Merkenstein Castle

Merkenstein Castle is the first castle built in Austria in the Tudor style near Großau, a cadastral municipality of Bad Vöslau in Lower Austria.

The former country house was built between 1801 and 1803 below the Merkenstein castle ruins in the Swiss style. The builder was Joseph Carl Graf Dietrichstein, the first governor of the k.k. privileged National Bank.

The castle garden was designed by Dietrichstein's wife Elisabeth, née Gräfin Waldstein-Wartenberg. It was supplemented with historicizing buildings, such as a hermitage and a lookout tower. The chapel located in the castle garden is much older, probably dating from the 16th century, and was renovated at that time. The Turkish Fountain was intended to commemorate the destruction of the nearby castle by the Turks during the Second Siege of Vienna. The park was publicly accessible.

In 1829, the Merkenstein estate was sold to Joachim Eduard Graf Münch-Bellinghausen, who had the existing country house demolished and a castle built in the Tudor style. The planning was carried out by the two architects August Schwendenwein and Johann Romano von Ringe.

Münch-Bellinghausen was buried in a crypt under the chapel, which, however, was plundered during the Russian occupation. Through inheritance, the castle came into the possession of Adolph Freiherr Brenner von Felsach. From him, his son Joachim Brenner von Felsach inherited the castle, but he had to sell it in 1912. Further owners were the sawmill operator Leopold Kern and the industrialist Arthur Krupp from Berndorf.

In the last days of World War II, the castle was severely damaged. As German property, it was confiscated by the Soviet occupation forces and placed under USIA administration. After the State Treaty, Merkenstein Castle was transferred by the Republic of Austria to the Austrian Federal Forests. In 2000, it was acquired by private buyers and faithfully restored. Today, Merkenstein Castle is inhabited again.