Forchtenstein Castle

Forchtenstein was rebuilt as a fortress in the seventeenth century by the Esterhazy family and never turned into a comfortable palace, which is why its contents survived. The treasury holds clocks, automata, silver and curiosities gathered over generations, and the armoury keeps rank upon rank of historic arms and armour on their original racks. In the courtyard a well shaft was cut many metres down through rock to reach water. Tours move through the rooms in fixed groups, since the collections are stored rather than staged. Outside, the walls look north over the plain towards the lake country.

History

The Lords of Mattersburg built the first part of the castle, with its keep 50 metres high, early in the 15th century and took the name Lords of Forchtenstein; when their line died out around 1450 it passed to the Habsburgs, who owned it for 170 years and leased it to the counts of Weissbriach and Hardegg. In 1622 Emperor Ferdinand II gave it to Nikolaus Esterházy, who strengthened and refurbished the crumbling castle with the Vienna builder Simon Retacco from 1630 to 1634 and with Domenico Carlone from 1643, using Italian workmen and stone from the imperial quarry at Kaisersteinbruch for portals, fountains and even cannonballs; his son Paul extended it further, and after Paul's death it became a store for weapons, archives, clocks, machines and curiosities, the treasure vault reached by a secret passage and a door needing two keys at once (Wikipedia, Forchtenstein Castle).

Highlights

• The treasury - the family collection of clocks, automata, silver and curiosities.
• The armoury - the racks of historic arms and armour kept in their original arrangement.
• The deep well - the shaft cut down through rock in the courtyard to reach water.
• The ramparts - the walls and bastions looking north across the Burgenland plain.

When to go

Open from spring to autumn, with tours at set times and limited group sizes, so book ahead at weekends. Treasury and armoury are usually separate tours, which doubles the time needed. Mid week in May or September is quietest. Winter closes the castle almost completely.

Practical notes

Everything is guided and timed, mostly in German, and wandering on your own is not possible. Two tours plus the waiting between them takes a long afternoon. The interiors are storage rooms rather than furnished apartments, which disappoints anyone expecting palace decor. The approach road is narrow and parking is tight on summer weekends.

Nearby

Eisenstadt and the Neusiedler See lie east across the plain.

Key facts