastery St. Paul. The associated dominion then encompassed the entire Leutschach area (Lords of Liubschach, noble vassals of the abbey) and also areas west and south of the Poßruck ridge towards the Drau. The castle also included a manor farm, which was separated from the dominion early on and subsequently developed into Leutschach Castle or Trautenburg.

St. Paul enfeoffed the Lords of Mureck with the castle, who died out with Reimbert II in 1245. Reimbert's daughter Mechthild brought the castle and dominion to her husband Hadmar von Schönberg, who in 1250 documented the remorseful return of alienated goods to the Diocese of Seckau. In 1255, his widow Mechthild compensated St. Paul Abbey for the wrongs suffered by Hadmar.

Around 1282, the Schönbergers sold Schmirnberg to Count Ulrich von Heunburg, whose castellan Marquard (Merchel) von Smielenburg is often mentioned in documents until around 1300. A few years later, the castle apparently served as a dowry security for Ulrich's daughter Elisabeth, whose first husband Count Hermann von Pfannberg, however, died as early as 1287.

In 1292, Count Ulrich was a leading participant in the Styrian noble uprising against Duke Albrecht I; Schmierenberg was captured by the ducal troops, and returned in 1295. On June 22, 1297, in Traberg, Elisabeth, widow of Count Hermann von Pfannberg, approved that a hide in Chazfeldesdorf (today Kitzelsdorf) and one in Lodeine (Lateindorf, both near Oberhaag) with all mining rights according to Eywanswalder (Eibiswald) measure - fiefs of Marquard von Smielenberg originating from the Counts of Pfannberg - could be donated to Mahrenberg Monastery for Marquard's daughter Diemut, a nun there.

In 1303, we find Elisabeth with her second husband Heinrich von Hohenlohe residing in Schmirnberg, where they documented in March in favor of St. Paul Abbey. And also in 1322, upon the extinction of the Heunburgers in the male line, Schmirnberg - alongside Traberg and some Upper Styrian rents - remained in their possession.

However, represented by Heinrich's brother Count Friedrich von Hohenlohe, then a canon in Bamberg, they sold "Smyelenburch" on June 21, 1326, for 3000 marks of silver to Ulrich von Walsee; his sons Ulrich and Friedrich divided the possessions around the castle in 1352; after their death, Schmirnberg came to Eberhard von Walsee († 1363). In 1363, St. Paul granted Schmirnberg to Duke Rudolf IV, and after his death in 1365, to the Counts of Cilli.

King Frederick III wrested Schmirnberg from the Cillians in 1443 - his follower Pankraz von Rindscheid received the castle "for his services from youth onwards" - and in 1445 made it a princely fief and pledge dominion with regional and high jurisdiction. In 1458, Leutschach became an independent market and was separated from the direct administration and jurisdiction of Schmirnberg.

From the year 1575, there is a register of the "Merung und Staigerung" (increase and assessment) of the subjects on the occasion of the reform in 1575 (with "Register of Freistifter and Kaufrechter..." In 1575, new vaults were built, on which two granaries were erected, and in 1577, the four-story old building with a large hall on the 4th floor was newly renovated.

In 1596, the castle appears as a beacon warning station in the defense against the Turkish threat.

Until 1621 (sale by Emperor Ferdinand II), the castle remained in princely possession. In the 17th century, it was owned by the Stubenbergers, and from 1720–1912 by the Schönborn family.

The church was still in use at the beginning of the 19th century, but since then, the extensive, once heavily fortified complex has fallen into ruin. Remains of the walls, which were up to 2.5 m thick, are still visible.

In the northeast of the ruin are the remains of a chapel dedicated to the Annunciation of Mary. This church was first mentioned in documents in 1352.

Name Variations

Smyelburch, Smilburch, Smiellnburch, Schmielnberg, Schmielenberg, Smiellenberg, Smiellnberg, Schmiernberg, Schmierenberg

Neighbors

Neighbors of Schmirnberg were the lordships of Faal (Fala), Wildhaus (Viltus, both in the Drau valley), Trautenburg, Arnfels, Witschein (Svečina), Rabenstein? (near St. Paul), Ehrenhausen, Straß, Marburg (Maribor)

Further Castle Owners

Further owners of the castle were Policarp Scheidt (from 1621), von Herberstein (1667), Proßkhau (1667), Vedl (1667), von Wagensberg (1668), Fehr von Fehrntal (1668), Count Lengheim (1669), Stubenberger (until 1670), von Grattenau (around 1671), Katzianer (1671/72), von Schölling (1673), Breuner (until 1677), Peter Philipp von Dernbach († 1683), Bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg (Dernbacher/Dernpacher until after 1686), von Schönborn (after 1686), Stubenberger (around 1693), Khißl (1705), von Jabornegg und Gamsenegg (until 1724), von Schönborn (from 1724), Count Rabatta (1734), von Gaisruck (1791), Renner and Ursini-Rosenberg.