Visible from far away lies the more than 850-year-old Riegersburg on the rock of a volcanic mountain and offers a marvellous view over the gentle valleys, the green forests and the splendid vineyards of South-East Styria. An impressive bulwark which could never be conquered in the centuries of its history.
The ascent to the castle is a great experience already. Three kilometres of defence walls with loopholes, seven archways and eleven bastions let us even today surmise an exciting past.
For the Turks then and for many tourists now the Riegersburg was impregnable because of its steep footpath. A new cableway on the north side of the castle leads you now up the fortress in 1½ minutes.
The imposing hall of knights, built around 1600, with its gorgeous inlaid doors, its portal superstructure and its coffered ceiling belongs to the castle’s treasures as well as the White Hall completed in 1658 with its artistic stuccoed ceiling a masterpiece of the early ages of Baroque.
Since 1822 the Riegersburg is privately owned by the Lichtenstein dynasty. Today a part of the castle’s 108 rooms accommodate two exhibitions:
1. The “HEXENMUSEUM” (Witch Museum) in the basement, which is the continuation of the Regional Exhibition of 1987. “Witch-hunting” in the Alpine countries claimed many innocent victims. Until the middle of the 18th century approx. 300 alleged witches and magicians were persecuted in witch trials in Styria. The former owner of the Riegersburg, Count Johann Ernst Purgstall, belonged to the most well-known witch judges in East-Styria. Most of all, outsiders and rural under-classes ran the risk of being incriminated with strange accusations. The “Hexenmuseum” leads you with its exhibits into these dark and mysterious chapters of the country’s history.
2. The exhibition “Mythical Riegersburg – Legendary Women” in the state rooms offers an insight into the people and events of the Riegersburg’s history in the 17th
century: lady of the castle Elisabeth Katharina of Galler, who arranged for the biggest
extension, or the “flower witch” Katharina Paldauf, for the decisive battle against the Turks at Mogersdorf in 1644 or the opulent feasts.
More information about the Riegersburg