Gabelhofen Castle - Schloss Gabelhofen

Gabelhofen Castle - Schloss Gabelhofen, Fohnsdorf, Styria, Republic of Austria.

   The Riegersdorf estate stood on the site of the present-day castle in 1443. It belonged to the large Liechtenstein holdings, which they usually granted as fiefs to citizens of Judenburg. When Niklas von Liechtenstein supported King Matthias Corvinus in the Hungarian War in 1487 and was therefore outlawed by Emperor Frederick III, he lost Riegersdorf along with his other properties. The estate was acquired as a sovereign fief by Georg Pfannauer in 1490. He immediately began expanding it into a moated castle. In 1494, the Liechtensteins regained their former rights. In 1536, the fief passed by inheritance from the Pfannauer family to the Prankh family, who continued and completed the castle's expansion. Christoph Gabelkhover, a mine owner from Leoben and a member of a Bavarian family, bought the estate in 1596, which was later named Gabelkhoven Castle after this family. However, on Vischer's engraving of 1681, it is still referred to as Rieggerstorf. In 1597, Christoph Gabelkhoven was enfeoffed with the estate by Carl Baron von Teuffenbach, who had by then become the feudal lord. In 1627, the Schwarzenberg family of Murau, who now held feudal overlordship, confirmed Gabelkhoven's possession. During the 17th century, they significantly expanded their holdings. The family was able to retain control of the estate even during the Counter-Reformation, despite their Protestant faith. However, some of its members were expelled. Carl Josef Baron von Valvasor, married to a daughter of Johann Philipp Maria von Gabelkhoven, acquired the castle in 1763, but sold it to Jakob Eberl after his wife's death in 1775. From Eberl, it passed to Konrad Conrad in 1811 and then to Sebastian Hayden in 1817. In 1897, Prince Johann von Liechtenstein acquired the estate. In 1939, it became the property of the Hermann Göring Works. Its successor, the Alpine-Montan company, converted the already badly neglected building into apartments for its workers employed in Fohnsdorf and Judenburg. Between 1962 and 1965, it was restored and subsequently used as a holiday home. In 1989, the castle was acquired by a company, renovated, and converted into a hotel. Following insolvency in 2000, the new owner, the Zoidl family, invested considerable funds. Since then, Gabelhofen has been run as a well-maintained 4-star castle hotel and is particularly popular for conferences, seminars, and other upscale events.

Source: https://www.burgen-austria.com/archive.php?id=473