Rohrau Castle

In the 12th century, the Margraves of Cham and Vohburg owned the area around Rohrau. A manor house with Dietrich de Rorow from the House of Liechtenstein was first mentioned in 1240. This line died out in 1278 with Dietrich III. His daughter Diemut brought the lordship to her husband Leutold I von Stadeck (+ 1292/95). After the death of the last Stadecker, Johann (+ 1399), Duke Wilhelm wanted to seize the lordship in 1400 and transfer it to his brother Ernst the Iron, but the guardian of the Stadecker heiress Guta, Count Hermann II of Cilli, succeeded in declaring Rohrau an imperial fief, and he was enfeoffed with Rohrau by King Wenzel in 1400. In 1402, Rohrau came to Count Ulrich, son of Hugo von Montfort-Pfannberg, who had married Guta. In 1404, King Ruprecht officially enfeoffed the Montforts with the castle and lordship, which they held for 120 years.

The Harrach family first appeared in the 13th century in South Bohemia, then in the Upper Austrian Mühlviertel, among other places, owning property in Freistadt, thus forming an Austrian line of the Harrachs. Subsequently, the Harrachs acquired possessions in Styria and Carinthia. The focus of their interests shifted over time to Vienna and Lower Austria.

Leonhard III von Harrach acquired the lordship and fortress of Rohrau in Lower Austria in 1524 and also received permission to name himself after it. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, his son Leonhard IV took a decidedly Catholic stance, which was to be of great importance for the family in the future. He was elevated to the status of Imperial Baron by the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1552 and admitted to the Order of the Golden Fleece by King Philip II of Spain in 1584. When he retired from court in 1586 after 55 years of service, he went to Rohrau, which had been expanded into a magnificent moated castle. Leonhard IV died in 1590 and was buried in the Augustinian Church in Vienna.

In 1593, the Turks stood before the walls of the castle and caused troubled times for the fortress and the surrounding area. The castle was severely damaged by siege and combat, and subsequent restoration work is documented in the Harrach Family Archive.

Master mason Leonhard Pall from Sommerein am Leythaberg charged for 552 days of masonry work, which he carried out with his journeymen at Rohrau Castle on the New Building, also vaults, etc. For each day's work, 18 Kreuzer in cash were to be paid, along with daily food and drink, totaling 165 fl. 36 Kreuzer.

Master stonemason Antonius Tencalla in the imperial quarry at Leythaberg charged for door and window stones supplied from Kaiserstein, steps for the spiral staircase in the New Building, along with cornices for the balcony. Furthermore, five stone window heads, the stone pillory in the market of Rohrau, the ashlar stones of the New Gate in the Outer Castle along with cornices, and finally a draw well in the Inner Castle. The well-born Baron Karl von Harrach had paid and arranged for the payment of 261 Gulden 21 Kreuzer through his administrator Hans Rößler.

The castle houses the Count Harrach Family Collection, one of the most important private art collections in Austria. In April 2006, unknown perpetrators broke into the castle and stole 16 paintings by Dutch artists such as Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens, and Pieter Snayers.