Schallaburg Castle

Schallaburg is a village in the municipality of Schollach, in Lower Austria, Austria. The Schallaburg Castle is one of the best known Renaissance style castles in Austria. Nowadays the castle Schallaburg is a museum.

In the 16th century the then Protestant family Von Losenstein acquired the castle Schallaburg and turned it into a renaissance castle. Especially Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein did much of the renovation. He also rebuilt the church of Loosdorf and made it a renaissance Protestant church and there he also founded a Protestant grammar school for the youth of the nobility but also for the youth of non nobility ('die Hohe Schule', 1574-1627). In 1601 Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein died. Then there rested high debts on the castle. In 1614 the family Von Stubenberg bought the castle. In 1627 the church and school were closed according to a law issued by the archduke of Austria emperor Ferdinand II, who wished to turn the people in the countries over which he reigned catholic. From the 17th century until the 20th the castle changed owners several times. The castle remained private property until 1945. In 1945 it was confiscated by the Russians. In 1955 the castle became property of the new Republic Austria.

Museum Schallaburg

In 1967 the government of Lower Austria bought the castle from the Austrian state. The government of Lower Austria decided to renovate the Schallaburg. In 1968 the restoration started with the roof. In 1974 the Schallaburg was opened as a museum for Lower Austria. The first exhibition in 1974 was on the renaissance. Every year there is a new exhibition. The exhibition of 2011 was on the history of Venice, the one of 2012 about Byzantium. March 29, 2014 an exhibition on the First World War called "Glory and Gloom - living with the Great War 1914-1918" has been opened. De exhibition shows weapons, movies, historical posters, post cards from particulars and other items from that time. The exhibition will be open until November 9, 2014.