Schloss Guntersdorf: A Historic Castle Estate in Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.9
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page4 sections
History
Schloss Guntersdorf, also known as Schloss Ludwigstorff, is a historic castle in Austria near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria. In the second half of the sixteenth century, an earlier late-medieval complex was expanded into an extensive castle surrounded by a water moat.
Medieval Lords
Guntersdorf was initially held by Melk Abbey, a major Benedictine monastery in Lower Austria. The estate later passed to the Ruckendorffer family. In 1295, Ulrich von Ruckendorff pledged part of the Guntersdorf estate to Eberhard IV von Walsee, who received the lordship as a fief, a landed holding granted in return for service, in 1317.
The Walsee family retained the lordship until 1476, when it passed to the Rogendorfer family. From 1538, the Rogendorfers held the estate as free property. Christoph von Rogendorf was later required to sell it, and Johann Freiherr von Weißpriach acquired the lordship and castle in 1546. A Freiherr was a noble title broadly equivalent to baron. Through Weißpriach’s daughter, the property later passed to Christoph Freiherr von Teufel.
The Ludwigstorff Estate
The Protestant Teufel family sold the estate in 1684 to Johann Karl von Serenyi. On 10 December 1717, his son, Karl Anton Graf Serenyi, sold the Guntersdorf lordship for 236,000 gulden to Johann Rudolf Freiherr von Ludwigsdorf. A Graf was a noble title equivalent to count.
Schloss Guntersdorf has remained in the possession of the Ludwigstorff family since 1717. Carl Hugo Ludwigstorff was the estate owner, and his grandson Dominik Ludwigstorff assumed control of the castle and estate administration in 1990. The castle was severely damaged and looted during the Second World War. It is protected as a listed monument in Austria.
Remains
Schloss Guntersdorf forms an extensive castle complex that developed from a late-medieval building group during the second half of the sixteenth century. The expanded complex is enclosed by a water moat, a defensive ditch filled or partly filled with water. It stands in the predominantly flat agricultural landscape around Guntersdorf at approximately 245 to 247 metres above sea level.
The castle grounds comprise approximately 280 hectares of arable land and 20 hectares of woodland. These agricultural and wooded areas form part of the estate associated with the castle and place the complex within the surrounding rural landscape.
