Austria · 12th century
Burgruine Landsee is a ruined castle located in the middle of the Austrian state of Burgenland, east of the village of Landsee (ungarisch: Lánzsér) in the Markt Sankt Martin municipality in the Oberpullendorf district. It is one of the largest castle ruins in Central Europe. Burgruine Landsee stands 537 metres (1,762 ft) above sea level.
The name has nothing to do with a lake or water body, although it could be translated as Sealand. Until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the castle was located in Hungary, and its name is derived from the Hungarian term "Lánzsér", derived from an originally German name written as "Landeshere". Whether a Hungarian or a German version was the first designation of the structure is not documented. Neither is it known, whether the castle was named after its owner or the name of the owner influenced that of the castle. Lánzsér is also translated as "Lanzenträger" (Lance bearer). The word "hehr..." is an old German word meaning outstanding, highly esteemed, proud, of high rank etc. Similarly, the word "Hehre" was used for "proud beauty". This name thus describes the facility as a highly esteemed castle complex at the time (a similar name formation is found with Landskron).
The earliest named nobleman associated with the areas around the castle is the eldest son of Wulfing von Prosset (also Wulfingus de Brozzat), Gottschalk von Prosset (Gotscalcus Schirling), who was a vassal of the Styrian Margrave Otakar III. For political reasons, he was strategically positioned in the far east of the Pitten area, internally against Grafschaft Pitten and externally against the Hungarians. The strategic importance of Landsee stems from it location just a few hundred meters east of the border between the Austrian territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. Since 1553 Gottschalk called himself "von Landesehre".
Hower that isn't the first time that name shows up in the historic record. The Urkundenbuch des Herzogthums Steiermark (collection of old documentary sources surrounding the Duchy of Styria) mentions an Erchenger von Landesehre in 1173, whose family also owned the Hohenwang Castle near Langenwang. An "Erchengerus de Landesere" is also mentioned as a witness in a document from 1179. This name is also mentioned in the rhymed chronicle of Ottokar of Horneck.
Text adapted from “Burgruine Landsee” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Landsee Castle ranks #6,563 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #185 of the 240 mapped in Austria. Founded 1158, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,015 times in the last 60 days, more than 51% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Vienna, 72 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.
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