Riegersburg Castle — Attraction in Riegersburg

Riegersburg Castle is undeniably one of Austria's most impressive fortresses. Perched majestically above the rolling hills of southeastern Styria, it is surrounded by breathtaking nature and offers a historic charm that promises a rewarding visit. However, this impression is heavily overshadowed – not by the castle itself, but by a highly questionable pricing policy that feels more like exploitation than hospitality.

🚠 Forced Lift Ticket – Even if You Want to Walk The disappointment begins right at the entrance. Visitors are forced to buy a combination ticket that includes a lift ride – whether they intend to use it or not. Many people, including ourselves, actually prefer walking up the hill. The path is short, slightly uneven but perfectly doable, and part of the overall experience.

But no – there is no option to just pay for the castle entry alone. Everyone is required to pay for the lift, even if they have absolutely no intention of using it. This policy is both absurd and frustrating. It’s unacceptable to charge for a service that isn’t used, and it feels like a blatant cash grab.

💶 The “Path Fee” Was Just the Beginning – Now It's Monetized Fully Years ago, they introduced a so-called “path fee,” supposedly because the walkway was frequently littered by visitors. Even back then, this excuse was questionable, as no real evidence supported that claim. But now it’s clear: that path fee was merely the first step in establishing a new revenue stream.

Today, the path is no longer even offered as a separate choice. Instead, the mandatory lift-inclusive ticket serves as a clever way to generate income – all at the expense of those who just want a peaceful, scenic walk up to the castle.

🦅 Birds of Prey Show – Solid Performance, But Poor Value The birds of prey show is another example of this imbalance. While the performance itself is well done – the animals appear healthy and the staff are knowledgeable – the ticket price is disproportionate to what you actually get. The show is short, and for what is essentially a standard presentation, it is significantly overpriced.

And again, families are hit hardest. Those with children are expected to pay multiple entry fees, turning a simple outing into an expensive affair.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family-Friendly? Not at All. This place is not family-friendly. If a family simply wants to walk up to the castle and enjoy the stunning view, they’ll still be forced to buy full combination tickets. No flexibility. No consideration for parents or children. Just an aggressive pricing system that favors income over visitor satisfaction.

The charm that such a historical site should radiate is completely lost in this process. Instead, what remains is a sense of being taken advantage of.

🏹 The Sheriff of Riegersburg? At this point, the comparison feels unavoidable: The management of Riegersburg behaves like the greedy sheriff in Robin Hood – opening the gates with one hand while grabbing into your wallet with the other. This is not about cultural heritage or fair tourism. It’s about profit maximization through forced extras and opaque pricing.

📌 Final Verdict: Beautiful Castle, Disappointing Experience Riegersburg is an architectural gem in a stunning location. But the commercial approach, lack of transparency, and disregard for visitor needs turn what could be a highlight into a source of frustration and disappointment. If you’re looking for a historical outing, consider somewhere where hospitality and fairness are still valued.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – for the view. The rest, sadly, deserves little more than a...

Castle Musuem The museum in the State Rooms offers a multimedia journey into the history of Riegersburg in the 17th century. Two women's fates in the time of the Turkish wars, Frondienst and Hexenwahn but also baroque love of life and festive culture.

Elisabeth Katharina von Galler , castle lord from 1637 to 1672, went down in history because of her unconventional life as the "bad Liesl". The mere fact that the Gaul woman did not fit into the tight corset of norms in which women were pressed in the seventeenth century, but led a self-determined life, was reason enough for such a nickname.

In numerous processes, she had to defend her fiercely contested position as castle lord in a male-dominated society.

The fate of Katharina Paldauf , a servant of the Gallerin, leads to the dispute with one of the darkest chapters in the history of Eastern Styria, the great Feldbacher witch trial, one of about 200 Styrian witch trials. Katharina Paldauf, still trivialized as the "flower witch", was one of the victims who were executed on suspicion of hail and weather to destroy the harvest of the peasants.

No wonder that these two fates provided fertile breeding ground for a rich legends and that the "legendary" stories about the two women are now better known than their true counterparts.

But also the contrast of noble life and baroque abundance on the one hand and poverty, superstition and Turkish war on the other hand becomes clear in the castle museum. Room, video and sound installations allow a combination of experience and experience.

Witch Musuem The witch museum goes back to the Styrian national exhibition "witches and magicians" in 1987 . This national exhibition was one of the most successful of all times with approximately 360,000 visitors. The topic was well chosen and the relation to the Riegersburg certainly exists. In the years 1673 - 1675 the biggest witch trial in Styria had been conducted at the district court Feldbach and among the approximately 95 men and women accused was also Katharina Paldauf, the castle keeper's wife of the Riegersburg, which became known as the "flower witch". In 1988 , the exhibition was reduced to about half of the rooms and successfully continued as a "witch museum".

On the occasion of 30 years of witches and wizards , the witches museum was completely rebuilt and modernized this year. The opening took place on April 30 and May 1, 2017 , with great interest from visitors .

Arms Museum The collection of weapons, consisting of armor and armor parts, sabers and swords, various bat and stabbing weapons, rifles of various types, pistols, etc., was previously in Burgzeughaus and in depots. Only a small part of it was shown in the castle museum, which often gave the false impression that there are only a few weapons.

In fact, the collection of weapons is very extensive, it includes objects from the late Middle Ages, 15th century, to the early modern period, the 17th century. It is not surprising that this epoch is the most present, as the Riegersburg was known at that time as the "strongest fortress of...

Beautiful castle from the outside, but you're probably better off staying outside. Firstly, as we did not wish to see the falconry show, we bought the "knight" tickets for €23,40. This, in my opinion is very overpriced, and by no means is (enough) value for money. Also, it's 2024 and we're in the EU, why is absolutely everything only in German? (Not only my issue, read TripAdisor reviews instead of getting defensive.) And on top of that, why are audioguides €3,50 with an additional €6,00 for the use of headphones? Have some shame, you're no worse off using Google Lens and translating the long, boring text on the plastic boards. Secondly, the website of the castle declares: "Hardly any other castle complex is as impressive as the mighty Veste Riegersburg." Whoever decided to claim this has probably never visited any of Český Krumlov, Hluboká nad Vltavou, or the Prague castle -all of these just from one neighbouring country- as all of these put Riegersburg to shame, and by some distance as well. The inside and the exhibitions would have someone believe that the House of Liechtenstein have simply ran out of money or just don't care at all. The exhibitions desperately need money invested into them, alongside with a competent museologist capable of creating a valuable and a coherent exhibition, also with someone present who is below the age of 60, to make it not look like we're back in 1960, somewhere behind the iron curtain, because it sure feels like that. The website further claims that: "The Witch Museum was redesigned in 2017 and made more contemporary." Very sorry to clarify, but films were invented in 1895. There is absolutely nothing contemporary about this individual exhibition, nor is it integrative, nor is it interesting. As a general comment, whoever is responsible for the wax figures should lose their job immediately, they look laughably bad. As for the meals of the day being represented with printed letters on a glass platter, I think this speaks for itself. Poor beyond poor. Was it a primary school art project? The only somewhat beautiful part of the castle from inside is the castle museum, the ceilings and some of the doors are beautiful, but even these rooms are in desperate need of renovation. The weapons museum is... well.. a weapons museum, doesn't change the world, you can look at weapons through a huge piece of glass, without any detailed info about the individual weapons apart from their names. The weapons museum is also one of those exhibition rooms that could very well have been offered to visitors in the 1960s, nothing modern about this either, no movies, no touchpads with trivia, no nothing. Very poor. Definitely NOT worth €23,40, go eat chocolate at the local...