Duke's Chair

The Duke's Chair, also known as the Duke's Seat (German: Herzogstuhl, Slovene: vojvodski prestol or vojvodski stol), is a medieval stone seat dating from the ninth century and located at the Zollfeld plain near Maria Saal, north of Klagenfurt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.

The Duke's Chair, made mainly of Roman gravestones from nearby Virunum, actually consists of two stone seats, whose backrests are attached to each other.

Together with the Prince's Stone, it played an important role during the installation of the Dukes of Carinthia in a Ceremony that may date back to the Early Medieval principality of Carantania.

The chair was first mentioned as sedes Karinthani ducatus on the occasion of the installation of Duke Herman II of Spanheim in 1161.

It was the last part of a series of rituals which consisted of the ducal installation on the Prince's Stone (performed in Slovene) and of a mass, which was held at the church of Maria Saal.

The Western seat of the Duke's Chair
Depiction by Leopold von Wien, Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften , 14th century
1860 Drawing of the "Duke's Chair" with the Cathedral of Maria Saal in the background