Kollmitz Castle

The Kollmitz castle ruin stands east of the town of Raabs an der Thaya on a steeply sloping rock spur, which is encircled by the Thaya in a wide loop. It is located in the cadastral community of Kollmitzdörfl in the municipality of Raabs an der Thaya.

The cyclopean walls with two round corner towers are the remains of one of the largest, once extensive, medieval, and most significant castle complexes in Lower Austria. The semi-circular gate tower with a pointed arch gate, the Hunger Tower, the keep, and remains of a two-story residential building as well as various other structural components are preserved. In the northwest, the approximately 110-meter-long so-called Bohemian Wall, built around 1450 against George of Poděbrady, rises about 300 meters in front of the castle.

The castle was first mentioned in a document in the 13th century. In the 14th century, there was a regional court there, whose gallows stood near Ludweis. The lordship changed hands several times (Wallseer, Winkel, Kratzer, Thyrna) until the castle became the seat of the Barons of Hofkirchen in 1411. The last Kollmitz Hofkirchen died in 1611 in Prague exile, where he was expelled due to his Protestant faith. He had been regarded as a ringleader of the Protestant nobility by the Catholic Habsburgs during the Counter-Reformation.

Kollmitz was closely linked to Drösiedl for about 300 years. From 1570, Drösiedl was converted into a Renaissance castle, and the old Kollmitz castle might even have been abandoned if other owners had not lived there after Hofkirchen's expulsion.

From 1616, the castle was owned by the Schütter, then the Schubhardt, since 1693 by Pernegg Abbey, and in 1708 the castle finally came into the possession of Franz Anton von Quarient und Raal (sometimes also Raall), owner of the Raabs lordship, who, however, let it fall into disrepair. The story that the castle was abandoned due to a roof tax is a legend. After 1708, there was simply no longer any use for the buildings, which is why they fell into disrepair or were even used as a quarry.

The castle had a predecessor on the other side of the valley west of Kollmitzgraben, whose location is barely recognizable anymore. Presumably, this castle, which was inhabited for only about 150 years, bore the name Hauenstein. Only with the new construction of Kollmitz 400 m to the east was this old castle abandoned. All known mentions of Chalmunze etc. before 1250 refer to Kollmitzberg near Amstetten. A dendrochronological study showed that the keep of the new Kollmitz castle was completed in 1319.

The valley road, which runs along the Thaya, offers a good view of the castle complex.

Since 1974, the "Association for the Preservation of the Kollmitz Castle Ruin" has been looking after the complex. A snack bar is operated there in summer.