» Hochosterwitz Castle
It was first mentioned in a document in 860. In the year 1209, the Spanheims bestowed the hereditary office of the cup-bearer upon the Osterwitz family. The last cup-bearer of Osterwitz was caught during an invasion by the Turks in 1475 and died in captivity without leaving an heir. Hochosterwitz went back into the hands of the sovereign, Emperor Friedrich III. Ferdinand I pawned Osterwitz to the governor, Christof Khevenhüller. In 1571, Baron Georg Khevenhüller, also governor, purchased the castle, extended it because of the imminent invasions by the Turks and provided it with an armoury and had 14 gates built between 1570 and 1586. Such a protected castle path is not only very rare, but also unique in the construction of castles. The names of the individual gates are recorded in an old document.
No substantial structural changes have been made since that time. To this day, the castle is uninterrupted in the possession of the Khevenhüller family. By order of the building owner, Georg Khevenhüller, from 1576, as can be seen on a marble plaque in the castle yard, the legacy was passed that the castle should remain in the possession of the descendants and that these should see to its preservation. The Khevenhüller family have always felt bound to this legacy.
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