Welsbach Castle

Welsbach Castle is a building erected at the end of the 19th century in the municipality of Mölbling in Carinthia.

The castle is located on the southern slope of the Osselitzenberg in the hamlet of Rastenfeld, north of Rastenfeld Castle. It is surrounded by a large park with remarkable outbuildings such as a nursery and an orangery. The castle was built for the industrialist Carl Auer von Welsbach between 1898 and 1900 according to plans by Anton and Josef Bierbaum. On its site stood the Villa Marienhof, which most recently belonged to the Viennese operetta singer Marie Geistinger. She sold the property, which had served her as a summer retreat, to Auer in 1893. He lived and died in the castle in 1929. It is still owned by his descendants today.

The castle is a two-story building designed in the late historicist style, modeled after French Renaissance city palaces, with a six-axis central section and four-axis wings with tower-like corner risalits. The facade of the elongated building is strongly structured, with the protruding building corners emphasized by rustication. The floors are visually separated by a strong cornice, and the large windows are stone-framed.

The original, representative furnishings (staircase, tiled stoves, floors, and doors) have been preserved almost unchanged.