Fürstenfeld Castle

The Castle am Stein was the main castle of Fürstenfeld. It was probably built around 1170 by Margrave Ottokar IV, the Styrian sovereign, at the same time as the first town foundation. It was first mentioned in a document in 1185.

In the 12th century, it was an important base for the colonization of Eastern Styria. On the occasion of the town expansion in 1220 by Duke Leopold VI, the town castle was also enlarged. The castle was the seat of the princely castle and town captain and was administered by burgraves. Konrad von Fürstenfeld appears as the first towards the end of the 12th century. Walther, mentioned in 1234, founded the respected family of Pris von Fürstenfeld, which was entrusted with the administration of the castle until the middle of the 13th century.

The subsequent administrators also named themselves after the town. They resided in the castle until the end of the 14th century. These Fürstenfelders were followed by burgraves from various Styrian families. After the extinction of the Stadeckers, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Montfort as a pledge. Count Stefan von Montfort handed over the dominion of Stein to King Frederick IV in 1437. He pledged it to Hans von Stubenberg in the same year. In 1445, it reverted to the sovereign. During the Hungarian Wars, the fortifications were greatly expanded and manned with mercenaries. In 1469, the troops of Andreas Baumkircher succeeded in surprising the garrison and taking the town and castle. An imperial relief army was decisively defeated in front of the walls of Fürstenfeld a few months later. Only in the next year could Count Wilhelm von Tierstein recapture the castle for the emperor. In 1480, it was lost to the Hungarians again. After the death of their king Matthias Corvinus, the Hungarians vacated Fürstenfeld again in 1491.

The castle was severely damaged by fires in 1503 and 1509. Afterwards, it was pledged several times. In 1562, another fire caused great damage. These had to be subsequently repaired by Achatz von Herberstein. In 1578, the dominion was transferred to Franz von Poppendorf. The administrator Kaspar Kempinsky carried out extensive expansions of the defensive structures in 1590. In 1605, the Hajduk colonel Gregor Némethy conquered Fürstenfeld. In 1621, the dominion was pledged to the Barons Hans Christof and Rudolf von Paar and finally sold in 1625. Since Julius Freiherr von Paar could not pay his tax debts, the dominion was withdrawn from him by the Styrian estates in 1637 and sold to Maximilian Graf Trautmannsdorf. In 1672, the Hungarians once again attacked Fürstenfeld and completely plundered it. In 1683, a lightning strike destroyed the powder tower. In 1703, Julius Graf Paar bought the dominion am Stein. In 1704 and 1705, the Kurucs tried to take Fürstenfeld but did not succeed. As times became calmer in the 18th century, maintenance of the defensive structures was neglected.

In 1776, the Austrian state bought the castle and established a tobacco factory in it. Most of the buildings of the former castle have since had to make way for the expansion of this factory or were altered. In the course of 2008, cigar production will be moved to Wales. What will happen to the buildings of the former "Schloss am Stein" is not foreseeable. They are still owned by Austria Tabakwerke AG.