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The Baumkircher Tower, also known as Tabor Castle, is a defensive tower or small castle located in the town of Vipava. The tower was built by Herhlin Kranspergar in 1342, as a fortification guarding the adjacent stone bridge across the Vipava River. In 1386, the knight Haertl sold it to Hermann I of Celje After passing from their hands to the Patriarchate of Aquileia to the Habsburgs, it was given in fief to the knights Baumkircher, who lent it its current name. The family retained it until 1471, when then-owner Andreas Baumkircher instigated a revolt of the Styrian nobility against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, and was beheaded for treason in Graz.
The castle then reverted to the duchy of Carniola, and was managed by its officers and leaseholders. The latter included Jurij Gallo, who between 1517-1521 subleased the tower to Carniolan vicedom (bishop's deputy in secular affairs) Erasmus Braunwart.
From either 1533 or 1624 to the end of World War I, the castle was a possession of the Lanthieri family.
The preserved elements of the structure include a part of the old main building, the defensive tower, and a partial wall with a gateway and a stone relief of the Lanthieri arms, dated 1653, set above the portal.
References:The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is situated in a strategic area on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain, it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German kaiser Wilhelm II. Today it is a major tourist site, attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year.
The first records of a castle built by the Hohenstaufens date back to 1147. The fortress changed its name to Koenigsburg (royal castle) around 1157. The castle was handed over to the Tiersteins by the Habsburgs following its destruction in 1462. They rebuilt and enlarged it, installing a defensive system designed to withstand artillery fire.
The fortification work accomplished over the 15th century did not suffice to keep the Swedish artillery at bay during the Thirty Years War, and the defences were overrun.