Gussing Castle

Güssing sits on a basalt plug - the neck of an extinct volcano standing about sixty-five metres out of otherwise flat country - and a castle has been on it since 1157, making it the oldest in Burgenland. It passed to the Batthyány family in 1524 and stayed with them, and its position in the borderland between Habsburg and Ottoman territory meant it was garrisoned and fought over for two centuries. What survives is a substantial ruin with restored sections holding a museum of arms, the Batthyány family collection and a chapel; a lift shaft cut up through the basalt takes visitors from the town to the courtyard, which is unusual. The town below is known separately for an energy project that made it self-sufficient on biomass in the 1990s.

What you actually see

• A castle on a volcanic plug - basalt standing sixty-five metres out of the plain.
• Burgenland's oldest castle - occupied since 1157 on the Ottoman frontier.
• A lift through the rock - the shaft cut up to the courtyard from the town.
• The Batthyány collections - arms, family material and the chapel.

When to go

April to October; closed over winter. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Closed for the winter. The lift has limited hours and the walk up is steep. Much of the castle is ruin with uneven footing. Southern Burgenland needs a car.

Nearby

The Hungarian border is minutes away; Stadtschlaining is north.