Burgruine Hartneidstein

Wolfsberg, Austria, Austria

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Burgruine Hartneidstein is a medieval hill castle ruin on a forested slope of the Koralpe above the village of Eitweg in the municipality of Wolfsberg, Carinthia, Austria, at about 877 meters and clearly visible from the surrounding Lavanttal.

It was built around 1300 by Hartneid von Weißenegg, after whom the castle is named, and remained in the hands of the Weißenegger family until 1331, when it passed to the lords of Walsee and, after their extinction in 1363, to the Counts of Cilli; in 1425 the Bishopric of Bamberg acquired Hartneidstein (together with the nearby Weißenegg) in exchange for the fortress Hohenmauthen near Muta, and the castle then became the administrative seat of a landgericht (district court) for the lower Lavanttal.

In 1469 the castle was overrun and burned by Turkish raiders but was immediately rebuilt, and it continued to function as a court seat until the end of the 17th century, when the judicial center was moved to Wolfsberg; by that time the site was already in decline, and the loss of its administrative role in the 18th century accelerated its decay into the ruin seen today.