St. Martin Castle

St. Martin Castle is a castle in the Straßgang district of Graz. It stands on a southeastern spur of the Buchkogel.

St. Martin is documented as early as the first half of the 11th century as property of the Aribonids. Since 1144, the castle and the church have been documented as a provostry of Admont Abbey, with parts of the estate having been donated to the abbey as early as 1072. In 1557, it was converted into a Renaissance castle. In 1638, a further renovation of the castle was carried out under the master builder Peter Fasoll. The interior decoration of the separately standing castle church from 1738–1740 is one of Joseph Stammel's main works. In the 19th century, the extensive park "Bei den Weihern" (documented as "ad Wiarn" since 1185) around the source of the Bründlbach stream belonged to the castle, which was designed with numerous ponds, avenues, and grottoes. Since 1914, the building has been used as an adult education center. Until 1936, the castle belonged to Admont Abbey and has since been owned by the State of Styria.

The castle is a square, two-story building with an arcaded courtyard. At each of the building's corners, there is a square tower. Remains of the former moat systems can still be found today.