Mürzsteg Castle

Mürzsteg Hunting Lodge is a small castle near Mürzsteg in Styria and has served as the summer residence for the respective Austrian Federal President since 1947.

In the imperial hunting grounds near Neuberg an der Mürz, Emperor Franz Josef, who often stayed here, had a small hunting lodge built from his private fortune in 1869. The plans for the country house, built in the Swiss style, came from August Schwendenwein and his partner, court architect Johann Romano. However, the country house soon proved too small and was therefore significantly expanded in two stages, first in 1879 and then in 1903.

In 1883, a riding path was built for Empress Elisabeth, who was an enthusiastic and skilled rider but did not participate in the hunts, from Kuhhörndl to Hocheck. Three years later, in 1886, the park around the hunting lodge was created and a water pipe was installed in the house.

The hunting lodge was not intended for official representations, but rather modestly furnished only for hunting parties. Only after the last expansion were politically important invitations also extended at the castle. For example, Russian Tsar Nicholas II was a guest of the Emperor in 1903. On October 3, 1903, the Mürzsteg Protocols between the two concerning the future of the Balkans were signed here.

As Habsburg private property, the hunting lodge was expropriated after the First World War and became the property of the Republic of Austria. A small museum was set up in the official rooms with some memorabilia of the Emperor as a hunter. The other rooms were rented out to summer guests.

During the Second World War, the hunting lodge stood empty most of the time. Towards the end of the war, the Hungarian Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi, fleeing from the advancing Red Army, hid the Hungarian Crown Jewels, i.e., the Holy Crown of Hungary, as well as the coronation regalia, scepter, orb, and sword, and also the arm reliquary of Saint Stephen, in the cellar of the hunting lodge. Szálasi then continued his escape further west.

Today, the hunting lodge is also owned by the Republic of Austria. Since 1947, it has served as a summer retreat for the respective incumbent Federal President. The castle has been continuously renovated, but the official rooms have remained essentially unchanged. The administration of the castle is handled by the Burghauptmannschaft Österreich.

Numerous foreign guests, such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, have already been received here.