Weinburg Am Saßbach: Castle, Chapel and Crafts

If you are looking for a hotel for a stay in Weinburg Am Saßbach, you can start planning your trip by asking yourself what interests you most: should the history of the castle and chapel take centre stage, or would you also like to include the Wanderstab / St. Stefan-Mureck route? The Handwerkerdörfl and the history of the weighbridge offer further historical perspectives. These topics are distinguished by specific dates and objects—from the pentagonal castle complex to workshops and farming implements, and on to the high-altitude trail with viewpoints.

Weinburg Castle: Design and Acquisition

The castle’s history can be arranged around two dates that refer to different events. Between 1578 and 1590, Andrea Bertoletto from Como, Italy, created the irregular pentagonal complex with an inner courtyard and corner towers that still exists today. In 1837, Weinburg Castle was acquired by Marie Caroline, Duchess of Berry, and her second husband, Count Ettore Lucchesi Palli. The chronology therefore keeps two questions distinct: how did the surviving structure take shape, and who acquired the castle later?

Handwerkerdörfl and Weighbridge

The Handwerkerdörfl is a small village rebuilt from dismantled historic buildings. It features a general store, a smithy, a wheelwright’s workshop, a shoemaker’s workshop, a threshing barn with old farming implements, a tree press, an apiary, a farmhouse with a smoke kitchen, a smallholder’s house and a weaving workshop. The range spans workshops, farming implements and residential buildings, bringing several areas of work and daily life together. Unlike the castle complex, the focus here is on different uses and building types, rather than construction dates and acquisition.

The Weinburg am Saßbach weighbridge was initiated and built in 1924 by a weighbridge association. The Waaghäusl (weighbridge hut) of the Weinburg am Saßbach weighbridge, dating from 1924, has stood in the neighbouring village of Pichla bei St. Veit, in the Handwerksdörfl, since 2003. The two years mark different stages: the establishment of the weighbridge and the later location of the Waaghäusl.

Chapels: Consecration and Renovation

The present-day side altar of the Weinburg am Saßbach Castle Church (chapel) was consecrated to the Mother of God by Bishop Martinus of Seckau on 25 November 1508, the feast day of Saint Catherine. The exact date links the consecration to a specific feast day. Masses at the Castle Church follow the service schedule of the St. Veit am Vogau parish office; if you are planning to attend Mass, check that schedule. The Siebing Chapel in Weinburg am Saßbach was renovated in 2007. The dates refer to different events: an altar consecration and a renovation.

Hiking Route and Historic Landscape

The Wanderstab / St. Stefan-Mureck route leads to Weinburg via a high-altitude trail with viewpoints. The tradition surrounding “Sebach” offers a very different, much older perspective on the landscape: with some certainty, the name referred to the Saßbach, which formed a lake between Weinburg and Brunnsee in the Middle Ages. A named hiking trail and a medieval landscape history thus offer two distinct perspectives.

Discover more destinations: Waasen Am Berg, Tieschen, Neusetz, Reiting, Sankt Peter Am Ottersbach, Mahrensdorf, Gruisla, Halbenrain

To the broader travel guide: Southeast Styria.