Schlosshotel St. Georgen

The castle of St. Georgen am Sandhof is located in a large garden south-west of the church of the same name. The two-storey building has a corner plan. The oldest building is the southwest corner of the sixteenth century, while all other parts were added in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The façade has eight axes, an open portico loggia is cultivated in its south-west corner. On the south wall there is a relief of a covered majolica Madonna. The southern end of the building is the Baroque chapel of Saint Elizabeth with a wooden tower and an onion helmet.

The castle was built on the site of the High Middle Ages, documented for the first time in 1216 as "St. Georgen under Zolperg" (ie "under Maria Saaler Berg") mentioned, later also called "sand house" called courtyard, of which no structural substance is no longer available. The name "Sandhof" is documented in the year 1574, at a time when a Hans von Haus (or Hausser) inherited the property from his parents Christof von Haus and Margarete Lanzinger. This Hans von Haus, from the right of the portal of the castle chapel, announces a crest stone from 1584, is considered the builder of the castle. His widow sold the property in 1599, which changed several times over the following decades. Gottfried von Schrattenbach, commander of the Teutonic order of Friesach, finally bought the estate in 1630 and in 1635 he founded the upcoming St. Georgen. His successor, commander Georg Andrae von Staudach, had the castle chapel located south of the building renovated in 1652, serving as a burial site. St. Georgen was still in the possession of the Order or of the individual Knights of the Order until the 20th century.

In 1856, Franz Thaddäus Ritter von Reyer bought St. Georgen am Sandhof and had it rebuilt until the end of the 19th century. The external facades were redesigned in the style of late historicism, the west side was enlarged by a biaxial extension and another section joined the castle with the previously detached chapel.

In 1953, the province of Carinthia acquired the estate and established an institute of applied plant sociology. After its closure in 1967, St. Georgen returned to private property. The Kuess family has restored both the castle that led the property until 2010 as a castle hotel. Since May 15, 2010, the new owner Kurt Georg has rescheduled the hotel and done several renovations.

Hotel guests can use the various golf facilities with a reduced "green fee". Numerous opportunities for tennis, horse riding and hiking exist in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. Furthermore, the dazzling cultural offer of the state capital Klagenfurt attracts galleries, concerts, operetta festivals and a complete theater program.