Description of the attraction
The ruins of Rabenstein Castle are located on a cliff 691 meters above sea level, 300 meters south of the main square of the town of St. Paul im Lavantal in Carinthia. There was a watchtower on the site of the castle, from where it was very convenient to monitor the surroundings.
In 1091, at the foot of the hill on which the tower stood, the Margrave of Istria Engelbert I Count of Spahnheim founded the Abbey of St. Paul. People began to settle around this monastery. To protect the monastery and the surrounding lands from enemy raids, the watchtower was transformed into a powerful fortress in 1100. Until 1200, the castle was owned by the Rabenstein family, whose name this building still bears. And then the fortress became the property of the Archbishop of Salzburg. The new owner of the castle often clashed with the monks of St. Paul's Abbey. They could not share the income from the sale of wine, grain, forests, etc., because the lands surrounding the monastery belonged to the monks.
In 1461, Rabenstein Castle was acquired by Emperor Frederick III. When the Turkish army burned down the city of St. Paul im Lavantal in 1476, the castle remained intact. This property was inherited by Emperor Maximilian I, who sold it to Franz von Dietrichstein in 1514. His son Siegfried converted the fortress into a Renaissance palace in 1567. In 1636, a fire broke out in Rabenstein Castle. The arson was suspected of the former abbot of the monastery of St. Paul - Jerome Marshtaller. The fortress was no longer subject to restoration. From it remained three walls and the remains of a palace, which can be seen on a hill above the town of St. Paul im Lavantal.
For some time, the castle, or rather what was left of it, was owned by the state, but in the 19th century it was bought by a private person.
