Rabensburg Castle

Rabensburg Castle is a castle in the municipality of Rabensburg in Lower Austria.

The original Rabensburg is said to have come into the possession of the Regensburg Burgrave Burkhard in 1045, when the area belonged to the Hungarian March. The then wooden castle was probably built in stone around 1200.

In 1255, Hertwicus de Rebensburch, a follower of the Kuenringer, is first mentioned in documents, along with the town of Rabensburg. The castle was a moated castle at that time. In 1294, Otto II of Hagenberg acquired the lordship of Rabensburg, which was then conquered by King John of Bohemia in 1328. In the course of the 14th century, it came into the possession of the Zelkingers, but was already sold by Hans and Ulrich von Zelking to Johann II of Liechtenstein in 1385. The lordship then included about 25 surrounding villages.

Between 1540 and 1550, the castle was extensively rebuilt by Georg Hartmann von Liechtenstein. The exterior facades were decorated with paintings and sgraffiti by Johann Septimus von Liechtenstein towards the end of the 16th century. For Maximilian von Liechtenstein, brother of Karl, the founder of the princely house of Liechtenstein, the castle became the main residence. Under him, the complex was significantly expanded and converted into a palace. Bastions, equipped with cannons, were also built under him. Nevertheless, the castle was captured by the Swedish general Lennart Torstensson in 1645 during the Thirty Years' War, and the neighboring church was also destroyed. However, the castle was repossessed by the Liechtensteins the following year.

Further devastation occurred during the Kuruc invasions in 1704 and 1706, so that church services had to be held in the knight's hall until 1765.

The Liechtensteins kept the castle, with interruptions, until 1991. After Maximilian, however, it was no longer inhabited by the lords and served only as estate administration and official residence. After its sale in 1861, a parquet flooring factory was also housed in the building. During this time, valuable frescoes and building fabric were lost. After a few years, however, it was bought back by the Liechtensteins.

In 1991, gravel pit owner Günther Kucharovits bought the castle complex, which is now inhabited by several tenants. However, since the building has not been renovated, it makes a neglected impression externally.