- Type
- Castle
- Location
- Burgenland, Austria
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 47.7097°, 16.3317°
History
The castle was built in the early 14th century by the counts of Mattersdorf, who took the name Forchtenstein from it. After the family died out in the 15th century it passed to the Habsburgs, and in 1622 Emperor Ferdinand II granted it to Nikolaus Esterházy. In the mid-17th century Nikolaus and his son Paul turned the medieval stronghold into a modern fortress, which the Ottomans failed to take even in 1683, on their march to Vienna. The Esterházys installed their family treasury and armoury here, amassing weapons, ancestral portraits and valuables. The castle still belongs to the Esterházy foundation.
What to see
Tours take in the armoury, one of the largest private collections of arms in Europe, including Turkish spoils, the gallery of Esterházy ancestral portraits and the treasury with its cabinet of curiosities full of jewels, clocks and rarities. The massive walls and bastions tower over the village of Forchtenstein, and the courtyards look out over the broad Burgenland plain.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q877030
Popularity: articles about this site in 22 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).