Fronsburg Castle

Fronsburg Castle is located north of Weitersfeld in Fronsburg (Horn district) in the Waldviertel. The privately owned castle is irregularly shaped with two courtyards and a Gothic chapel. It serves as the seat of the Fronsburg forestry operations.

A Hadmar von Freundesperch, a ministerialis of the Counts of Hardegg, was first mentioned at Fronsburg in 1230. In 1281, Winther von Vriuntsperch and the brothers Leutwin and Leo von Vreuntsperch were named in a foundation book of St. Bernhard Monastery. From 1300 onwards, there were frequent changes of ownership. During the Hussite Wars, Fronsburg was conquered and destroyed.

In 1448, the brothers Oswald and Stephan von Eyczing received the estate from Michael Graf Hardegg, but with the condition that the fief would be revived after the family died out.

In 1739, the Khevenhüller family acquired the castle, which had meanwhile been converted into a Renaissance palace. As Hardegg Castle was already a ruin at that time and Riegersburg Castle served for representation, the Khevenhüllers moved their estate administration and the regional court here in 1776. The family crypt was built under the castle chapel. However, as this did not appeal to the later Prince Carl von Khevenhüller-Metsch, he had Hardegg Castle rebuilt and another family crypt, in which he himself is buried, erected under the castle chapel.