To be privately owned
CastlePaternion-Kreuzen
Kreuzen Castle
Kreuzen Castle is located on the road to Windische Höhe in the municipality of Paternion.
Kreuzen was the center of silver, lead, and iron mining in the area between the Drau and Gail rivers. The castle building was erected in the first half of the 16th century as a steward's house and expanded in 1591 by the Khevenhüllers as a hunting lodge. Bear hunting remained very attractive in the area even centuries later. The administrator of the Paternion lordship reported for the period from 1710 to 1734 about 25 bears killed or wounded and 6 wolves. Next to the castle was a hammer mill. In 1610, Barthelmä Khevenhüller was one of the first in Europe to start manufacturing tinplate.
After the expulsion of the Protestant Khevenhüllers during the Counter-Reformation, the estate came into the possession of the Widmann family. Today, the castle belongs to the Widmann-Foscari-Rezzonico family.
Architectural Description+
The stately two-story Renaissance building is erected on a rectangular floor plan and features round towers with curved conical roofs at the southeast and southwest corners. On the southwest tower, the painted coat of arms of the Widmanns as Counts of Ortenburg can be seen; on the southeast tower, there is a sundial. On the west facade, the building has one, and on the east facade, two biforium windows made of reddish limestone with an Ionic central column and side pilasters, sills, and profiled cornice pieces as a finish. The half-hip roof is covered with wooden shingles.
On the ground floor, there is a two-aisled, six-bay hall supported by two mighty round pillars and half octagonal wall pillars. The central room on the first floor has a wooden beam ceiling resting on two Tuscan granite columns. From this hall, three vaulted rooms each to the north and south are accessed, one room with a net rib vault.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schloss_Kreuzen2.JPG
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 46.6701, 13.5765