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The volcano
The castle stands on the neck of an extinct volcano
The hill is the remains of the solidified molten interior of a large stratovolcano that probably became extinct two or so million years ago. The ancient basalt of the hill was used to build the castle.
Gallerin
Katharina Elisabeth von Wechsler finished the castle between 1637 and 1653
Known as Gallerin, the baroness made it one of the biggest and strongest castles in the country. It is surrounded by 3 kilometres of walls with 5 gates and 2 trenches, and it contains 108 rooms.
108rooms inside the castle
Refuge
In the 17th century the castle gave refuge to a few thousand people
The border with the Ottoman Empire was sometimes only 20 to 25 km away, and the area was troubled by conflicts with the Turks and Hungarians. The castle was a safe place for the people nearby.
The museum
Nine of the open rooms deal with witches and sorcerers
Johann Josef von Liechtenstein bought the castle in 1822, and it still belongs to the Liechtenstein family. Of the 108 rooms, 25 are open as a museum. Sixteen show the history of the castle and nine deal with witches.
Day 4, morning
Next is Klöch.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Riegersburg Castle, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.