Althofen

Geschichte

Althofen is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia.GeographyThe town is located about 15km north of Sankt Veit an der Glan and 30km north of the state capital Klagenfurt in the Krappfeld Valley between the Gurktal Alps mountain range in the west and the Lavanttal Alps in the east. The township consists of the cadastral communities Treibach, Althofen, and Töscheldorf.HistoryLike other parts of Carinthia, the area was already settled by Celtic tribes since the Hallstatt era and from about 600 became a settlement area of Slavic people. Altanhouun in the Duchy of Carinthia was first mentioned in a 1041 deed. Like in neighbouring Friesach, the estates were held by the Archbishops of Salzburg. The local Salzburg bailiffs resided at Althofen Castle, which was devastated in the 15th century Austrian–Hungarian War and rebuilt from about 1500 as the Neues Schloss (New Castle) under Prince-Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach.