Liechtenstein Castle

Liechtenstein Castle.
The Castle Of Liechtenstein

Ancestral castle of the princes of Liechtenstein

Hugo of Liechtenstein built the castle between 1130 and 1135, which came to be in possession of the Stadeck family by 1295, by use of a marriage contract.

The castle often changed hands between different royal families like the Dukes of Cilli and King Matthias Corvinius which granted Jan (Hans) Holuberzi the upkeep. The houses of Khevenhiller and Aichelberg owned the castle since 1592 including Prince Johann Josef the 1st of Liechtenstein, who acquired the castle from Prince Poniantovsky and returned the ownership of the houses of Liechtenstein in 1807, which is still current.

Monument of Romanic architecture

Major parts of the Romanic castle, originating from the first building phase circa 1130/1135, are still surviving and able to be visited. With this Romanic settlement, the castle today counts as one of the rare Romanic surviving secular buildings of the 12th century in Europe.

From 1508 to 1588 the castle was occupied by the Tyrolian house of Freisleben. In 1529 the castle was initially destroyed by the Osmanians and was rebuilt from 1533 – this leads to the loss and sale of the ownership of the castle in 1567.

The castle and ownership came into the possession of the Duke of Khevenhiller between 1592 and 1664 during which the castle was extensively extended under the Duke Franz Christoph Khevenhiller, Baron of Aichelberg. In 1664 his family tree was drawn up in which the background consisted of a rendition of the castle of Liechtenstein.

Alas, the castle was once again largely destroyed by the Osmanians in 1683 which rendered the castle almost completely uninhabitable. The Gothic entrance was allotted to the use of stables, until being razed to the ground in 1809.