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Palace

Schloss Stainz

Austria · 18th century

Founded
1730
Style
Gothic architecture
Heritage status
Listed objects in Austria
Location
Stainz
Coordinates
46.8963°, 15.2637°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Schloss Stainz in Austria
Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Schloss Stainz is a former monastery in Stainz, located in the Austrian state of Styria. Today, the Baroque complex belongs to the Counts of Meran and hosts two museum collections from the Universal Museum Joanneum.

Stainz Priory (German: Stift Stainz) was a monastery founded by the Augustinian Canons in 1229, when Leutold I von Wildon, lord of the manor of Stainz, allowed a small church with a monastery attached to be established on the mountain where his castle stood. The monastery was settled by canons regular from Seckau Priory.

The priory experienced its heyday during the early 16th century under provost Jakob Roselenz (1596–1629), under whom the community was reorganised and the church, previously neglected, was enlarged. The interior was later refurbished in the Baroque style, with extensive stucco decoration. The church organ counts among the largest and most melodious in Styria and was restored in 1980.

The monastery was dissolved in 1785 as part of the rationalist reforms of the Emperor Joseph II. The church however remained in use.

In 1840, Archduke Johann, son of Emperor Leopold II and an avid hunter, purchased the building complex from the town for the sum of 40,000 guilders for use as a hunting lodge, known thereafter as Schloss Stainz. Since his death in 1859, it has remained in the family estate of his descendants, the Counts of Meran.

Today, besides offering gardens and rooms to rent for engagements, the castle houses two collections from the Universal Museum Joanneum. On 16 September 2006, the Steirisches Jagdmuseum ("Styrian Hunting Museum") was opened. The interdisciplinary approach of this collection combines contemporary technology with historic equipment, weapons and specimens to explore the historical, sociological and anthropological, as well as the philosophical and ethical, phenomena of the human practice of hunting, in addition to wildlife ecology.

In 2009, the Landwirtschaftsmuseum ("Museum of Agriculture and Forestry") also opened, displaying collections of rural Styrian folk culture. The main focus of the exhibition is on the agricultural implements and the household effects of the Styrian countryside from the Stone Age to the present. The exhibition displays objects related to the different branches of agriculture and husbandry, and it offers a fitting companion to the Hunting Museum.

Text adapted from “Schloss Stainz” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Schloss Stainz ranks #5,611 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #147 of the 316 mapped in Austria. Founded 1730, it is older than 19% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 757 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,335 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Graz, 24 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.

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