Klammstein Castle, Castle ruin in Dorfgastein, Austria
Klammstein is the ruin of a hilltop castle on the Klammstein rock in Dorfgastein, about 60 metres above the Gasteiner Straße at the entrance to Gastein Valley. Its main tower, surveyed around 1900, measured 8.7 metres externally and 5.2 metres internally, with two storeys and loopholes on the south and north sides. A tunnel for the Gasteiner Bundesstraße was built beneath the rock between 1960 and 1962.
The Sieghartinger counts built Klammstein around 1122 on land belonging to the archer Konrad, to secure their Gastein estate. From 1342 an archbishop's steward resided here and usually held high jurisdiction in Gastein. By 1589 the castle was abandoned and decayed, and Archbishop Wolf Dietrich allowed its outer walls to be demolished.
The name Klammstein refers to the rock spur above the Gastein road, and the ruin is a protected monument in Dorfgastein. The tower was renovated and outbuildings added after Adolf Ferner acquired the ruin from the Austrian Federal Forests in 1972. The site now serves as a museum.
The castle is located at Klammstein 26 and is best reached on foot from the valley floor. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes and expect roughly a half-hour walk to reach the top.
The tower that still stands was measured around 1900 by Pater A. Ebner of St. Peter's Abbey: 8.7 m square outside, 5.2 m inside, with walls 1.75 m thick. In 1904 an explosion during construction of the Tauern Railway damaged the ruin further.
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