Rohrau Castle

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Rohrau Castle
East view

The Rohrau Castle is located in the town of Rohrau at the Lower Austrian border to the Burgenland . The building houses the painting collection of the Counts of Harrach .

Medieval castle and mansion

In the 12th century , the Margraves of Cham and Vohburg owned the area around Rohrau. A manor with Dietrich de Rorow from the House of Liechtenstein is mentioned for the first time in 1240 . This line died in 1278 with Dietrich III. out. His daughter Diemut brought the rule to her husband Leutold I. von Stadeck († 1292/95). After the death of the last Stadecker, Johann († 1399), Duke Wilhelm wanted to seize the rule in 1400 and turn to his brother Ernst the Iron , but the guardian of Stadeck's heir, Guta, Count Hermann II of Cilli, managed to give Rohrau as an imperial fief and he was enfeoffed with Rohrau by King Wenzel in 1400 . In 1402 Rohrau came to Count Ulrich, son of Hugo von Montfort - Pfannberg , who had married Guta. In 1404 King Ruprecht officially enfeoffed the Montforts with castle and rule, which they held for 120 years.

The Harrach family

The Harrach family first appeared in southern Bohemia in the 13th century , then in Upper Austria's Mühlviertel , among others wealthy in Freistadt , so that an Austrian line of those of Harrach was formed. As a result, the Harrachs acquired property in Styria and Carinthia . In the course of time, the focus of her interests shifted to Vienna and Lower Austria.

Leonhard III. von Harrach acquired the Rohrau lordship and fortress in Lower Austria in 1524 and was given permission to name himself after it. At the time of the Counter-Reformation , his son Leonhard IV took a decidedly Catholic position, which was to be of great importance for the family in the future. He was promoted to the status of imperial baron by the Roman-German king and later emperor Ferdinand I in 1552 and accepted into the order of the Golden Fleece by King Philip II of Spain in 1584 . When he retired from the farm in 1586 after 55 years of service , he went to Rohrau, which had been converted into a magnificent moated castle. Leonhard IV died in 1590 and was buried in the Augustinian Church in Vienna.

In 1593 the Turks stood in front of the walls of the castle and prepared the fortress and the surrounding area hard times. The fort was badly damaged by siege and fighting, subsequent restoration work is documented in the Gräflich Harrach family archive.

New building 1599–1605

View of Rohrau Castle (around 1800)

Master mason Leonhard Pall von Sommerein am Leythaberg charged 552 days of masonry work, which he carried out with his journeymen there at Rohrau Castle on the new building, including vaults, etc. For the day's work, 18 kreuzers in cash were to be handed, including the daily food and drink, a total of 165 fl. 36 kreuzers.

Master stonemason Antonius Tencalla in the Bavarian quarry on Leythaberg set off door and window stones from Kaiserstein , a series of snails into the new building, including the cornice on the arbor . In addition, five stone window heads, the stone pillory in the market Rohrau, the stone blocks of the New Gate in the exterior lock together cornice , most recently a water well inside the castle. The well-born baron Karl von Harrach had paid and had it paid for 261 guilders and 21 kreuzers through his caretaker Hans Rößler.

Count Harrach's family collection

Glance into the picture gallery of the Harrach family collection

The castle houses the Graf Harrach family collection , one of the most important private art collections in Austria. In April 2006, unknown perpetrators broke into the castle and stole 16 pictures by Dutch artists such as Rembrandt , van Dyck , Rubens and Pieter Snayers .

The castle, estate and collection of paintings have since been inherited by the von Waldburg-Zeil family from the Allgäu .

literature

  • Ulrich Graf von und zu Arco-Zinneberg , Rohrau Castle - Graf Harrach's family collection , Little Art Guide, Schnell & Steiner publishing house, Regensburg; 4th, revised edition 2012.
  • Helmuth Furch, Das Gräflich Harrachsche Familienarchiv, Schloss Rohrau, Antonius Tencalla, stonemason in the Bavarian quarry on Leyttaberg , in communications from the Museum and Culture Association Kaisersteinbruch , No. 37, S 7-13, June 1995. ISBN 978-3-9504555-3 -3 .
  • Wolfgang Westerhoff, pillory pillars in Austria , Lower Austria Press House, 1994.

Coordinates: 48 ° 3 ′ 45 ″  N , 16 ° 51 ′ 8 ″  E

Web links

Commons : Schloss Rohrau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Gräflich Harrachsche family archive, box 716
  2. ^ Waldviertel news