Forchtenstein Castle

Documentary evidence suggests that a Markwart von Forchtenstein was the first owner in 1187. In 1224, a document first mentions the "novo castro". However, the name Forchtenstein first appears in 1497. Until then, the castle, as well as the village below it, was called Neumarkt.

In 1235, Emperor Frederick II issued a document confirming the possessions of Admont Abbey. When King Ottokar became Duke of Styria, he also occupied the castle, which had been taken by the Hungarians in 1254. In 1275, he had to protect St. Lambrecht Abbey from the encroachments of his own castellan. After Ottokar's death, the Bohemian occupation was driven out by Dietrich von Pux.

The feudal lordship was now taken over by the Habsburgs. In 1318, King Frederick the Fair pledged Neumarkt to the Archbishop of Salzburg. In 1480, Hungarian troops, pursued by the Turks, marched to Neumarkt. They were allowed into the fortified market to fight jointly against the Turks. Their attack was repelled, but the Hungarians remained in Neumarkt. They could only be driven out in 1482 by imperial troops under Balthasar Tannhauser. In 1486, the Hungarians again seized the market and the castle, but had to retreat just two months later before Tannhauser and his mercenaries. Tannhauser remained as administrator of the castle, but handed it over to Rudolf Trauner in 1492. In 1588, it was pledged to Wolfgang Schranz. Forchtenstein had by then become a semi-ruin. Due to its favorable location, however, it had been designated as a beacon station in 1596.

In 1612, Philibert Schranz sold the lordship to Franz Freiherr von Teufenbach. His daughter Anna Leonora von Schrottenbach sold it in 1630 to Seifried Püchler. In 1700, St. Lambrecht Abbey took over the heavily indebted lordship with the dilapidated fortress. Since it had no use for the latter, it sold the castle to Franz Josef Freiherr von Putterer. Under the next owner, Hans Georg von Freudenpichl, the estate was placed under forced administration. Thereafter, owners changed quite frequently, which led to Forchtenstein becoming a ruin at the beginning of the 19th century. In the 1920s, the upper castle was rebuilt and used as a guesthouse. In 1957, Mrs. Anneliese Solewacher-Antwilser handed it over to an association of New European Federalists. Forchtenstein today serves as a "Europe House" where seminars and conferences are held.