Schloss Rohrau is a castle in the town of Rohrau in Lower Austria, bordering on Burgenland. The building houses the art collection of the counts of Harrach.

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 wanted to give it to his brother Ernst dem Eisernen, but heiress Guta married Hermann II, Count of Celje and received it from King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia as a gift. In 1402, Rohrau came into the hands of Ulrich, son of Hugo von Montfort-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 Harrach 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 o ...

. 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 (see Palais Harrach) 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. In 1593, the Turks 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,

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

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