Großsölk Castle

The area around the Sölktäler valleys and the Sölk Pass was originally an imperial estate, which the German king granted to the Styrian margraves between 925 and 1125. The dominion was usually given as a fief. In 1341, Duke Albrecht II pledged Großsölk to the brothers Herdegen and Friedrich von Pettau. By this time, a fortified court must have stood here. The sovereign allowed the Pettauers to convert it into a castle, which primarily served as a customs and toll station.

In 1430, Hans Lasberger sold it to Simon Volkra. The Volkra family had the keep raised. They owned the castle until 1505, when it was sold by Stephan Volkra to Veit von Zelking. With this, Großsölk ceased to be a noble residence.

Großsölk soon passed by inheritance to Albert von Puchheim, who sold it in 1356 to Konrad Kuchler. He kept the fortress for only a few months and then sold it to Friedrich von Pettau. It remained with the family until their extinction in 1438. Then it was confiscated by the sovereign and usually administered by stewards. Between 1518 and 1529, Großsölk was pledged to Hanns Finsterwalder. In 1539, King Ferdinand I sold the dominion for a hundred years to Baron Hans Hofmann von Grünbichl. He converted the castle into the present-day palace.

In 1583, Leopold Freiherr von Herberstein took over the dominion from him. Archduke Ferdinand acquired it in 1612 and handed it over to the Jesuit Order with the task of definitively converting the Protestant population of these remote valleys to Catholicism. After the dissolution of the order, Großsölk became a state dominion in 1773. In 1824, an auction took place, which Maximilian Groinigg won. After him, the owners changed quite frequently. Finally, the palace was taken over by the church and served as a rectory. Since 1998, the former palace has been used by the Sölktäler Nature Park as a regional museum and event center.