Thurnhof Castle

St. Martin's Church in Kirchbach is already mentioned at the beginning of the 13th century. The landlords of the village were the Counts of Görz-Tirol, who had leased the estate to the Lords of Flaschberg. At that time, a simple farm probably already existed here. In 1359, Jäkl Letschnig, who resided here, named himself after Kirchbach. He was originally a subject of the Flaschbergers, but was able to dissolve this relationship. In 1364, his son Erasem von Chirchpach was enfeoffed with the farm by Count Meinhard von Görz. In the Peace of Pusarnitz, the suzerainty over Kirchbach, along with the other possessions of the Görz Counts in the Gailtal, passed to the Habsburgs. In 1494, Mauritz Waidegkher sold his seat to Leonhard Hauser. The building of the present Thurnhof was only erected around the middle of the 16th century. As such, it first appears in documents in 1622, when Emperor Ferdinand II handed over the farm to Andreas Findenigg as a fief. It was then referred to as "Hof genannt zum Thurn" (farm called to the tower). The manor remained with the Findenigg family until 1801. Then it passed by purchase to Franz Unterberger. The manor, which has been run as a bed and breakfast for a long time, is still owned by the Unterberger family.

The Thurnhof is located on the western edge of Kirchbach on a hillside terrace, only a few meters above the federal road through the Gailtal. The stately three-story building is covered with a rather flat hip roof. The most striking architectural detail is the square tower at its southwest corner. It stands transversely to the diagonal axis of the house and rises one story above it. The show side of the small castle is its six-axis south front, which faces the street. However, it is partly hidden behind the trees in front of it. The ground floor is provided with plastered ashlar. The simple round-arched portal is framed by ashlar stones. An inscription above it indicates that the Thurnhof was built in the 14th century and renovated in 1801, 1926, and 1980 by the Unterberger family. However, the date of construction obviously refers to the predecessor building. The coat of arms of the Unterberger family is affixed to the southeast tower wall at the height of the first floor. The two upper floors of the building and the tower are visually separated by a cornice. The windows are equipped with straight pediments.