Stein Castle

In Stein, a castle, presumably wooden at first, already existed in the 10th century. In 975, it was gifted by Saint Hildegard to her son Albuin, later Bishop of Brixen. However, this fortified structure was not located on the present church hill, but on the Steinerberg, situated slightly to the west.

Around the middle of the 12th century, the Counts of Tyrol, as bailiffs of the Diocese of Brixen, came into possession of the castle. After their extinction, Meinhard III of Görz inherited it in 1253. Due to the remoteness of the complex, the Görz counts built the more favorably located castle, also named Stein, on the present Steiner Kirchberg. In 1358, Stein was pledged to the Counts of Cilli, who retained it until their extinction in 1456.

Two years later, a war broke out over their inheritance between the Görz counts and Emperor Frederick III, during which both Alt- and Neustein were destroyed. In the same year, the Emperor enfeoffed his councilor Hans Ungnad with the dominion. Concerned by the growing Turkish threat, Emperor Maximilian I handed over Stein to Hans von Presing in 1514 with the condition that he rebuild it defensively. Afterwards, the castle came to Archduke Karl, who sold it in 1585 to Johann Ambros Count von Thurn.

Soon after, it passed into the possession of the Lords of Windischgrätz. David von Windischgrätz sold it in 1622 to Melchior Putz von Kirchheimegg, who passed it on in 1635 to Siguna-Elisabeth Baroness Khevenhüller von Aichelberg. In 1643, Johann Andreas Baron von Rosenberg bought the castle, in whose family it remained until its final destruction in the 18th century. Around 1780, the stones were used for the construction of the toll house and for the expansion of the former castle chapel.