Forchtenstein Castle
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Forchtenstein Castle (german: Burg Forchtenstein; hu, Fraknó vára; hr, Fortnavski grad) is a castle built in the
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
near the municipality of
Forchtenstein Forchtenstein ( hu, Fraknóváralja or Fraknókő, hr, Fortnavski grad; until 1972, Forchtenau, ''Fraknó'', ''Fortnava'') is a town in the district of Mattersburg in the Austrian state of Burgenland. It is the location of Forchtenstein Castle, ...
in northern
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Forchtenstein Castle is above sea level.Forchtenstein Castle Altitude and Location
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Location

The castle is south 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. ...
above the
Wulka The Wulka () is a river of Burgenland, Austria. Its basin area is . The river springs near Forchtenstein and the border to Lower Austria. It flows through Trausdorf an der Wulka and discharges near Donnerskirchen into Lake Neusiedl, in former tim ...
valley.


History

The first part of the castle with its high
keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
was built in the beginning of the 15th century by the Lords of Mattersburg, who later named themselves Lords of Forchtenstein. The castle features a tower, known as the 'Black Tower' although the black rock that originally lined the tower has since been stripped. The tower contains a deep pit used as a prison cell for those condemned to death. Rezallia, wife of Lettus of Forchtenstein used this with great frequency; on the return of her husband from military service, she was herself sentenced to death in the tower by her husband. Around 1450 the Lords of Forchtenstein died off due to lack of a male heir and the castle was passed over to the
House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
, which owned it for 170 years. They leased it to others, including the Counts of Weissbriach and Hardegg. During this time the building was not changed significantly. In 1622
Nikolaus Esterházy Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...
, founder of the western Hungarian Esterházy line, received the castle from
Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...
, and Esterházy became a Count. Nikolaus started to fortify the crumbling castle and refurbished it with the services of
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
builder Simon Retacco from 1630 to 1634 and with Domenico Carlone from 1643. The construction workers were all from
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. This led to big orders for three masters of Kaisersteinbruch, the imperial quarry:
Ambrosius Petruzzy Ambrosius Petruzzy (died 1652 in Kaisersteinbruch, Kingdom of Hungary) was an Italian master stonemason and baroque sculptor. Life In December 1640, master Francesco Maderno and his wife Maria sold their house with a garden to master Ambro ...
, Pietro Maino Maderno, and Mathias Lorentisch. Kaiserstein stone was used for the main portals, fountains, cannonballs, etc. Once hewn the stone was delivered on large wagons drawn by six oxen. In the second half of the 17th century his son
Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
further extended and ornamented the castle with architect Domenico Carlone. After Paul's death the castle's function changed. It became a repository for weapons, archives, chronometers, machines, exotic animal preparations and other "marvels". The only access to the treasure vault was a secret passage leading to a door requiring two different keys used together. One key was kept by the Count and the other by his treasurer. In the second half of the 18th century the castle was extended by master builder Ferdinand Mödlhammer. During this work the roof truss was lifted and the interior was renovated. The treasure vault remained undiscovered and intact throughout
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The original glass-paned cabinets containing the collection are works of art in themselves. The castle is still owned by the Esterházy family and, together with
Schloss Esterházy Schloss Esterházy ( hu, Esterházy-kastély) is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622. Under Paul ...
in
Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074. In the Habsburg ...
, it chronicles the history and treasures of this ancient aristocratic family. When Austria and Hungary separated in 1921, the Esterházy family's lands were split between the two countries. Their financial records remained at Castle Forchtenstein and the family records were taken to the Hungarian Federal Archive in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
.


Gallery

Image:Forchtenstein - Burg (3).JPG, West view Image:BurgForchtenstein5.jpg, Air view Image:BurgForchtenstein3.jpg, Courtyard with frescoes Image:BurgForchtenstein4.jpg, Treasure and marvel chamber Image:Forchtenstein-Fountain.JPG, Fountain, hard Kaiserstein


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


External links


Burg Forchtenstein
- Official homepage
Photo gallery Castle Forchtenstein

Air views of the castle
{{Authority control Mattersburg District Castles in Burgenland Esterházy family Museums in Burgenland Historic house museums in Austria Art museums and galleries in Austria Decorative arts museums Military and war museums in Austria