Schlaining Castle

Schlaining Castle (Hungarian: Szalónak vár) is located on the outskirts of Stadtschlaining in Burgenland.

The castle was originally situated on an important traffic artery that led in a north-south direction over the Bernstein Mountains. Later, trade routes from Steinamanger, Graz, Wiener Neustadt, and Ödenburg intersected there.

The castle was mentioned in 1271 as castrum Zloynuk in a document by Ottokar Přemysl. It received its current name in 1786 after several transformations such as Sliunic, Zalonuk, Zolonak, Slany, Schläning.

In 1271, the castle was owned by the Counts of Güssing and passed into the possession of Andreas Baumkircher in the 15th century. In the mid-16th century, it came into the possession of the Batthyány family. The last owner from this line, Ludwig Batthyány, was appointed the first Hungarian Prime Minister on March 17, 1848. After his execution on October 6, 1849, his property, including the castle, came into the possession of the Hungarian Chamber.

From 1957 to 1980, the castle belonged to former Federal Minister Udo Illig. Since then, it has belonged to the State of Burgenland and is used as a conference center by the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ÖSFK), which also has its headquarters there. In 1992, the 2nd International Conference of Peace Museums took place there, and in 2000, the European Peace Museum was established by the ÖSFK at the castle.