Litschau Castle

Although the castle was first mentioned in a document in 1260, it is likely to have existed as early as 1215, when the village of Litschau was first named. Its construction is presumed to be around 1200. Its builders are believed to have been the Counts of Hirschberg.

In 1282, Count Gebhard from the House of Hirschberg granted the lordship as a fief to Luitold and Heinrich von Kuenring, but later bought it back and in 1297 ceded it to Duke Albrecht I of Austria, making Litschau a princely domain. Subsequently, however, it was soon pledged to various noble families. In 1348, the Lords of Puchheim were enfeoffed with the lordship. They remained in possession of the castle until about 1470. During the Hussite Wars, the castle was conquered and devastated.

The restoration carried out in 1463 was combined by Sigmund von Puchheim with a generous expansion. Around 1470, Ulrich von Grafenegg acquired the lordship. However, since he sided with the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus in 1472, he subsequently lost his possessions. In 1542, Emperor Ferdinand I sold Litschau to the Barons of Kraig. In 1587, Wenzel Moratschky von Noskau acquired it. In the Thirty Years' War, the castle and town of Litschau fell to the Bohemians in 1619 through betrayal. They could only be driven out the following year. Shortly thereafter, Andreas Freiherr von Moratschky lost his property through execution. As late as 1645, the castle and town were so well fortified that the Swedes failed to capture them.

The lords of the manor (including Losenstein, Poiger, Kuefstein) now changed relatively quickly, until Litschau was acquired in 1763 by Christian August Reichsgraf von Seilern. The decay of the complex began in the second half of the 18th century, when the more comfortable New Castle had been built. It continued into the 19th century. Only in 1888 did a reconstruction or new construction of individual parts begin. By 1910, the ensemble had acquired its present appearance. The Seilern-Aspang family still owns Litschau Castle today and uses it as a residence and seat of the estate administration.