Walkenstein Castle

Walkenstein Castle in Walkenstein, Lower Austria, is a listed building.

Walkenstein was owned by the Babenbergs in 1074, towards the end of the 13th century the Kuenringer are named as owners, and between 1265 and 1324 a noble family, who presumably held the dominion as a fief from the Kuenringer, named themselves after Walkenstein.

The Bohemian mercenary leader Jaroslav conquered the castle in 1488, subsequently handing it over to King Matthias Corvinus. In 1645, the Swedes appeared as conquerors.

Johann Ehrenreich Freiherr von Sonnau und Reichersberg had the castle built in its present form between 1660 and 1671. After several changes of ownership, according to the purchase agreement of November 8, 1760, it became the property of Geras Abbey under Abbot Paul Gratschmayer, who initially used it as a manor farm.

Abbot Adrian Lambert Zach, who endeavored to put Geras Abbey on a broader economic footing, established a cold-water sanatorium here in 1890. In April 1891, the Lower Austrian Statthalterei issued a negative decision and refused the operating license. It was not until 1893 that the sanatorium could begin operations with the municipal doctor Josef Wetchy as its medical director.

Originally, 30 rooms were available for spa guests; in 1904, the expansion of the sanatorium to later 40 rooms was officially approved.

In 1914, the municipal doctor and medical director Hans Gaßner had to join the military as a medical officer and could only resume these functions from 1918. During this time, the cold-water sanatorium in Walkenstein Castle was closed and made available to the military as a convalescent home by Abbot Adrian Lambert Zach.

In 1939, the sanatorium, still managed by Hans Gaßner, was finally closed. During the occupation, the castle suffered greatly under the Soviet occupiers but was later restored.

Walkenstein Castle is also mentioned in the prospectus of the I. Waldviertler Wasserheilanstalt as the location of the Imperial and Royal Post and Telegraph Office of Walkenstein.