Zeiselberg Castle

The Zeiselberg castle ruins, or Zeiselburg for short, refer to the remains of a medieval castle on a hill above the village of the same name in the municipality of Magdalensberg in Carinthia, which presumably existed for only a few decades in the 13th century. In recent times, parts of the complex have been excavated and reconstructed. Zeiselburg is now a popular excursion destination.

The Zeiselberger family, who were ministeriales of the Carinthian dukes, is historically verifiable for the year 1202. The family was a branch of the Freibergers, who resided in the 12th century at the ducal castle of Freiberg north of St. Veit. The castle on Zeiselberg was first mentioned in a document in 1250 as being in the possession of the Lords of Zeisel. Albert de Zeyselberg, son of Heinricus Ziesel, was a ducal cupbearer and between 1267 and 1269 the supreme judge in Carinthia. Under him, the castle was rebuilt in the second half of the 13th century. With Albert's death, the Zeiselberger family died out in the male line in the 1270s. Albert's widow Aleiza had to return properties alienated by her husband before her death. Her sons-in-law were involved in an uprising against the Habsburgs in 1292, after which Zeiselburg was besieged and destroyed in May 1293. It was probably not rebuilt. In the 15th century, the Mordax family appears as owners of the Zeiselberg dominion, and in 1493, the Siegerdorfer family was enfeoffed with Zeiselberg by Emperor Frederick III. After that, the Zeiselberg dominion was no longer mentioned in documents.

In 1989, the owner of the property, Kurt Zechner, began to excavate the buried remains of Zeiselburg and to reconstruct parts of the complex using the available material.