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The first, indirect, record of the castle dates back to 1213 when a Devinski ministerial, Udo de Prem, acts as a witness. After the line of Devinski ended in the male line in 1399, the Prem Castle and all other estates are passed to their relatives, Lords of Walsee. After the Habsburg dynasty gained power, after the Counts of Celje died out in 1456, the Lords of Walsee were forced to sell their key strategic estates, including the Prem Castle, to Emperor Frederick III between 1466 and 1472. Afterwards, the Prem Castle served as a provincial prince chamberlain estate and was rented out for a number of years. Many “masters” ruled over the castle. During the World War II the castle suffered minor damage and was left empty after the war. Renovation and the building of a museum collection began in 1970. After 1991, lirska Bistrica municipality became the possessor of the castle and is making efforts for further renovation and aims to see the castle come to life.
The castle is composed of a Romanesque tower with a chapel, a two-storey Romanesque residential tower, Gothic living quarters and a Renaissance wall with a circular tower at the entrance. There is a small well at the inner yard and larger water tank at the outer yard, which is protected by a wall. Foundations of older walls and a buried space, which was presumably used as a dungeon, were also found. The castle's exterior and interior were subject to many changes throughout the years.
Today, there is a wedding hall inside the castle, where wedding ceremonies already take place. Otherwise, the castle keeps acquiring new roles with the organisation of smaller forms of congress tourism, business meetings and business workshops and organised visits of tourist groups.
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