Burgruine Ortenburg, Medieval castle ruins in Baldramsdorf, Austria.
Burgruine Ortenburg sits on the northern slope of Mount Goldeck at 740 meters (2430 feet) elevation, overlooking the Drava valley in Carinthia. The fortress consisted of two courtyards connected by drawbridges and displays the layered building techniques typical of medieval defensive architecture.
Adalbert of Freising had the fortress built between 1070 and 1096, making it the power center for the Ortenburg family. The castle remained under family control until 1418, when their influence in the region began to fade.
The castle was the seat of the Ortenburg family, who founded nearby Spittal and held sway over the Drava valley for centuries. The ruins remain part of how locals understand their region's noble past.
A marked hiking trail leads up to the ruins and can easily be combined with a visit to the nearby craft museum. The paths are open to visitors, though care should be taken when walking on the old walls and stone structures, which are uneven in places.
The fortress used drawbridges to connect its two courtyards, a somewhat unusual defensive measure for the period that kept intruders at bay. This dual-bridge system made the inner court far harder to reach and showed how builders adapted their defenses based on the site's hilltop location.
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