Werfenstein Castle

Werfenstein is the ruin of a lowland castle in the Upper Austrian Mühlviertel. It stands on the Danube in the village of Struden in the municipality of St. Nikola an der Donau. During a siege of the castle, the besieged are said to have defended themselves by throwing stones, thus giving the castle its name.

The castle was built at a strategically important location. It also included fortifications on the opposite island of Wörth. If necessary, the Danube could be closed to shipping by stretching chains between the two facilities. Downstream there were further, similar facilities.

The former outer bailey was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century during the construction of the Danube embankment railway. Parts of the curtain wall and the tower have been preserved. The tower-like corner of the main castle consists of layered masonry, the others of rubble masonry. The west and south sides were probably added in the late Gothic period. The keep was restored in 1907. The old entrance door is seven meters above the courtyard level. A larger annex once stood in front of the current entrance. The current area of the castle is 716 m².

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1234. From 1272 to 1293, a Herwicus von Werfenstein, a supporter of the Teutonic Order, is mentioned here. In 1294, Duke Albrecht II besieged the castle. For three weeks, Werfenstein as well as the castles Freienstein and Pain were besieged. These had the castle administered by burgraves. King Rudolf left Werfenstein to Konrad von Sumerau. In 1314, Duke Friedrich pledged the castles Werfenstein, Hausstein and Pain to Albert von Volkenstorf. Between 1319 and 1320, Heinrich Payr was burgrave. The return of the lordships took place in 1334. In 1416, Duke Albrecht followed as owner, who was replaced in 1422 by Erhard Volkra. In 1461, Werfenstein fell to Duke Siegmund of Tyrol. Under Emperor Friedrich III, Werfenstein was sold in 1488 to the brothers Sigmund and Heinrich Prueschenk (the later Counts Hardegg).

At the end of the 15th century, the castle was abandoned after the Prueschenks had moved to the newly built Greinburg. Already in 1531, Werfenstein was without a roof. In 1645, the already dilapidated castle burned down. In 1780, the palas was demolished due to the risk of collapse and the danger to a nearby road. Until the end of the 19th century, Werfenstein belonged to the lordship of Grein and was owned by the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. When Queen Victoria of England was the owner of the lordship of Greinburg, the English court courier Julius Vanne resided in Werfenstein. Werfenstein was therefore not a complete ruin, but was repeatedly used for residential purposes.

In 1907, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels acquired the ruin from Vanne's successors and converted it into the "Ordensburg" (order castle) of his völkisch-esoteric Neutempler Order. In 1963, the castle was sold again and converted by a Linz doctor into a private retirement residence. After his death at the end of the 1990s, the property changed hands again.