Burgruine Feldsberg

Austria, Austria

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Burgruine Feldsberg is a ruined medieval hill castle on a wooded hilltop west of Pusarnitz in the municipality of Lurnfeld near Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia, Austria, and it is one of the oldest documented noble sites in the region.

The castle was built in the mid-12th century by the Salzburg archbishopric after the older nearby castle of Hohenburg was abandoned, and it was first mentioned in 1189 in the name of Hainricus de Veldisberc, a Salzburg ministerial, serving as a fortified seat from which the archbishopric administered the surrounding area and exercised lower jurisdiction.

Feldsberg became a frequent point of conflict between the Counts of Görz and the Salzburg church, and in 1460 negotiations leading to the Peace of Pusarnitz, an agreement between Emperor Frederick III and the Counts of Görz that stabilized Carinthia’s political unity, were partly held here, making the castle a site of significant regional diplomacy.

From the end of the 16th century, after the court jurisdiction was moved to Sachsenburg, the castle fell into decline; the last court bailiff is recorded in 1586, and in 1658 the building was already described as ruinous, while in 1848, as a state property, it was parcelled and taken over by local farmers, leaving only scattered wall remains on the hill today.