Fürstenstand, Mountain summit in Graz, Austria.

Fürstenstand is the 754-metre main summit of the Plabutsch, the hill overlooking Graz from the west. On the summit stands the Fürstenstandwarte, a stone lookout tower with a steel-and-wood top added in 2023/2024, next to a restaurant.

A wooden lookout with a stone base was built on the summit in May 1839, after Emperor Franz I and his wife Karoline visited in 1830; a plaque recalls the visit that gave the site its name. In 1852 the wood was replaced by a dry-stone tower in a spiral form, built by Franz Hauberisser to a plan by Johann Neuwerth. From 1938 to 1945 it bore the name Adolf-Hitler-Turm, and from 1943 it served as a flak tower.

The name Fürstenstand recalls the visit of Emperor Franz I and his wife Karoline in 1830; a plaque on the tower commemorates it. The summit is also called Fürstenwarte, and the adjacent Buschenschank serves as a mountain tavern for walkers and cyclists. Since May 2024 the restored tower and restaurant have been open to the public again.

The summit is reached by a roughly 5 km road from Graz-Wetzelsdorf over the Gaisbergsattel (Herrgott auf der Wies). A chairlift ran from Gösting to the lookout from 1954 to 1971; it was dismantled in 1980, but the route and valley station remain. Since May 2024 the renovated tower, restaurant and paths for hikers and cyclists are open to the public again.

The stone lookout tower on the summit is a dry-stone spiral unlike most Austrian observation towers, built in 1852 to plans by Johann Neuwerth under site manager Franz Hauberisser. From 1954 to 1971 a chairlift ran up from Gösting; it was dismantled in 1980, but the route and valley station still exist.