To be privately owned
Cultural Events
CastleEberau
Eberau Castle
Eberau Castle (in Hungarian: Monyorokerek) is a moated castle and part of the South Burgenland village of Eberau in the lower Pinka valley, near the border crossing to Hungary (Eberau-Szentpeterfa).
In 1221, Eberau was first mentioned in a deed of gift for the St. Gotthard Monastery. Afterwards, Stephan from the Ják family received permission from Andreas II of Heder to transfer the villages of Pernau, Eberau, Hetfőhely, Perwolff and Kölked to the monastery.
Eberau Castle is documented as early as the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1297, Eberau was assigned as a separate dominion to the Héder and Hedervar families, whose ancestor was Hedrich. In 1369, Louis I confirmed the Ellerbacher, who originated from Swabia, in possession of the dominion.
Around 1400, Berthold von Ellerbacher built an extensive village fortification with a mighty moated castle in place of the old castle and the village transformation. The village transformation is the only one in Austria from the period around 1400. The then moated castle soon came into the possession of Archbishop Tamás Bakócz of Esztergom, who bequeathed the property to his nephew, Count Erdődy. Monyorokerek is also found in the title of the Counts Erdődy de Monyorokerek es Monoszlo.
Condition+
The castle with its various moat systems, of which the outermost water ring even encompasses the entire village of Eberau, is counted among the largest water defense systems in Eastern Europe. This may have helped the castle never to have been captured, with the exception of its occupation by the Red Army at the end of World War II, when it served as accommodation. This is still evident today, as the ceiling beams of the 2nd floor, where the state rooms were located, were used as heating material to survive the cold winter.
Documents from the former family archive, which was located in the castle, were burned or used as toilet paper. Walls and door frames were broken open to find hidden jewelry, messages and tally marks were left on the walls. The castle is not publicly accessible to visitors. Since the wooden foundation of the moated castle is also rotten and thus the outer walls are moving apart, the renovation costs are extremely high.
Events+
Every year, the Grenzenlos theater project takes place in front of the castle or the economic building of the castle complex. The castle is still owned by the Counts Erdődy.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://www.wehrbauten.at/bgld/burgenland.html
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 47.1033, 16.4618