Walterskirchen Castle

Walterskirchen Castle, also known as Coburg Castle after its current owners, is a listed four-wing complex in Baroque style, built in 1683 using a medieval wall core in the northwest part. Minor alterations occurred in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The castle is located amidst a park north of the village of Walterskirchen in Lower Austria. An estate at this location is first mentioned in a document in 1249.

The Lords of Walterskirchen, living in the Weinviertel, were vassals of the noble free lords of Asparn. After their extinction, they became ministeriales of the territorial princes. In 1217, the feudal sovereignty over the then Meierhof passed to the Cathedral Chapter of Passau; soon after, it was a princely fief granted to Otto von Walterskirchen. Since 1241, he was chamberlain to Duke Frederick II the Quarrelsome and fought for him against the Archbishop of Salzburg. Among other things, he also destroyed the castle of Traismauer. After Frederick's death, his brother Konrad sided with King Ottokar II and administered Mödling Castle for him as burgrave in 1271/72. In 1332, Walterskirchen came as a pledge to the brothers Heinrich and Leutold von Hagenberg. In 1377, the pledge was granted to Ladislaus Hering, who received it as a fief twenty years later. In 1423 and 1455, the Dechsner family is mentioned as feudal lords. In the later 15th century, troops of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus destroyed the castle. Emperor Frederick III granted the partial ruin to Andreas Stockhorner in 1480. He probably rebuilt it but ceded it in 1501 to his cousin Andre, who resided in Staatz. In the 16th century, the Lembach family, Oswald von Eitzing, Erasmus Spanovsky, and from 1577 Eustach von Althan resided here. In 1655, Walterskirchen became a free allodial estate. The Gera and Weißenwolf families followed. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was burned down in 1645. In 1666, Ferdinand Freiherr von Hohenfeld took over the lordship. His son had the present castle built. In 1733, the Counts Koháry acquired the estate. They were elevated to princely status in 1815. In 1826, Walterskirchen came to the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through marriage. It has remained in family ownership to this day but gives a strongly neglected impression.