Ruins of Castle Rauenstein (Burgruine Rauhenstein) description and photos - Austria: Baden (Topic)

Ruins of the castle Rauhenstein (Burgruine Rauhenstein) description and photos - Austria: Baden. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Burgruine Rauhenstein.

Photo and description

The ruins of Rauenstein Castle are located 3 kilometers northwest of the historic center of the Austrian city of Baden. Previously, there was a powerful medieval fortress.

The first mention of a fortified structure on this hill dates back to 1130. Until 1384, this building was owned by the noble family of knights Rauenek, in whose honor the castle got its name.

The castle was an important vantage point - it towered over the trade route towards Vienna, overlooking the valley of St. Helen (Helenental) and the rivers Tristing and Schwechat. Together with the Raueneck castle located opposite, now also destroyed, and the neighboring Scharfeneck castle, Rauenstein formed a single network of defensive fortifications.

It is known that that the fortress was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. By the way, unlike the neighboring Rauenek castle, the Rauenstein castle survived both during the invasion of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who took Vienna in 1485, and during the Turkish war of 1529.

However, in the end, Rauenstein Castle was also destroyed. Moreover, the history of its extinction turned out to be rather prosaic - in the 18th century in Austria there was a real estate tax, the amount of which was directly proportional to the height of the building. Thus, it was unprofitable to maintain a fortress with a high tower typical of the Middle Ages - a bergfried, and Rauenstein was abandoned. Only in 1881, restoration work was carried out here, slightly ennobling the ruins of the building.

Now the castle consists of the main tower - bergfried, reaching 20 meters in height and almost completely destroyed living quarters and a reception hall. All this is surrounded by a fortress wall, the thickness of which reaches three meters. Bergfried is the oldest part of Rauenstein Castle - it was built in the 12th century.

Since 1993, a fun and colorful festival dedicated to witches, ghosts and other evil spirits has been held on the territory of Rauenstein Castle. This theme is not surprising - after all, this festival happens only once a year - on the night of May 1, that is, during the famous Walpurgis Night, the witches' Sabbath.

We also recommend reading Litchfield National Park description and photos - Australia: Darwin

Topic: Ruins of Castle Rauenstein (Burgruine Rauhenstein) description and photos - Austria: Baden.