Mittertrixen Castle

The history of Mittertrixen dates back to the 9th century. However, until the 14th century, no distinction was made in the documents between Ober-, Mitter- and Niedertrixen.

Around 1090, Bishop Berthold von Zeltschach of Gurk enfeoffed Count Engelbert von Spanheim with two castles in the Trixen Valley. Through Kunigunde, the widow of Count Bernhard, the fortress came into the possession of Styrian ministeriales. The Trixner family living here died out with Otto II in 1261. His daughter Gertrud mortgaged the lordship in 1278 to Ulrich Count Heunburg. In 1317, Countess Elisabeth von Heunburg received Mittertrixen as a morning gift. After the extinction of the Heunburgers, Duke Rudolf IV granted the castle to Count Johann von Pfannberg.

Mittertrixen came as a princely fief in 1362 to the Aufensteiner family and, after their downfall, to Peter von Liemberg. He sold it in 1400 to Alexander Gradner. From 1460, the lordship belonged to the von Hengsbach family. After the death of Siegmund von Hengsbach, it was sold around 1597 to Siegmund von Spangenstein. In 1641, Georg Sigmund Baron von Spangenstein sold Mittertrixen to Claudius Schneeweiß von Arnoldstein.

Various owners followed him. In 1742, Mittertrixen came into the possession of Johann Moritz Count Christalnigg. After the construction of the castle around 1769, the old castle was left to decay. In 1939, the German Resettlement Company took over the estate, but it was returned to the Christalnigg family in 1949. The ruin remained in their possession until 1952.