Location: Lockenhaus in Burgenland Map
Constructed: 13th century
Lockenhaus Castle is a hilltop castle in central Burgenland in Austria. It stands in the Günser mountains in the cross-border nature park Gewrittenstein-Írottkő on the outskirts of the village of Lockenhaus on a rocky outcrop on the Günsbach stream and thus belongs to the hilltop castle type.
The castle was built around the year 1200 above the valley of the
Güns and was initially called Leuca.
From 1270 it belonged to the
Counts of Güssing, changed hands frequently between the 14th and 17th
centuries and was expanded in 1636 under Franz Nádasdy to include the
addition of the “Lower Castle” (also known as the “Outer Castle”).
In 1676 the castle became the property of the Esterházy princes.
The couple Margaret and Paul Anton Keller acquired the castle in
1968 in a state of ruin. They sold their entire property and invested
around 510,000 euros in the preservation of the unique European cultural
monument, Lockenhaus Castle. Unfortunately, Prof. Paul Anton Keller died
in 1976. His wife Margaret Keller continued the work that had begun, but
soon realized that her financial means were not sufficient.
Irrespective of the offers from private buyers, Mrs. Margaret Keller
decided to turn Lockenhaus Castle into the “Prof. Paul Anton Keller
Foundation" - Burg Lockenhaus.
A board of trustees of the
foundation has managed the castle since 1980 and since then has
contributed around 22 million euros for the further repair of the
castle.
With a lot of love and with the advice of the Federal
Monuments Office, it has been possible to bring the castle into its
current state and to create the opportunity to make this imposing
knight's castle accessible to the public for cultural, creative and
culinary events.
In the 13th century, Lockenhaus Castle, which was first mentioned in
a document in 1242 as "Castrum Leuca", was one of the most important
fortresses in the region, as there is a presumption that its
construction can be traced back to a knightly order and that the castle
is owned by the Order of the Templars could have found. The Order of the
Knights Templar was founded during the Crusades by Hugo von Payens,
Gottfried von Saint-Omer and some other nobles in Jerusalem, probably
around 1118 as the first knightly order of the Middle Ages. The aim of
the order was to secure the pilgrimage routes to Jerusalem. With the
founding of the order, monks entered an organization of warriors and
fighters for the first time, whose way of life was still determined by
the general monastic order.
After 2 centuries of successful
warfare and active activity in which the order had acquired and built up
branches and property through papal privileges from Europe to the Middle
East, France's King Philip IV (1268-1314) vehemently opposed it in 1307
due to power-political considerations the order.
Finally, under
the accusation of heresy, the intention is to break up the order, which
Pope Clemens V (1305-1314) confirmed in 1312 at the Council of Vienne by
decreing the dissolution of the order.
The history of the Knights
Templar ends with the public execution of the last Grand Master, Jaques
de Molay in Paris in 1314 at the stake.
At Lockenhaus Castle we
offer special tours "On the trail of the mysterious Knights Templar"
with Gerhard Volfing.
Lockenhaus Castle consists of an outer bailey and a core bailey behind it. A comprehensive investigation of the building structure has not taken place to this day. In addition to the chapel tower from the late Romanesque period, the keep near the gate to the main castle from the early construction period has also been preserved.