Glanneg Castle

Burgruine Glanegg is a castle in Carinthia, Austria. After Hochosterwitz and Fortress Landskron, is the third largest military complex in Carinthia.

In the history of the castle is first documented in 1121. The first owner was the Duke Henry III of Carinthia. After his death in 1122 it was inherited by his nephew, Count Bernhard von Marburg and later Otakar III His son, Duke Ottokar IV left the castle after his death in 1192 to Leopold V. From 1473-1478 the castle was threatened by the Turks, but they failed to capture the castle. After three more owners, in 1534 King Ferdinand I owned the castle, but he had to sell it to Ulrich von Ernau because of his debts.
In 1818 by the castle was purchased by Hofrichter Hirzegger Ossiach, whose daughter, Josephine, married Klinze Glanegg, who was given the castle as a wedding present. In 1860 the castle was sold to Bregenz Mayor Ferdinand Kinz. After three more owners, the castle Glanegg finally came to a family of twins, which now own the castle.
The building is composed of various architectural elements, ranging from Romanticism to Renaissance. What is striking is the entrance to the round tower. The decay of the castle began in the mid-19th century

Finkenstein Castle

The Finkenstein Castle Ruin is a castle in Carinthia, Austria situated on a steep cliff to the south at the foot of the Karavanke and above the Faaker See. The castle was first mentioned in 1142. It was owned by the Dukes of Carinthia who gave it to their ministeriales, who called themselves after the castle von Finkenstein. In 1223 there was a dispute between Heinrich von Finkenstein and Bishop Henry of Bamberg, the owner of the nearby castle Federaun regarding the crossing of the river Gail. After the extinction of the Carinthian Finkensteins at the beginning of the 14th Century -a cadet branch of the Finck von Finckenstein came after possibly participating in the Third Crusade to prominence in Prussia. The ownership was passed back to the Dukes of Carinthia, which had been the Habsburg since 1335. Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Carinthia since 1493 gave the castle and the rule to his liegeman Sigismund von Dietrichstein, whose descendants held the castle still 1861. Since the end of the 18th century, it is no longer inhabited and decayed, only ruins remain. The oldest parts of the castle are Romanesque. In the second half of the 16th century, was rebuilt in late Gothic style. At the beginning of this century, four gates were built in the High Castle. The 15 m high end wall of the former palace still stands today. Today Finkenstein Castle Ruin is the backdrop of the Burgarena, an amphitheatre with 1150 seats mainly used for concerts.

Lockenhaus Castle

The castle is located in the Güns Valley, set amidst a hilly terrain in eastern Austria, near the Hungarian border towards Kőszeg. It is located in the southeastern part of the town of Lockenhaus, roughly 120 kilometres south of Vienna and roughly the same distance by road northeast of Graz. It was built on the spur of a hill, which is now called the Castle Hill. It can be reached by express bus service along the Eisenstadter Bundestrasse. A lake lies immediately to the east of the castle.

The historical lineage of the Lords of the Castle Lockenhaus include the Güssinger (1266–1390); the Kanizsay (1390–1535); the Nádasdy (1535–1676); the Esterházy (1676–1968); Professor Paul Anton and Margaret Keller (1968–1980); and Professor Paul Anton Keller Foundation – Castle Lockenhaus since 1980.
Settlements in the area of Burg Lockenhaus date to the Stone Age. Illyrians and Celts who settled here are credited with building the castle around 1200 with construction material available locally, although it first appears in written records dated to 1242. Burgenland's oldest fortress, Burg Lockenhaus was built to defend the area against the Mongols. The Romans annexed the area and included it as a part of the Pannonia province under the Roman Empire. German and Slavic people inhabited the castle. Notable owners included: Duke Frederick the Warlike, Henry II of Güssing, the Bohemian king, Ottakar II and King Maximilian II. The castle was destroyed in 1337 under Charles I of Hungary.
The town was given a market status in 1492. Finally the castle went to the Nadasdy family. Francis II Nadasdy married Elizabeth Báthory, a descendant of Stephan Báthory, who went down in history as the Blood Countess, because of her reign of terror, torturing, and murdering hundreds of women for sadistic pleasure.
The castle and the town saw substantial improvements during the reign of Francis III Nadasdy (1622–1671) who was Lord Lieutenant, Royal Council, Chief Chamberlain and Chief Justice, since 1664. He married Julia Anna Esterhazy, daughter of Palatine Nikolaus Esterházy. In 1676, Count Paul Esterhazy, brother of Nadasdy took possession of the castle. During the Turkish War in 1683, there was substantial damage to the town and the castle. In the uprising during the 18th century, there was further looting and destruction.
During the First World War and the period that followed there was no change in the status of the castle, till 1921. The castle underwent reconstruction only after the Second World War under the Red Army. In 1968, Professor Paul Anton Keller and his wife Margaret, bought the Lockenhaus Castle, which at that time was in ruins. They sold all their possessions for the purpose of refurbishing it. The refurbishing was estimated to cost €800,000., of which they spent their own money of €500,000. Before restoration completion, Professor Keller died. However, his wife continued the work, completed the task and renamed the castle as "Prof. Paul Anton Keller Foundation – Castle Lockenhaus" in honour of her husband. A Board of Trustees, established in July 1980, has managed the further restoration works undertaken with more funds collected from the public. Eugene Horvath, a retired General and a financial consultant, has contributed substantially to the trust’s activities. Burg Lockenhaus is part of the Naturpark Geschriebenstein. The castle is the setting for the medieval scenes in Rudolf Steiner's mystery drama, The Soul's Probation.

