Forchtenstein ( hu, Fraknóváralja or Fraknókő, hr, Fortnavski grad; until 1972, Forchtenau, ''Fraknó'', ''Fortnava'') is a town in the district of

Mattersburg Mattersburg (; formerly ''Mattersdorf'', hu, Nagymarton, Croatian: ''Matrštof'') is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and was home to former Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersburg. ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

. It is the location of

Forchtenstein Castle Forchtenstein Castle (german: Burg Forchtenstein; hu, Fraknó vára; hr, Fortnavski grad) is a castle built in the Late Middle Ages near the municipality of Forchtenstein in northern Burgenland, Austria. Forchtenstein Castle is above sea leve ...

, one of the many palaces of the famous

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

family. It consists of two subdivisions (''

Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a Cadastre, cadastral subdivision of Municipality, municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ser ...

n'') which were formerly separate towns: Forchtenau (Hungarian: ''Fraknó'') and Neustift an der Rosalia (Hungarian: ''Újtelek'').

Population

The castle gained a nickname as the "Castle of Fear". The castle has one red and one black tower. The castle boasted many torture chambers including one called the Pit of Oblivion, a deep pit where torture victims would be strung upside down and deprived of food and water until they died. The Pit of Oblivion is located in the black tower. Although many of the rooms are now available to the public either for rental or visitation, the treasure room of the castle still remains private and inaccessible.

Gallery

Image:Eszterhazy12.jpg, Sculpture at Esterházy Castle Image:Eszterhazy13.jpg, At Esterházy Castle Image:Eszterhazy14.jpg, At Esterházy Castle Image:Fraknó légifotó.jpg, Aerial photograph of the castle

References

External links

Medieval Warfare: Castles of Fear
Cities and towns in Mattersburg District Croatian communities in Burgenland Esterházy family {{Burgenland-geo-stub