Castle Map

Castle

Kranichberg Castle

Austria

Heritage status
Listed objects in Austria
Location
Kirchberg am Wechsel
Coordinates
47.6456°, 15.9735°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia (DE) ↗
Kranichberg Castle in Austria
Photo: Thomas Ledl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Kranichberg Castle is a hill castle about 5 km south-east of Gloggnitz in the cadastral community of Kranichberg in the market town of Kirchberg am Wechsel in the district of Neunkirchen in Lower Austria.

The former defensive castle is a three-storey building with an approximately square ground plan, has a five-storey bergfried and was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century. The complex also includes an extensive outer bailey, through which the road from Gloggnitz over the Ramssattel to Kirchberg runs.

As early as about 1150 a Siggefridus de Craneberch appears in documents. The castle was owned by the lords of Kranichberg (ministeriales of the counts of Formbach and Pitten). The family also had possessions on the Danube, in the Waldviertel and in the Mühlviertel. After the branch seated at Kranichberg died out, Ulrich II of Walsee-Graz is mentioned in 1352 as holder of the lordship. Leutold of Stadeck followed in 1363. The daughter of the last of the Stadeck line married Ulrich of Montfort in 1400. His father was the well-known minnesinger Hugo von Montfort. After 1420 Kranichberg already belonged to the sovereign and was pledged several times.

In 1480 the castle was taken by the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus and was returned after the Peace of Pressburg in 1491. In 1602 the Court Chamber sold the lordship to Hans Unterholzer, who had it administered by stewards. In 1661 Count Johann Franz Lamberg came into possession of the castle. In 1745 a fire destroyed large parts of the complex, including the entrance front and the west wing. The owner at the time, Count Anton Franz Adam von Lamberg, partly rebuilt the complex in the Baroque style and sold it in 1769 to the Archdiocese of Vienna.

In the Second World War the castle was used as quarters for resettlers, predominantly German, from Dobruja.

Machine-translated from “Burg Kranichberg” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Kranichberg Castle ranks #7,701 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #237 of the 316 mapped in Austria. 10 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is St. Pölten, 67 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.

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