Schloss Nechelheim, Protected heritage castle in Sankt Lorenzen im Mürztal, Austria

Schloss Nechelheim is a three-storey Baroque building with a rectangular plan in a small park west of St. Lorenzen im Mürztal. Its south gable front carries two round corner towers with high domes and a clock in the curved gable between them. The medieval bergfried shown in a 1681 Vischer engraving was largely removed in the 1789 rebuilding; its lower part is walled into the building and not visible from outside. A 16th-century granary stands west of the castle.

The castle was first recorded in 1188 as 'Heim des Neche' and changed hands multiple times until Franz Xaver von Fraydenegg-Monzello transformed it into its current form in 1789. This 18th-century transformation shaped the appearance of the castle as we see it today.

The castle chapel occupies the second floor of the southwest corner tower. Its walls carry murals and the ceiling shows Saint Francis Xavier, signed by Joseph Michael Gebler and dated 1789. The chapel bell bears the year 1648 stamped into the metal, older than the chapel's painted decoration.

The castle sits at 570 meters (1,870 feet) above sea level and remains in private hands, so visitors can only view its exterior and surrounding parkland. When you walk through the park, you get a good view of the Baroque facade and towers from the grounds.

The lower part of the medieval bergfried, shown on Vischer's 1681 engraving, survives inside the 1789 Baroque building but cannot be seen from outside. Traces of the former moat remain in the park, while the southern wall with its two round two-storey defence towers is gone.