The Upper Castle of Maribor
The Upper Castle of Maribor
The Upper Castle of Maribor
administered the seat until 1376. They were brought to this area by Otokar IV of Traungau and remained the hereditary castle administrators even under the Bambergs who took over the castle in 1192. The Bambergs also reorganized the dominion around 1200, separating it into the upper and lower parts. After the Lords of Maribor died out, the ownership passed through the hands of many families until in 1784 the castle was abandoned. Thus the main causes for the regression of the castle are the dying out of the founding family (namely Bernard and Kunigunde of Spanheim), the division of dominion by the Bambergs and, last but not least, the founding of the town of Maribor after the mid-13th century. The town was named after the castle on Piramida.
After a very important beginning as a main castle of the border county signified by its very namemarch purg the castle in the march, the border castle, a period of stagnation followed. Still, in spite of its diminishing importance and all of the additions and improvements to the buildings in the following centuries, the castle complex has kept its original design till the very end of its existence.