Burg Sommeregg

Burg Sommeregg is a castle in Seeboden, Carinthia, Austria.

History
The castle was probably built in the 12th century, as one Witemarus de Sumereke was already mentioned in an 1187 deed issued at Neustift Abbey. The burgraves (castellans) of Sommeregg served as ministeriales of the Counts of Ortenburg, on 29 May 1275 the marriage of Countess Euphemia of Ortenburg with Count Albert I of Gorizia was arranged here.

When the Ortenburgers became extinct in 1418, their Carinthian possessions passed to the Counts of Celje, who left the administration to local stadtholders. In 1442 Andreas von Graben by marriage acquired the burgraviate and Sommeregg Castle became a residence of the Von Graben von Stein family. They maintained the title as Viscounts of Sommeregg even when the former Ortenburg possessions fell to the Austrian House of Habsburg, after the last Count Ulrich II of Celje had been murdered in 1456. During the term of Virgil von Graben, the castle was destroyed by Hungarian forces under King Matthias Corvinus on his campaign against the Habsburg emperor Frederick III.

Through Virgil's niece Rosina, Sommeregg passed to the Bavarian Lords of Rain. In 1550 it was purchased by the Khevenhüller noble family.