Bernstein Castle (Burgenland)

Amber Castle
	Bernstein Castle from the east
Creation time :	around 860 or 1199
Castle type :	Rock castle
Conservation status:	received or received substantial parts
Place:	Amber in Burgenland
Geographical location	47 ° 24 '23.5 " N , 16 ° 15' 7.1" E Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '23.5 " N , 16 ° 15' 7.1" E

Bernstein Castle in Bernstein in Burgenland was first mentioned in the 13th century.

location

High above the diving valley, it is the highest castle in Burgenland .

history

In 860 AD the entire area belonged to the Archdiocese of Salzburg . Erimbert, a feudal man of the archbishop, handed the land on the Pinka over to his servant, the "Miles" Jacobus. The place name Rettenbach has not yet been mentioned, but the old Slavic name of the nearby hamlet of Grodnau = the village belonging to the castle indicates that there was already a castle nearby, and it could only have been amber.

From 1199 the castle belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary . The Miczbán de genere Akos was named as the owner. It is not known exactly when the castle passed to Duke Frederick II of Austria and how long the possession lasted, but in 1236 Bela IV of Hungary conquered the castle. Years later (1260) he gave it to Count Heinrich II von Güns .

In 1336 the Counts of Güssing and von Bernstein were decisively defeated by the Hungarian King Karl Robert von Anjou , and Bernstein Castle was subsequently confiscated as a Hungarian crown property. In 1388 the castle was pledged to the Kanizsay family . In 1389 they began to rebuild the ruined castle. In 1392 the castle became the property of the Kanizsay.

Almost a hundred years later (1482) the castle was temporarily owned by Matthias Corvinus , King of Hungary. After a few years, Hans von Königsberg received the castle as a pledge from Emperor Friedrich III in 1487 .

In 1529 and 1532 the Turks besieged the castle, but could not take it. Then the bastion wreath was erected to convert the castle into a refuge.

In 1604 Bernstein Castle was besieged for weeks in vain by a combined army consisting of Hungarians, Turks and Tatars under Stephan Bocskay . Ludwig Königsberg had the Gothic interior of the castle redesigned in Baroque style in 1617, and the keep and towers were demolished. A little later, in 1644, Ehrenreich Christoph Königsberg sold the lordship and castle to Count Ádám Batthyány . It was not until almost two hundred years later (1864) that Gusztáv Batthyány sold the castle to his administrator Edward O'Egan. O'Egan's heirs sold the castle to Eduard von Almásy in 1892. A well-known member of this family was the pilot and desert explorer Ladislaus Almásy . The castle is still owned by this family today. In 1953 part of the castle was converted into a comfortable recreational hotel.

According to a legend, the White Lady von Bernstein is said to haunt the castle.

investment

The spacious building was besieged by the Turks in 1529 and 1532. Since it withstood the sieges, it was converted into a refuge. The building was damaged by an explosion of the powder magazine in 1617 and then redesigned in Baroque style . The knight's hall from the first half of the 17th century, which has a magnificent stucco ceiling , is well worth seeing .

The castle is a hotel with a restaurant (registration required). The alchemist's kitchen and torture chamber from the 16th century with museum exhibits can be visited.