of the castle by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel The castle was first mentioned in 1274 with the
German name
Luegg, when the
Patriarch of Aquileia built the castle in
Gothic style. The castle was built under a natural rocky arch high in the stone wall to make access to it difficult. It was later acquired and expanded by the Luegg noble family, also known as the Knights of Adelsberg (the German name of
Postojna).
The legend of Erasmus of Lueg The castle became known as the seat of the knight
Erasmus of Lueg (or Luegg, Luegger), lord of the castle in the 15th century and a renowned
robber baron. He was the son of the imperial governor of
Trieste, Nikolaj Lueger. According to legend, Erasmus came into conflict with the
Habsburgs when he killed the commander of the imperial army, Marshal Pappenheim, who had offended the honour of Erasmus's deceased friend and famous
condottiere Andrej Baumkircher of
Vipava. Fleeing the vengeance of the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Erasmus reached the family fortress of Predjama. From there, he allied himself with King
Matthias Corvinus and began to attack Habsburg estates and towns in
Carniola. The emperor commissioned the governor of Trieste, Andrej Ravbar, with the capture or killing of Erasmus. Erasmus was killed after a long siege. According to a popular but unfounded legend, Erasmus was betrayed by one of his men and was killed by a shot from a cannon in his lavatory.
Hidden passageway A vertical natural shaft, which Erasmus ordered to be enlarged, leads out of the original castle, and leads to the exit located at the top of the cliff, 25 meters away from the cliff's edge. During the siege, this shaft allowed Erasmus to secretly supply the castle with food and to continue with his robberies.
After reconstruction After the siege and destruction of the original castle, its ruins were acquired by the Oberburg family. In 1511, the second castle, built by the Purgstall family in the first decade of the 16th century, was destroyed in an earthquake. In 1567,
Archduke Charles of Austria leased the castle to Baron Philipp von Cobenzl, who paid it off after 20 years. In 1570, the current castle was built in the
Renaissance style, pressed next to a vertical cliff under the original medieval fortification. The castle has remained in this form, virtually unchanged, to the present day. In the 18th century, it became one of the favourite summer residences of the Cobenzl family, together with nearby
Haasberg Castle. Both the Austrian statesman and art collector
Philipp von Cobenzl and the diplomat
Count Ludwig von Cobenzl spent time in the castle. In 1810, the castle was inherited by Count Michael
Coronini von Cronberg, and in 1846 it was sold to the
Windischgrätz family, who remained its owners until the end of
World War II, when it was confiscated and nationalized by the
Yugoslav Communist authorities and turned into a museum. ==References==