Kollmitz Castle (German: Burgruine Kollmitz, lit. “castle ruins of Kollmitz”) is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
east of
Raabs an der Thaya
Raabs an der Thaya is a municipality with 3,114 inhabitants in Waidhofen an der Thaya (district) in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria, near the Austrian border with the Czech Republic. About 27.6 percent of the municipality is forested.
The German ...
in
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. The Castle was first mentioned in the 13th century and the construction of its main tower was completed in 1319.
In the 14th century the castle was used as a district court with ownership changing often. In 1411 the
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
von Hofkirchen came into possession of the castle, whose family would control the castle for the next two centuries. The Hofkirchen family lost possession of the castle in 1611 when Wolfgang von Hofkirchen died in exile in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
during the
Habsburg's Counter Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
, which saw him as a ringleader of
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
nobility.
Following the end of Hofkirchen control, the castle changed hands several times and may even have been abandoned. In 1708 the Castle was acquired by Franz Anton von Quarient und Raal under whom the castle fell into disrepair as it no longer could serve any practical purpose.
See also
*
List of castles in Austria
This page is a list of castles and castle ruins in Austria, arranged by state. A ''Burgruine'' is a ruined castle, a “castle ruin”.
Burgenland
* Burg Bernstein
* Burg Forchtenstein
* Burg Güssing
* Burgruine Landsee
* Burg Lockenhaus
* ...
References
''This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia.''
Castles in Lower Austria
{{Austria-castle-stub