Hauenstein Castle

Regarding the lords of Hauenstein, the castle site was originally probably owned by the Eppensteiners, before it passed from them to the Styrian provincial princes. In 1222, a Wulfing von Hanau is mentioned as the owner. The Hanauers had to cede the fortress 'Hanstein' to Duke Albrecht in 1376, only to receive it back as a fief two years later. However, they had the castle administered by burgraves. Friedrich von Hanau bequeathed the castle to his son-in-law Hans von Laun. Under his heirs, the Greißeneggers, the fiefdom over Hauenstein Castle was confiscated by Emperor Frederick III in 1471 as a result of the noble uprising. In the following years, there were frequent changes of ownership.

In the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, Hauenstein had lost its strategic importance. However, due to the surrounding alpine pastures, it never completely lost its significance, which is why tenants were always found, including the administrator of Piber, Hans Stübich (1575), and the citizens of Judenburg, who kept a garrison in the castle to protect the muleteers (1586). The castle was probably abandoned only at the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century after a massive fire. The Hauenstein ruin is now owned by the Austrian Federal Forests.