In an 1160 deed, Emperor Friedrich I mentioned Grivena as a Bamberg property.

[2] In 1292 the Carinthian nobleman Count Ulrich von Heunburg with support of Archbishop Konrad IV of Salzburg occupied the fort in an uprising against Albert of Habsburg, the son of King Rudolph I of Germany and Duke Meinhard II.

[3] In 1759 Bishop Adam Friedrich sold the Bamberg estates in Carinthia to Maria Theresa of Austria and the castle was incorporated into the Carinthian duchy.

[4] About 1520 a large reconstruction of the castle took place as a protection against the threat posed by the Ottoman forces with a base amounted of about 4000 m2, though the Turks never laid siege to Griffen.

[5] Within the mountain is the Griffener Tropfsteinhöhle (dripstone cave) with a length of 485m/1591 ft, which was not discovered until the late days of World War II.