Ottenschlag Castle

The castle dates back to a ministerialis of Margrave Leopold II, named Otto, who was based in Ottenschlag around 1096. From the mid-13th century, the Lords of Maissau held Ottenschlag as a free allod.

During the noble uprising of 1296 against Albrecht I, the castle was partially destroyed. After the extinction of the Maissau family, Georg Scheck vom Wald acquired the lordship in 1441. During the Hungarian Wars, the early medieval castle was occupied by Johannes von Sternberg in 1471. In 1488, King Matthias Corvinus enfeoffed Caspar von Rogendorf with Ottenschlag, which he had already acquired in 1479. Emperor Maximilian I later confirmed the fief. The Rogendorfs largely rebuilt the castle, which had been severely damaged during the Hungarian invasion of 1480, around 1510.

Between 1523 and 1554, Wolfgang von Rogendorf built a ring-shaped outer bailey around this main castle. This constitutes the present-day palace. After several changes of ownership, the lordship passed to the Barons of Pollheim, who owned it until 1666. During the Lower Austrian Peasant Uprising of 1596, Ottenschlag was a center of unrest, but Anna von Pollheim successfully withstood the siege of the castle. Max Gundacker von Pollheim eventually sold Ottenschlag to Ferdinand Graf Herberstein. The old main castle was demolished in the 18th century due to dilapidation. The demolition material was used to fill the original moat. Only the 16th-century fore-castle remained. The Herberstein family held Ottenschlag until 1793.

Due to bankruptcy, it was then sold to Baron Johann Josef von Stiebar. From 1816, the owners of the palace changed rapidly. In 1904, Moritz Graf Falkenhayn sold the property to the industrialist Munk, who temporarily converted the palace into a factory. In 1931, Göttweig Abbey bought Ottenschlag Palace. It was inhabited by tenants and housed the gendarmerie and district court. In 1986, the State of Lower Austria acquired the building and had it restored. It now houses a vocational school for household and tourism management. It also serves as a regional educational center.