Güssing Castle

Around 1157, a small wooden fort is said to have been built by Count Wolfer, and it is thought though that the first occupants were the Benedictines. The name of "Our Holy Mary of Snow" as the chapel are mentioned in documents dating back to this time, which would indicate that there was at least a crude abbey or monastery at the site. Ownership of the structure later passed to King Béla III, who strengthened the original wooden structure with stone walls. Since 1198, Güssing became known as "Novum Castrum".1246 king Béla IV for a brief period of time entrusted the castle to the Order of Saint John (1246) and later to his treasurer Mauricius (1263).
In 1272 Heinrich II from the dynasty of the "Counts of Güssing" and a descendant of Count Wolfer regained ownership of Güssing. Evidently the family though had been involved in several wars against the royal dynasties. They conducted wild raids and were the cause of widespread unrest in the area. Finally, in 1289/90 Duke Albrecht deprived the counts of Güssing of their power with the permission of Ladislaus IV.
Under Emperor Sigismund the castle went to the dynasty of Cseh de Sáró and Léva in 1391. However, their descendants acquired such heavy debt that all their assets had to be mortgaged and in 1458 Nikolaus Újlaki became owner of the castle and ruler of Güssing.
In 1459 those Magnates who were not satisfied with the election of Matthias Corvinus, had crowned Emperor Frederick III to King of Hungary at the castle of Güssing. This remained without success and in the end Újlaki had to pay homage to King Corvinus. Újlak's son Lorenz, as loyal follower of King Matthias, forcefully and publicly appeared against his successor the bohemian King Vladislav II resulting in strife and warfare between the rival kingships. In 1495 the castle was heavily damaged by the King's forces, forcing Ujlaki to reconcile with the King Corvinius. Four years later Ujlaki died childless, putting an end to any claims of kingship from his line.
Finally, on June 30, 1524, Francis I, Batthyány (1497 – 1566) received Castle Güssing, consisting of dominion over 60 villages, from his friend King Ludwig II. This was a reward for Francis’ heroic defence of the fortress of Jaicza against the Turks. From that time on Güssing became the main residence and ancestral home of the Batthyánys. Gradually, Güssing was enlarged from a small stone castle and monastery to a proper fortress with which the Batthyánys hoped to defend against the Turks. Indeed, when the Turks passed through Güssing on their way to Vienna for war, they wreaked havoc on the town. In order to prevent the complete annihilation of the community, Franz I aligned himself with the Turkish forces.
From then on the fortress was enforced for 75,000 florins and under Balthasar III, Franz II and Adam I the fortress of Güssing was enlarged considerably. Between the years of 1540 and 1580 the “round tower” and fortified bastion was built. Because of the imminent danger of attack posed by the marauding Turks, the Batthyánys had to maintain a constant garrison at each of their castle, causing a significant strain on the treasury. Between the 16th and 17th century, it is estimated that 3000 people may have found shelter at the castle.
Under Francis II, the Turks (part of the “Bocskay uprising”) again invaded Güssing and devastated the country.
In 1638, Adam I brought the Franciscans to Güssing and founded the monastery with the family’s burial place and tomb. Adam I also further promoted Güssing to a place of education for young aristocrats from all over Europe.
In 1683 under Christoph II, the castle provided shelter for Güssing’s inhabitants to flee the approaching Turks, who passed through after their occupation of Vienna. Christoph and his son Adam II pursued the Turks and engaged in their running fight. In 1700 the castle served as an Arsenal for the imperial troops.
Times changed and due to the modernization of warfare, the castle and fortress of Güssing slowly lost its strategic importance. In 1777 all guns were removed. Due to the high cost of maintenance and the introduced “roof tax” by empress Maria Theresia, there was a partial demolition of some of the castles fortifications.
Since the separation into the "Christoph’s line" (older/princely line) and the "Paul’s line" (younger line) after Adam’s I death in 1659, but at the latest since Prince Louie Batthyány-Strattmann in 1787 made Körmend his main residence and center of administration. Güssing had lost its character as the center of power for the Batthyánys.
In 1870 Prince Philipp Batthyány-Strattmann established a foundation for the preservation of the castle and monastery as an historic structure. However, in the years following World War I, foundation had lost most of its money due to inflation and the costs of war. In the 1980s the Batthyánys offered the public authorities/Land Burgenland the possibility to participate in the management of the Prince Batthyány foundation. The castle continues to be managed by the Prince Philipp Batthyány-Strattmann foundation. Its trustee is the respective chef de famille, currently the 9th Prince, Ladislaus Pascal Batthyány Strattmann who together with an administrator of the government of Burgenland manages the foundation.

