Ducal Court

The Herzogshof (also called 'Painted House') is a building in Grazer Herrengasse, whose front is completely painted. He is first mentioned in documents in 1360. Here the dukes of Styria forgave the fiefs to their subjects. When the castle was completed in 1450, it was no longer needed for this purpose. Around the year 1600, the façade was painted for the first time, by the court painter Emperor Ferdinand II and later architect of his mausoleum, Giovanni Pietro de Pomis. The house changed hands more often until it came into the possession of the changer Franz von Lathurner. He had the house frescoed by the Vorauer painter Johann Mayer, a pupil of Johann Cyriak Hackhofer, around 1742. The painting covers 220 m² the whole facade and shows Greek and Roman gods.In the ducal court a delegation from Trieste was received in 1382. They placed their land under the protection of the Habsburgs in order not to be conquered by Venice. Trieste remained part of Austria until the end of the First World War.