Burg Weikertschlag: A Ruined Medieval Hilltop Castle in Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page7 sections
History
Medieval ownership
Burg Weikertschlag is a ruined hilltop castle in Austria, at Weikertschlag an der Thaya in Lower Austria. Its construction date is unknown, but the castle was indirectly recorded by 1178 through its owners, Albero and Wichart, in a charter concerning the monasteries of Geras and Pernegg.
After 1232, the settlement and castle became the property of the Babenbergs, the medieval dynasty that ruled Austria before the Habsburgs. Following the extinction of the Babenberg line, Ottokar II Přemysl, the thirteenth-century king of Bohemia, unsuccessfully claimed the castle from Rudolf of Habsburg, whose rise established Habsburg power in Austria.
Occupation and destruction
In 1404, Hynek of Kunstadt, known as Suchý Čert, occupied the castle together with Ulrich of Neuhaus and Albert of Vöttau. Hynek is also identified as Heinrich the Thin Devil of Kunstadt at Jaispitz. The dukes Wilhelm and Albrecht subsequently besieged and destroyed Burg Weikertschlag. The date of the successful siege is uncertain, since 1399 is also given.
The castle was not rebuilt after its destruction. Its masonry was gradually dismantled for use as building material in other structures, leaving only a small amount of the original fabric. The Pankratius Chapel, dedicated to Saint Pancras, stood between the castle and the surviving tower until it was closed and demolished in 1784 during the Josephinian Reforms, religious and administrative measures introduced under Emperor Joseph II.
A bell cast at Krems an der Donau in 1723 for the Pankratius Chapel was reportedly found years later in the Moravian Thaya. It was kept for a time in the Weikertschlag parish house and later used in neighbouring Oberndorf. During the First World War, from 1914 to 1918, it was surrendered.
Remains
Hilltop structures
Outer-bailey tower
The castle occupied Pankratius Hill at approximately 430 metres above sea level. Its visible remains include part of a tower in the area of the outer bailey, the enclosed section outside the principal fortified core. The surviving masonry resembles a bergfried, the main defensive tower of a medieval castle, which served as a strong refuge rather than a permanent residence. This tower fragment is the principal surviving above-ground element of Burg Weikertschlag.
Pankratius Chapel
The Pankratius Chapel formerly stood between the castle and the tower. It was closed and demolished in 1784 during the Josephinian Reforms, while the bell made for it in 1723 passed through later use at Weikertschlag and Oberndorf before its surrender during the First World War.
