The former "edelfrei" family was first mentioned as "Ursperch" in an 1162 deed issued by Duke Herman II of Carinthia at his residence St. Veit. Their ancestral seat was Turjak Castle (, later "Burg Auersperg") in the March of Carniola, according to an engraving on site built in 1067 by one Conrad of Auersperg. Above the engraving stands the original Auersperg coat of arms, displaying an aurochs (German: "Auerochs(e)" or "Ur", Slovene: "Tur"). The family name may derive from Ursberg in Swabia, their ancestors probably settled in Lower Carniola after the victory of King Otto I of Germany over the Hungarian forces at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. They held large estates from Grosuplje in the north down to Velike Lašče and Ribnica, rivalling with the Meinhardiner counts of Görz, the Carinthian Ortenburg dynasty and the Patriarchs of Aquileia.