Fortress Schlossberg

The fortress on Mount Schlossberg appeared in the XII century. The first building of the future fortress was the Bergfried Tower, which is a tall building of a small square with small windows. In this building was everything that was necessary for life. Other buildings were built around the tower, the first of which was the clock tower. It is the only thing that has survived from the fortress to the present day. The fortress expanded, was completed. This was largely due to the constant threat of a Turkish attack. The Turks circumnavigated Schlossberg in 1480 and destroyed part of the mountain in 1531. In 1543, the architect Domenico Del'Alio began a large-scale reconstruction of the fortress. This was difficult because the fortress was on a steep mountain. The architect had to build a kind of freight elevator, now in this place is the line of the funicular. During the reconstruction, the old buildings were destroyed, and new buildings managed to pass only in the early seventeenth century due to the threat of attack by the Turks and insufficient funding.

In 1809, the French army entered Graz and began to destroy the mountain fortress. However, with the joint donations of the citizens, they managed to buy the clock tower, and the French did not touch it. In the middle of the XIX century, a restaurant was built on the mountain, which still functions today.

In 1999, Mount Schlossberg was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.