Niederweiden Castle

Niederweiden Castle
Niederweiden Castle, east side
Creation time :	1693/94
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Place:	Engelhartstetten
Geographical location	48 ° 11 '52.4 "  N , 16 ° 54' 3.5"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 11 '52.4 "  N , 16 ° 54' 3.5"  E
Height:	143  m above sea level A.

Niederweiden Castle is a baroque castle in Engelhartstetten in Marchfeld in the Gänserndorf district ( Lower Austria ).

history

The "KK Jagdschloß Niederweiden" between the castle courtyard and Engelhartstetten around 1873 ( recording sheet of the regional survey)

In the Middle Ages there was a moated castle in the area of ​​today's castle, which fell into disrepair over the centuries. The present castle was built in 1693/94 by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach for Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg under the name Jagdschloss Engelhartstetten. In 1725 Prince Eugene of Savoy acquired the palace and adapted it to a hunting lodge. The palace was given its current appearance under Maria Theresa around 1765 by the court architect Nikolaus Pacassi . The paintings in the ballroom are by Jean-Baptiste Pillement . Only the game kitchen, which is located in an adjoining building, still largely reflects the condition under Prinz Eugen. Maria Theresa initially planned to use the palace as a widow's residence, but eventually gave up on this project. The castle fell into disrepair due to its use as a horse stable from 1898 and later due to its use by the Red Army. The revitalization of the castle began around 1980: in 1986 Niederweiden Castle, together with the neighboring Hof Castle, hosted the Lower Austrian State Exhibition (see Lower Austrian State Exhibition ) on the 250th anniversary of Prince Eugene's death. After the castle was only available as an event location for several years, exhibitions have been shown there together with Schloss Hof since 2016: in 2016 it was one of four locations of the exhibition on the 100th anniversary of the death of Emperor Franz Joseph and dedicated to the subject of hunting. After an exhibition on Empress Maria Theresia (2017) and two exhibitions on the subject of food (2018 and 2019; a third episode was canceled due to a lack of public interest), in 2020 there will be an exhibition on Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary . Niederweiden Castle can still be used as an event location: 15 stately rooms - including the baroque game kitchen from the time of Prince Eugene - can be rented for private parties and celebrations (e.g. birthdays, weddings) as well as meetings and conferences.

administration

In 2002 the palace was privatized and, like Schloss Hof, was managed by the “Marchfeldschlösser Revitalisierungs- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH” (MRBG) until 2015. In July 2015, the MRBG was incorporated into the Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsgesellschaft (SKB), so that Niederweiden Castle is now under the administration of the latter.

Garden and outbuildings

The Niederweidner Baroque Garden was created on the site, including the ruins of the medieval village of Grafenweiden (mentioned in a document in 1045, destroyed in 1450). “The substructures of the local mountain were probably integrated as a welcome basis in the design of these systems, which are already worn out today” . In 2013, an ex-voto picture was attached to a seven-armed linden tree at the Grafenweidner Church. The place invites you to linger and contemplate. The partial areas of the desert (forest and surrounding arable / grassland areas) are today a soil monument protection area . Any intervention in the ground by unauthorized third parties is prohibited in accordance with the provisions of the Monument Protection Act.

Two buildings from the Baroque period, next to the hunting lodge itself, have been preserved and are in use. The dairy (the dairy farm / referred to as Gutshof Niederweiden in the 20th century) - now privately owned - and the "old hunter's house". On the foundation walls of a building in the village of Grafenweiden, the seat of the pheasant garden hunter was built under Prince Eugene (see place name in the recording sheet of the state survey). The area served the kk in the following centuries. Army as training areas for riding and driving lessons. In the 20th century, a well-known inn was operated on the northwest corner of the garden area. However, this building did not survive the (final battle in) World War II. Bricks and broken pieces of beer glasses testify u. a. from the work of destruction. Today the former baroque garden (except for smaller areas east of the castle) is a wild and romantic forest and is used for forestry and hunting. The "old hunter's house", some agricultural areas and parts of the medieval village Grafenweiden are used by the Grafenweiden plant workshop (private agriculture, forestry and horticulture, with forest tree school, art, cultural and educational activities and forest school) as business premises.

Web links

Commons : Niederweiden Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Niederweiden Castle
• Entry via Niederweiden to Burgen-Austria
• Entry for Schloss Niederweiden in the database of the state's memory of the history of the state of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Official website of Niederweiden Castle, special exhibition Franz Joseph (1830-1916) ( Memento from April 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ ^{A b} G. Reichhalter, K. & T. Kühtreiber: Burgen Weinviertel . Freytag & Berndt , 2005, p. 80 ff .