Burg Groppenstein

Austria, Austria

---

Burg Groppenstein is a medieval rock castle on a steep, three-sided cliff near the village of Raufen in Obervellach, Carinthia, Austria, located at the junction of the Mallnitzbach and the Möll river and famously named as the source of the nearby Groppensteinschlucht (Groppenstein Gorge).

First mentioned in 1254 as “turris Cropensteine,” it was originally a watchtower built by the Counts of Gorizia and later expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries into a substantial late medieval fortress with a massive keep, residential buildings, and surrounding walls; unlike many other castles in the region, it was never burned, abandoned, or allowed to fall into ruin, and remained continuously inhabited throughout its history.

After a period of neglect in the 19th century, the castle was comprehensively restored after 1872 by the Viennese architect Adolf Stipperger, who gave it a cohesive historicist appearance while preserving its medieval core; today its key features include a large square tower (bergfried) connected by a wooden bridge to the main residential building, a splendid Knights’ Hall with 16th-century stained glass, a chapel dedicated to St. Katharina with a Romanesque apse and Gothic aisle, and outer defenses such as a drawbridge and gate tower.