Flaschberg Castle

The castle ruin Flaschberg is a dilapidated fortification in the area of the Carinthian municipality of Oberdrauburg.

The castle ruin is located above Flaschberg, a linear village approximately 3 km west of Oberdrauburg. The fortification in Flaschberg was in a strategically favorable position to secure the pass road from the Drau valley to the Gail and Lesach valleys.

A small structure referred to as "Flassinperc" first appears in documents in 1154, when a certain Ugo de Flassinperc was mentioned as a witness in a document from Aquileia. In the regular conflicts between the Counts of Görz and the Archbishopric of Salzburg – both of whom had extensive possessions in the Drau valley – the Flaschbergers served the Görzers. For example, Ulrich von Flaschberg was accused around 1280 of severely harming the Salzburgers through robbery, the capture of Salzburg subjects, and illegal tax collections. Nevertheless, the Flaschbergers were increasingly entrusted with diplomatic missions by the Görzers. Subsequently, they came into possession of lands in the Puster Valley, around Lienz, and in Friuli.

With the Peace of Pusarnitz in 1460, all Görz possessions, and thus also Flaschberg Castle, were placed under imperial administrators. Since the Flaschbergers consequently lost all influence, Christof von Flaschberg left Carinthia around 1500 to serve the Count of Hardegg. The castle eventually fell to the Lords of Mandorff, who, however, sold it to the Counts Widmann-Ortenburg as early as 1643. Between 1662 and 1918, Flaschberg Castle and its lands were owned by the Princes of Porcia. Today, the ruin is in private hands.