Forchtenstein Castle

The first part of the castle with its 50 meter high keep was built in the beginning of the 15th century by the Lords of Mattersburg, who later named themselves Lords of Forchtenstein.
Around 1450 the Lords of Forchtenstein died off due to lack of a male heir and the castle was passed over to the House of Habsburg, which owned it for 170 years. They leased it to others, including the Counts of Weissbriach and Hardegg. During this time the building was not changed significantly.
In 1622 Nikolaus Esterházy, founder of the western Hungarian Esterházy line, received the castle from Emperor Ferdinand II, and Esterházy became a Count. Nikolaus started to fortify the crumbling castle and refurbished it with the services of Vienna builder Simon Retacco from 1630 to 1634 and with Domenico Carlone from 1643. The construction workers were all from Italy. This led to big orders for three masters of Kaisersteinbruch, the imperial quarry: Ambrosius Petruzzy, Pietro Maino Maderno, and Mathias Lorentisch. Kaiserstein stone was used for the main portals, fountains, cannonballs, etc. Once hewn the stone was delivered on large wagons drawn by six oxen.
In the second half of the 17th century his son Paul further extended and ornamented the castle with architect Domenico Carlone. After Paul's death the castle's function changed. It became a repository for weapons, archives, chronometers, machines, exotic animal preparations and other "marvels". The only access to the treasure vault was a secret passage leading to a door requiring two different keys used together. One key was kept by the Count and the other by his treasurer. In the second half of the 18th century the castle was extended by master builder Ferdinand Mödlhammer. During this work the roof truss was lifted and the interior was renovated.
The treasure vault remained undiscovered and intact throughout World War II. The original glass-paned cabinets containing the collection are works of art in themselves.
The castle is still owned by the Esterházy family and, together with Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt, it chronicles the history and treasures of this ancient aristocratic family.
When Austria and Hungary separated in 1921, the Esterházy family's lands were split between the two countries. Their financial records remained at Castle Forchtenstein and the family records were taken to the Hungarian Federal Archive in Budapest.

Bernstein Castle

In 860 the whole region was part of the archbishopric of Salzburg. Erimbert, a liege of the archbishopric, handed over the Pinka to one Jacobus. The village name Rettenbach was not mentioned yet, but the old Slavic name of the nearby hamlet Grodnau (meaning "the village belonging to the castle") is a sign of the existence of a nearby castle, identifiable with castle Bernstein.
Since 1199 the castle was part of Hungary. It is not exactly known when the castle was handed over to Frederick II, Duke of Austria, and how long it was his property; but in 1236 Béla IV of Hungary conquered the castle. Some years later (in 1260) he gave it to count Henry II of Güssing.
In 1336 the counts of Güssing and Bernstein were defeated by the Hungarian King Charles Robert of Anjou, and the castle of Bernstein became part of the Hungarian Kingdom. In 1388 the castle was given to the Kanizsai family. In 1482 it became property of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary for a short time; in 1487 Hans von Königsberg received the castle from Emperor Frederick III.
In 1529 the Turks besieged the castle, but they were not able to capture it. Another unsuccessful siege by the Turks followed in 1532. On that occasion the ring of bastions was erected in order to change the castle into a refuge.
In 1604 castle Bernstein was unsuccessfully besieged for weeks by a combined army consisting of Hungarians, Turks, and Tatars under the leadership of Stephen Bocskay. Due to an explosion of the gunpowder storeroom, in 1617 Ludwig Königsberg ordered the rebuilding of the Gothic inner part of the castle in Baroque style. The keep and towers were eliminated. A short time later (1644) Ehrenreich Christoph Königsberg sold the sovereignty and the castle to Count Ádám Batthyány. In 1864 Gustav Batthyány sell the castle to his manciple Edward O'Egan, whose heirs finally sold the castle to Eduard von Almásy. His family currently owns the castle. In 1953 a part of the castle was turned into a hotel