Hohenlehen Castle

In the Ybbs Valley in Lower Austria, Hohenlehen Castle today houses an agricultural college. Originally conceived as a hunting and forestry estate, it was acquired in the early 20th century by Gustav Davis, the founder of the Kronen Zeitung newspaper. Between 1906 and 1910, he had a villa with outbuildings constructed, which he named Hohenlehen Castle and Estate. The property, which at that time covered about 1500 hectares, primarily served as a private hunting ground. After World War I, it was developed into a model agricultural operation. In 1949, the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture acquired the castle and approximately 100 hectares of land to establish a forestry training center and later the Hohenlehen Forest and Mountain Farmers' School. Since 1971, the institution has been operated by the State of Lower Austria.