Burg Geiersberg, Castle in Friesach, Austria

Burg Geiersberg is a stone castle on a steep rock outcrop at the northern edge of Friesach. Its rectangular core from the first half of the 13th century centres on a six-storey square bergfried with a Renaissance wooden balcony added in 1912, and a residential wing built in 1911–1912 adjoins it on the north side.

The castle was first documented in 1271, though its original construction is dated to around 1130, when Duke Engelbert II of Carinthia is said to have built it as a base while besieging the bishop's fortress on Petersberg. From the 13th century it was tied to the office of the vice-dominus and formed part of Friesach's town defences. After a fire it was granted in 1690 to Johann Andrä Auer, who had it repaired; from 1750 it stood uninhabited. In 1912 the pharmacist Wilhelm von Dietrich restored it in Historicist style and rebuilt the west wing.

The chapel of Saint Anne occupies the upper storey of the gate tower at the southern corner of the outer wall, converted from a tower at the end of the 15th century. Its walls carry early 16th-century frescoes: a Crucifixion group on the east wall, the Virgin and Saint Elizabeth, two bishops and knights, and Saint Anne with Joseph. Overpainting altered them greatly before restoration in 1954.

Burg Geiersberg is privately owned and not open to the public, so it can only be viewed from outside. A nearly level path leads to the castle from the flat saddle at Krewenze in the west; the rock drops steeply on the other three sides. The outer bailey wall partly collapsed and was rebuilt in 1970.

The castle is privately owned and not open to the public, so it can only be viewed from outside. The residential wing was built in 1911–1912 in a historicist style and remodelled by Helmar Temajer in 1935.