Forchtenstein Castle — Attraction in Forchtenstein

Forchtenstein Castle is a castle built in the late Middle Ages near the municipality of Forchtenstein in northern Burgenland, Austria.

The first part of the castle with its 50-metre high keep 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 12-metre 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, 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...

I am rarely surprised as a seasoned traveller, to many historical sights. However, this castle did pleasantly surprise me.

Inside, it had vast collections of war booty from the Prussians, Ottomons and Napoleonic France. It is unusual to see such things in scale, especially in a private museum. The museum also covered the history of the powerful Austro-Hungarian family the Esterhazy's. I didn't know a great deal of the Hungarian side of Hapsburgs rule, but I certainly do now!

Placards available in English in each room, which tells you what you need to know. More information is shown in Hungarian and German. They also do guided tours, which I would enquire about before hand. They do do at least one in English.

Plenty of facilties on site, including a lovely restaurant. Can visit as part of the Vienna pass. They have weddings here on occasion. As it is a castle, it does involve some gradual inclines and steps (although the steps are quite big and well maintained). Parking on site, which is a...

We visited this castle about an hour away from Vienna as part of the Niederösterreich Card offer. The castle is part of the Esterhazy legacy in eastern Austria. Unfortunately we didn't arrive on time to catch a guided tour so the review is based on a "self guided" tour of the exhibit. We visited the main exhibit that contains paintings and some furniture/collectibles of the Esterhazy dynasty. The information in each hall was enough to give us an overview of the history and the booklet was a good companion for describing the stuff itself. I only gave it 4 🌟 because there are 3 different exhibitions you can see, two of them by guided tour only and each costs 12 Euros, which I think is a bit expensive. Otherwise it's a great weekend day trip...