Castle of Graz

The Castle of Graz lies in the east of the old town of Graz, near Graz Cathedral, and was built from 1438 by Duke Frederick V, the later Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Because of its low defensive value the castle was connected by a covered passage with the fortress on the Schloßberg. From 1564 Graz was the capital of Inner Austria and the castle became the seat of the Inner Austrian archdukes. Because of this position it was rebuilt and enlarged. After Archduke Ferdinand II was crowned emperor in 1619 and moved to Vienna, the castle lost its function as the seat of the territorial prince and was neglected.

In the following centuries renovation work was carried out several times, but it covered only parts of the fabric. In 1822 part of the castle was considered dilapidated, and between 1853 and 1854 part of the buildings was demolished. At the beginning of the 20th century there were structural extensions again, and since 1922 the Castle of Graz has been the seat of the Styrian governor.

In the Second World War the fabric was partly severely damaged and was rebuilt from 1947. Between 1950 and 1952 new buildings were erected, known as the Neue Burg. Today, besides the governor's office, several departments of the Office of the Styrian Provincial Government are located in it.

The castle is only partly accessible to the public. Only the castle courtyards and the double spiral staircase may be freely visited.

Machine-translated from “Grazer Burg” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle of Graz ranks #3,367 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #83 of the 201 mapped in Austria. Founded 1438, it is older than 51% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,418 times in the last 60 days, more than 58% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Graz, 1 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in German) ↗