Messendorf Castle

Messendorf Castle is located on St.-Peter-Hauptstraße in the Messendorf district of the eighth Graz district of St. Peter. The building, formerly used as a provincial special hospital for psychiatry and neurology, currently houses the Graz Waldorf School.

The history of the castle can be traced back to the 13th century, when around 1233 a knightly family settled in what was then Mezzendorf and named themselves and the court after the village. The original building was also called Breunerhof and Freischloss. When Messendorf Castle came into the possession of the Weißenegger family in 1479, it was first mentioned in a document.

From 1568 it was owned by the Counts of Lengheimb, who had it expanded into a late Renaissance style castle. The Lengheimb family sold the "Siz Meßtorff" together with the Meierhof to Countess Josefa Breuner, until it passed into the ownership of the Trauttmansdorff family in 1802. The castle was adapted as a brewery. After 1865, the State of Styria took over the property and used it as a forced labor house. Later, a provincial special hospital for psychiatry and neurology was established, until the Graz Waldorf School moved into the premises in the 1980s.