Eppenstein

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Eppenstein
Former municipality
Eppenstein Castle
Coat of arms
Eppenstein Location within Austria
Coordinates: 47°07′51″N 14°44′22″E / 47.13083°N 14.73944°E / 47.13083; 14.73944
Country	Austria
State	Styria
District	Murtal
Area
• Total	57.53 km2 (22.21 sq mi)
Elevation	736 m (2,415 ft)
Population  (1 January 2016)[1]
• Total	1,217
• Density	21/km2 (55/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	8741
Area code	0 35 77
Vehicle registration	JU
Website	www.eppenstein. steiermark.at

Eppenstein is a former municipality in the district of Murtal in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Weißkirchen in Steiermark.^[2]

Eppenstein lies in the Lavanttal Alps stretching along the narrow valley of the Granitzenbach creek, which runs from the Upper Mur valley in the north up to the Obdach Saddle pass and the Lavant Valley valley in Carinthia. The former municipal area comprised the cadastral communities of Mühldorf, Schoberegg, and Schwarzenbach.

Eppenstein is known for the medieval Eppenstein Castle, built about 1000 AD by the Eppenstein margravial dynasty, who temporarily ruled as Dukes of Carinthia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Later held by Habsburg ministeriales like the Graben von Stein family, it was rebuilt in a Gothic style around 1478. Today only ruins remain.