Harbach Castle

Harbach Castle is located in the St. Peter district on the eastern outskirts of Klagenfurt am Wörthersee. The original medieval noble residence was first mentioned in a document in 1213, later converted into a castle, and significantly rebuilt and extended again between 1893 and 1962. Harbach Castle has been owned by the Carinthian Diakonie since 2002.

Harbach, located to the east of the city, was a noble residence in the High Middle Ages. Little is known about the medieval building and its owners. The brothers Reimbotus and Hermannus de Horbach were mentioned in a document by Duke Bernhard von Spanheim in 1213, and in 1303 a Heinrich von Harbach was named. When and by whom the original building was transformed into a castle is unknown. Only on the occasion of its sale by the court chamber procurator Josef Karl von Keller, who sold the property to Dr. Franz Rainer in 1752, does the castle reappear in documents. Franz Rainer was ennobled in 1755 and subsequently named himself after the castle.

In 1890, the Elisabeth Association, which consisted predominantly of noble ladies and was dedicated to helping adolescent girls in need, invited the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to Klagenfurt. On April 18, 1890, the sisters were re-established in Harbach, where they henceforth cared for both girls in need and those with difficult behavior. When the building soon proved too small, extensive additions and alterations were made starting in 1893. First, a wing was added on the north side, which could be occupied in 1897. At the beginning of the 20th century, another building oriented west-east was constructed. At its western end, the church wing was built from 1914 to 1918, and a convent chapel was set up on its first floor.

Further additions were made at the eastern end after the First World War. In 1925, a kindergarten and an after-school care center were opened. In 1936, a new school building was constructed; the previously one-class elementary school was expanded to a three-class school, and a domestic science vocational school was also opened. During the Second World War, Harbach Castle was used by the National Socialists for a state boys' institution. The premises were not returned to the sisters until 1955. The original castle, by then more of an "annex" to the building complex, was extended from two to three stories in 1962. A complete exterior restoration was carried out between 1976 and 1979.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd ran the Harbach girls' home and the associated schools until 2002, when they sold the property to the Protestant de La Tour Foundation, which belongs to Diakonie Kärnten. In Harbach, this foundation operates two girls' shared living communities, a special education school, and a special after-school care center for children and young people with special needs. The administration of Diakonie Kärnten is also housed in Harbach Castle.