Background
He was the son of Friedrich I von Graben (d 1422 at Kornberg Castle) and Katharina von Summeregk (Sommeregg). Burgrave Friedrich II von Graben was a brother of him.
captain governor Carinthian knight
He was the son of Friedrich I von Graben (d 1422 at Kornberg Castle) and Katharina von Summeregk (Sommeregg). Burgrave Friedrich II von Graben was a brother of him.
He served as a burgrave and castellan governor in the Ortenburg estates, held by the Counts of Celje until 1456. Born at Kornberg Castle in the Duchy of Styria, Andreas von Graben was a descendent of the noble (edelfrei) Graben von Stein family, who sprang out from the House of Gorizia (Meinhardiner dynasty) ruling the County of Görz, as well as the County of Tyrol and the Duchy of Carinthia in former times. Andreas' sister (?) Veronica von Graben (d 1467) was married to Philipp Breuner (d 1458), and Elisabeth von Graben married with Georg von Auersperg (d 1488).
In 1442 Count Frederick II of Celje enfeoffed Andreas von Graben with the Lordship of Sommeregg.
He served as a captain (Hauptmann, a sort of stadtholder) of the former Ortenburg estates and also as burgrave (Viscount) and knight at Sommeregg, which he chose as his residence. In 1450 he was also named as Burggraf of Sternberg, near Wernberg.
Upon the extinction of the Counts of Celje in 1456, their estates were seized by Emperor Frederick III of the Habsburg dynasty. He enforced a settlement with the Counts of Gorizia, whereupon Andreas von Graben had to renounce his conquests and also lost his office as stadtholder of the Ortenburg estates.
Nevertheless he still is documented as a liege lord around Vellach in 1458, and owner of Falkenstein Castle in 1462.
He also had the parish churches of Treffling and Lieseregg (in present-day Seeboden) near his Sommeregg residence rebuilt. The castle became the Stein von Graben family seat for many years.
