Schloss Friedberg: A Medieval Spur Castle above Volders, Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page12 sections
History
Schloss Friedberg is a medieval spur castle above Volders in Austria, built around 1230 by the Counts of Andechs, whose feudal holdings included parts of the Inn Valley. The castle occupied a strategically placed elevation and was first mentioned in 1268. Pottery found nearby suggests that the spur may have been inhabited before the Roman period, although the castle itself belongs to the medieval era.
Foundation and administrative expansion
The first complex probably consisted of a fortified residential tower. It served as the seat of a land-princely provost, an official who administered a territorial ruler’s property and revenues, including income from landed estates and associated rights. Further towers were later built for administrative officials. Heinrich Spieß eventually brought these offices under his control. The separate towers were then connected by infill buildings and enclosed within a common wall, creating a more unified castle complex.
The castle became involved in the conflicts that followed the transfer of Tyrol to Rudolf IV of Habsburg by Margarethe Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol, in 1363. The Bavarian Wittelsbachs, the ruling dynasty that continued to claim Tyrol, repeatedly raided the Inn Valley and unsuccessfully tried to capture Friedberg.
The Spieß and Fieger periods
In 1410, the Lords of Spieß joined a rebellion at Rottenburg against Duke Friedrich IV of Tyrol, supported by the Bavarians. Friedrich, known as “Friedl with the Empty Purse” because of his financial difficulties, quickly retook Friedberg without damaging it. The Spieß family nevertheless kept the castle. Hainrich and Leupolt von Spieß were still recorded there in 1452.
In 1491, Hans Fieger received Friedberg as a feudal grant from the future Emperor Maximilian I, a Habsburg ruler who later became Holy Roman Emperor. The castle was then in poor condition. The Fieger family had gained wealth through Schwaz’s silver mining and ranked among the most powerful families in Tyrol. They repaired and enlarged Friedberg, added a bastion, and created gardens. Around 1500, they raised the keep by 30 metres and added four projecting oriels.
Later ownership and preservation
The Fieger family became extinct in 1802. The Counts Trapp purchased the castle in 1845 for 40,000 gulden. Ludwig Count Trapp undertook repairs between 1847 and 1854, when the deteriorating complex was renovated. The residential buildings were raised by one storey, removing the crenellations and giving the castle a less overtly military appearance.
A comprehensive renovation followed between 2006 and 2009. Schloss Friedberg remains the residence of Gaudenz Trapp and is also used for events. It is protected as a historic monument and, despite later alterations, retains much of its medieval character.
Remains
Setting and castle layout
Schloss Friedberg stands on a quartz-phyllite rock spur projecting from the Kleinvolderberg, about 100 metres above the floor of the Inn Valley and southwest of Volders. The ground drops relatively gently toward the north and west, while the eastern side falls steeply into the deep gorge of the Voldertal stream. The elevated site provides views westward to the Martinswand and eastward to the Kaiser Mountains.
The castle buildings surround an inner courtyard fitted with arcades and a fountain. The courtyard connects the different rooms and forms the organizing centre of the complex. The buildings reflect the castle’s gradual enlargement, from its earlier tower-based arrangement to the more closely integrated group of structures enclosed by common walls.
Principal tower and interior rooms
The keep
The massive keep dominates Schloss Friedberg. Four two-storey oriels project diagonally from its corners, features associated with the enlargement carried out around 1500. Within the tower, a late-Gothic spiral staircase rises without a central supporting column, providing access to the upper levels.
The Knights’ Hall
The Knights’ Hall contains a fresco extending across all four walls. Uncovered in 1968, it was created around 1510 and may have been painted by Jörg Kölderer, court painter to Emperor Maximilian, with the help of his assistants. The panorama presents scenes of knightly life, including hunting and tournaments, together with a depiction of the 1410 siege of Friedberg.
The Roman Emperors’ Room
The Roman Emperors’ Room takes its name from 24 seventeenth-century busts of Roman emperors and their wives painted on marble. These painted busts give the room its defining decorative theme and distinguish it from the other interior spaces of the castle.
The castle chapel
The chapel is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. Rebuilt in the early sixteenth century in the Late Gothic style, it has a pointed-arch portal, a net-rib vault whose ribs form a net-like pattern, and a sacrament niche, a recess for keeping the Eucharist. The altar is Baroque, while the altarpiece, painted around 1660, shows the Virgin Mary between the Apostles Bartholomew and Andrew.
The castle kitchen
The smoke-blackened kitchen was cut directly into the rock. It preserves old cooking equipment and medieval roasting devices for turning spits by hand, with hot air, or by clockwork. The space provides physical evidence of the practical domestic facilities that supported life within the fortified residence.
