Schloss Rohrau is a castle in the town of Rohrau 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 ...

, bordering on

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 ...

. The building houses the art collection of the counts of

Harrach The House of Harrach is an old and influential Bohemian and Austro-German noble family. The ''Grafen'' (Counts) of Harrach were among the most prominent families in the Habsburg Empire. As one of few mediatized families, it belongs to high nobility ...

Medieval castle and "Herrschaft" or dominion

In the 12th century, the Marquis of Cham and Vohburg held the area around Rohrau. Dietrich de Rorow was first mentioned in 1240 as living in the Haus Liechtenstein. His line died out in 1278 with Dietrich III. His daughter Diemut married Leutold I von

Stadeck Stadeck was an important family of ''ministeriales'' in Styria during the 13th and 14th centuries. The family is named for Stattegg castle, beginning with Rudolph I (1192–1230). His son Rudolph II (d. 1261) was a leading minnesinger, featur ...

(† 1292/95). After the death of the last Johann Stadeck in 1399, Duke

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

wanted to give it to his brother Ernst dem Eisernen, but heiress Guta married

Hermann II, Count of Celje Hermann II ( sl, Herman; early 1360s – 13 October 1435), Count of Celje, was a Styrian prince and magnate, most notable as the faithful supporter and father-in-law of the Hungarian king and Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. Hermann's ...

and received it from King

Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he w ...

as a gift. In 1402, Rohrau came into the hands of Ulrich, son of

Hugo von Montfort Hugo von Montfort (1357 – 4 April 1423) was an Austrian minstrel of the Late Middle Ages. Life Hugo VII was a scion of the comital house of Montfort at Bregenz, head of an old and influential Swabian family of nobles, holding numerous ...

-Pfannberg, who inherited from Guta. In 1404, King Ruprecht gave the Montforts the castle and dominion, which they owned for 120 years.

Harrach family

The

family first appeared in southern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

in the 13th century, later in neighbouring

Mühlviertel The Mühlviertel () is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria, the others being Hausruckviertel, Traunviertel, and Innviertel. It is named after the three rivers ', ', and '. ...

, including the wealthy town of

Freistadt Freistadt (, literally "Freetown") is a small Austrian town in the state of Upper Austria in the region Mühlviertel. With a population of approximately 7,500 residents, it is a trade centre for local villages. Freistadt is the economic centre of ...

. The Harrachs owned estates in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

and

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

at one time, but their main interests shifted to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(see

Palais Harrach Palais Harrach is a Baroque palace in Vienna, Austria. It was owned by the noble Harrach family. The building was extensively renovated and restored in the late 1990s, and it houses offices and shops today. Count Ferdinand Bonaventura I von Harra ...

) and Lower Austria. Leonhard III von Harrach inherited the castle and in 1524, during the

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 ...

, his son Leonhard IV took the side of the Catholics. He was granted nobility in 1552 and, in 1584, the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

. In 1586, he retired after 55 years of service to the court of Vienna and devoted himself to the Rohrau castle. He died in 1590 and was buried in the

Augustinian Church, Vienna The Augustinian Church (german: link=no, Augustinerkirche) in Vienna is a parish church located on Josefsplatz, next to the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna. Originally built in the 14th century as the parish church of ...

. In 1593, the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

stormed the castle. The damage was repaired in 1599–1605 and is documented in the family's archives.Gräflich Harrachsches Familienarchiv, Schachtel 716

Art collection

The castle houses the ''Graf Harrach’sche Familiensammlung'', one of the largest private collections in Austria. In April 2006, thieves broke in and stole 16 paintings by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

and

Peter Snayers Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. (p. 241-243, v.1; plate 92, v.2)Hans V ...

. The castle and its collection now belong by inheritance to the counts of

Waldburg-Zeil Waldburg-Zeil was a County and later Principality within Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the House of Waldburg, located in southeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located around Schloss Zeil, near Leutkirch im Allgäu. History Waldburg-Zeil w ...

References

Literature

* Ulrich Graf von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, ''Schloss Rohrau - Graf Harrach'sche Familiensammlung'', Kleiner Kunstführer, Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg; 4., neu bearbeitete Auflage 2012. * Helmuth Furch, ''Das Gräflich Harrachsche Familienarchiv, Schloss Rohrau, Antonius Tencalla, Steinmetz im kayßerischen Steinbruch am Leyttaberg'', in Mitteilungen des Museums- und Kulturvereines Kaisersteinbruch, Nr. 37, S 7–13, Juni 1995. * Wolfgang Westerhoff, ''Prangersäulen in Österreich'', Verlag NÖ-Pressehaus, 1994.

External links

Schloss Rohrau
- official website *

* * Museum Niederösterreich)
Helmuth Furch 1995, Gräfl.Harrachsches Archiv und der Kaiser-Steinbruch
{{Authority control Harrach family Castles in Lower Austria Museums in Lower Austria Art museums and galleries in Austria