Historical

Graslupp/ Forchtenstein hill castle was built by the Archbishop of Salzburg in the mid-12th century, and was later given to the territorial prince, rendering it a fiefdom. Graslupp Castle and Neumarkt remained part of said fiefdom until the end of the 15th century. In 1458 they became part of the royal estate before the castle was renamed from Forchtenberg to Forchtenstein, in the 15th century.

The castle was occupied by the Hungarians between 1480 and 1486, and was badly damaged during its recapture. It was then subject to repair works from 1588 to 1544 by pawnee and steward Christoph Praunfalkh. Between 1588 and 1830, the castle was passed along down a long line of pawnees, falling into visible ruin. Around 1880, the castle was rebuilt as a residential castle. Alteration works followed, and in 1957 Forchtenstein Castle was reopened as the first Austrian Europahaus, named after its founder Karl Brunner.

The Styrian chapter of the European Federalist Movement (EFM) finalised a purchase/ assured tenancy agreement with the then-proprietor Felicitas Bittner-Wallaschek in 1975. When she passed away in 1994, EFM took over the castle in its entirety, renovated the building and used it until 2017 to host countless events such as Europe forums, international youth meetings, minorities’ seminars, thus establishing the Karl Brunner Europahaus as a place for education and meetings.

On 9 March 2018, Forchtenstein Castle was incorporated into a non-profit foundation, initiated and co-financed by Christoph Leitl, and has been referred to as Europaburg Castle Forchtenstein ever since. The EYFON foundation is 30th in the castle’s centuries-long line of proprietors. On 3 May 2018, the green light was given for the European Youth Forum Neumarkt, in short EYFON, that aims to put Europaburg Castle on the map as a centre of international discourse and meeting place for young people from all over Europe. Since its inauguration, Europaburg Castle has been used for numerous in-house and external events.