Burgruine Grünburg

Austria, Austria

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Burgruine Grünburg is a medieval hill castle ruin on a wooded slope of the Saualpe in Carinthia, Austria, situated in the Görtschitz valley east of Wieting at about 1,009 meters above sea level and known for its dramatic height and remote forest setting.

First mentioned in the late 11th century, it was originally a twin castle (Zwillingsburg) with an outer and inner fortification, built by the Counts of Gorizia–Tyrol or the Bishops of Bamberg and later managed by their unfree ministeriales who took the castle’s name, with the earliest recorded lord Ulricus de Gruneburch appearing in 1217.

Over the centuries the castle served as a noble residence and administrative center, was modified in the 14th century with an enlarged chapel and additional defensive work, and after the extinction of the Gorizia line in the 15th century came under Emperor Friedrich III, passing in the early 17th century to private owners such as Hans Leonhard von Windischgrätz and Georg Friedrich von Ambthofen before being abandoned during the 17th century, likely because local mining that had supported the area ceased to be profitable; the estate then became part of the Herrschaft Eberstein domain.