Burg Wiener Neustadt

Burg Wiener Neustadt is a castle in the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria. It is the location of the Theresian Military Academy, which was founded in 1751. The site is 268 metres (879 ft) above sea level.

The first castle at Wiener Neustadt was built in 1193–94, and the city walls were built at the same time. The costs were paid from the ransom of Richard the Lionheart. This castle is said to have stood on the north-eastern corner of the city, but there is no archaeological evidence of this.

When the original castle became too small, a new castle was built on the present site by Leopold VI the Glorious at the beginning of the 13th century. Since the area is quite marshy, it was built on wooden piles. Under Frederick II the Quarrelsome, it was finally surrounded by a moat, outer walls and towers.

In 1246, the Battle of the Leitha was fought east of the castle, and Frederick II was killed. A monument at Burgenland road still reminds of it. In 1260, the castle was first mentioned in documents. The wall was removed, however, under Otakar II of Bohemia by 1253 and then built up again in the late 13th century.

During an earthquake in 1348, the castle collapsed. This led to a larger new building under Leopold III starting in 1378. On the terrace that was built over the tomb chapel of Leopold IV, Peter Pusika on behalf of Duke Ernest the Iron built the Gottsleichnamkapelle (God's Body Chapel) and later, on behalf of Emperor Frederick III, the St. George's Chapel in the newly created west wing. In many places of the castle, the inscription “A.E.I.O.U.” can still be found, which dates back to Frederick III.

When Frederick III refused to dismiss Ladislaus the Posthumous from his guardianship, this led to the creation of the Mailberg Confederation (Mailberger Bund) and a siege of the castle in 1452 by an Estates' army of 16,000. After negotiations, Frederick III dismissed his ward. Subsequently, he founded the Order of St. George and made the castle available as the seat of the order. The seat, however, was repealed in 1598.

1486 saw a renewed siege by Matthias Corvinus, which ended after two years with the defenders' surrender. After Matthias' death in 1490, the occupation troops were expelled from the castle and city.

Under Emperor Maximilian I, the castle lost the status of permanent residence and became only a retreat of the emperor.

Text adapted from “Burg Wiener Neustadt” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Burg Wiener Neustadt ranks #3,268 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #79 of the 201 mapped in Austria. Founded 1193, it is older than 79% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 563 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,227 times in the last 60 days, more than 69% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Vienna, 45 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.

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