Aggstein Castle

Aggstein sits on a narrow granite spur about three hundred metres above the Danube in the Wachau, built early in the twelfth century and held from 1181 by the Kuenringer, a family whose reputation as robber barons preying on river traffic is partly legend and partly earned. The ruin is long and thin because the spur is - the castle runs some hundred and fifty metres end to end with towers at both ends and buildings strung between, and the walk through it is essentially along a knife of rock. The Rosengärtlein, a small ledge over the drop, carries the story that Jörg Scheck vom Wald put prisoners there to choose between starving and jumping; it is a good story with thin evidence. The view up and down the valley is the best in the Wachau, and there is a tavern in the ruin.

History

The castle was probably built at the start of the 12th century by Manegold III of Acchispach, and in 1181 it passed to the Kuenring family; it was besieged and taken in 1230-1231 during the uprising led by Hadmar III. In 1429 Jörg Scheck vom Wald had it pulled down and rebuilt, and the notorious rose garden was laid out at that time. Ottoman troops burned it during the first siege of Vienna in 1529, after which it was rebuilt as a fort; in 1606 Anna Freiin von Polheim und Parz, widow of the last tenant, acquired it, and after her death it was badly neglected. It went to Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg in 1685 and was later sold to Count Oswald von Seilern-Aspang; the first measures to secure the ruin came under the Beroldingen owners, and a restoration project ran in 2003-2004 (Wikipedia, Aggstein Castle).

What you'll find

• A ruin along a rock spur - a hundred and fifty metres of castle on a knife of granite.
• The Rosengärtlein ledge - the ledge over the drop with its prisoner legend.
• The Wachau from above - the best long view up and down the valley.
• Kuenringer castle - a twelfth-century castle held from 1181 by the river's robber-baron family.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes for winter. Half a day.

Practical notes

Closed in winter. The ground inside is uneven ruin with unprotected drops in places. The road up is narrow and the last stretch is on foot. Wind on the spur is constant.

Nearby

Melk Abbey is upstream; Dürnstein and Krems are downstream.

Key facts