Burg Hochosterwitz

As Jane and I headed to Velden from Vienna we saw an amazing sight from the train window.

Perched atop a small but dramatic hill was a castle, with a clearly visible zig-zag walled path with gates leading up to the main bastion. I managed to snap a photo as we raced past, thinking at the time that we probably wouldn’t even get a chance to find out what it was, let alone visit it.

However, it turned up in one of the brochures we were given on our arrival, and we were both interested in visiting the now-identified Burg Hochosterwitz. So, on our second full day in Velden (Saturday 10 July) we caught a train back up to the nearest station (St Veit an der Glan) and hired a taxi to take us to the base.

It was a warm day again, so we took it easy as we walked up the path behind the walls and up through the 14 defensive gates. Each gate had different defensive purposes: massive iron clad doors, a portcullis or two, arrow slits, drawbridges of varying designs (including your bog-standard chain-lifted drawbridge, and a centre-pivoted tilting drawbridge), and there were holes above the walkways for dropping projectiles and your traditional boiling oil. Legend has it that on one occasion when the castle was beseiged the inhabitants killed a cow, stuffed it with other food, and hurled it over the ramparts to mock the enemy by implying that they still had an abundance of supplies. The attackers gave up and left … which is just as well, because apparently it was the last cow!

In many respects the place contained every possible medieval cliche you could imagine (plus an interesting collection of contemporary art in the cellar!), yet it had a feeling of authenticity over and above the fact that it really was authentic (yes, this sounds ridiculous, but I’m trying to explain a sense I had of the timelessness of the place or perhaps it was the fact that it wasn’t quite as tourist-sanitised as some castles I’ve visited).

We had lunch in the courtyard inside the bastion before making our way back down, past the church and the little garden with its sundial. A cab was called to take us back to the station and we made our way back to Velden by train.