Schielleiten Castle

Schloss Schielleiten is a castle near Stubenberg in Styria.

The Baroque castle was built between 1720 and 1730 by the Imperial Counts Wurmbrand-Stuppach. They owned Schielleiten Castle, strategically located above the palace on the valley flank. However, the castle was abandoned in favor of the palace. This was designed in the style of Viennese High Baroque in the form of a central pavilion with side wings. However, the Imperial Counts had overextended themselves financially with the construction. The construction was prematurely stopped, and only the central risalit, the two wings, and the west risalit were completed.

The castle remained in the family's possession until 1906. Through marriage to Anna Maria Imperial Countess Wurmbrand-Stuppach, Schloss Schielleiten came into the possession of Marchese Tacoli, whose heirs sold it in 1921 to Frank Whitehead, business partner of Lammerbank in Zell am See. Frank was the son of the industrialist and torpedo manufacturer John Whitehead in Fiume/Rijeka and brother of Agathe Whitehead, the first wife of Georg Ludwig von Trapp, later the founder of the legendary Trapp Family. When Frank Whitehead lost most of his fortune due to the Great Depression and the bankruptcy of Lammerbank, the estate was divided and sold to the Republic of Austria around 1935. In the same year, the missing east risalit was added in a historically appropriate style and adapted to the existing wings. The properties were handed over to the Austrian Gymnastics and Sports Front.

During World War II, Schielleiten was at the disposal of the NSDAP and was used as a Gau Sports School. Afterwards, it served as an alternative quarter for the St. Anna Children's Hospital in Graz and finally as a military hospital. From 1945 to 1947, it was under British military administration as German property.