The best cycling routes in Naturpark Grebenzen - Furtnerteich

The Forchtenstein Castle stands as a medieval castle, architecturally located at the northwestern corner of the market fortification of Neumarkt in Steiermark in a high valley between the Seetal Alps to the east and the Grebenzen to the west. The name of the Forchtenstein Castle in Neumarkt is said to be derived from the Old High German "forhten" (to fear) and Stein. The economic basis of the castle's dominion has since time immemorial been the collection of toll revenues and the utilization of toll rights. In 1956, Forchtenstein Castle was leased by the European Federalist Movement. Since then, the castle has been an international meeting place, an ideas workshop, and an educational center for the cross-party promotion of European federalism and European integration. Under the idea: "May this castle, in the literal and figurative sense of the word, be a fortress of the European idea!", the castle continued to be operated until 2018. In 2018, the castle was transferred by the previous owner, EFB Steiermark, for a symbolic amount to the EYFON Foundation (European Youth Forum Neumarkt). The Forchtenstein Castle consists in its core of a four-story tower house in the northwest. Defensive walls and other buildings are attached to the tower house in an elongated rectangle. In the southeast, there is a building connected to the "city wall".

Hidden in the middle of the forest is the Podolerteich pond, an inviting place to relax and unwind. Tall spruce and larch trees reflect on the tranquil water's surface, making this place seem like something out of a fairytale.

A beautiful little pond that can also be circumnavigated by hiking. In summer, it's perfect for swimming and SUPing.

Place of power with a very long history

A good vantage point for the Hörfeld Moor European nature reserve. The moor is one of the largest and best preserved fens in Austria and is home to a unique flora and fauna. Rare and endangered species such as the curlew, the common snipe, the moor frog and various dragonfly species can be found here. The Hörfeld Moor also has a lot to offer botanically, including orchids, cotton grasses and carnivorous plants such as the sundew.

Very nice hike

The monastery was founded in 1076 by the Carinthian Margrave Markwart von Eppenstein. His son, Duke Henry III of Carinthia (who is buried here in the founder's crypt), completed and completed the foundation of the monastery until his death in 1122, when the Eppenstein family died out. He endowed the convent with a rich endowment for the maintenance and cultivation of art and science. It is not known from which Benedictine mother monastery the first monks came. The first church in the 11th century was the "Church of Saint Lambert in the Forest", in the immediate vicinity of which the monastery was built before 1076. In the 12th century it was replaced by a Romanesque basilica, which was consecrated in 1160. It was almost the size of today's collegiate church. In 1157, the place of grace Mariazell in Upper Styria was founded by the Benedictines of St. Lambrecht and, after an interruption from 1949 to 1992, is now again looked after by St. Lambrecht.

The St. Lambrecht Abbey, officially the Benedictine Abbey of St. Lambrecht (Latin Abbatia Sancti Lamberti or Monasterii Sancti Lamberti), is a Benedictine abbey located at 1,028 meters above sea level in Sankt Lambrecht in the Austrian federal state of Styria. The name goes back to the monastery's patron saint, Saint Lambert.