Pernegg Castle

The castle's origins date back to 1576, when Baron Gallus von Racknitz acquired the dominion of Pernegg. As the grandson of Magdalena von Pernegg, who was married to Christoph von Racknitz, he used his own wealth and that of his wife Anna, a daughter of Adam von Trauttmansdorff, to erect a new Renaissance castle in place of the older, uncomfortable fortress. Construction took place from 1578 to 1582, with the presumption that an Italian master builder from the school of Domenico dell’Allio was commissioned. After Gallus von Racknitz's death in 1588, the inheritance passed to his brother Franz and later to his son Gallus III. The latter, a Lutheran, left Styria in 1629 due to his faith and sold the dominion to Hans Thomas Casinedi. The Casinedi family owned Pernegg until 1688, before it was sold to Jakob Graf Leslie. The Scottish Counts Leslie remained owners until 1804.