Location: District Oberpullendorf, Burgenland Map
Constructed: 12th century
Burgruine Landsee is a medieval complex of military fortifications neat a small town of Markt Sankt Martin in District Oberpullendorf in Burgenland State of Austria. Although current Germanized name of Burgruine Landsee can be translated as a "Land Sea", it is actually a Hungarian in origin. In Hungarian name can be translated as a "Country here".
The castle ruins are a popular destination in the middle of the Landseer Berge nature park. It lies on a rocky outcrop on a ridge between Heidriegel (there are the remains of a refuge) and the Pauliberg.
The name has nothing to do with a lake/body of water. The castle was
in Hungary until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, its name is
derived from the Hungarian name "Lánzsér" of a German name originally
written "Landeshere". Whether a Hungarian or a German version was the
first designation of the complex is not verifiable, nor whether the
castle determined the name of the owner or the name (of the family) of
the owner influenced that of the castle. Lánzsér is also translated as
"lance bearer". The word "hehr..." is an old German word and stands for
outstanding, highly respected, proud, of high rank and the like, the
word "Hehre" was used for "proud beauty". This name thus describes the
complex as a castle complex that was highly regarded at the time (a
similar name formation is available at Landskron).
The name
"Landeshere" was first mentioned in 1158, the castle in 1263. It was
only a few hundred meters east of the border between the Austrian
territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. In
1173, the document book of Styria mentions an Erchenger of state honor,
whose family also owned Hohenwang Castle near Langenwang. His name is
also mentioned in the rhyming chronicle of Ottokar von Horneck. These
people are seen as officials (ministerials) of the Counts of Pitten, who
at that time belonged to Styria, and as a branch of the Stubenberg
family in East Styria. Before 1222 the castle belonged to Hungary. In
the 13th century it belonged to Lorenz Athinai, the governor of what was
then Sopron. In 1289 the castle was conquered by Duke Albrecht of
Austria during his campaign against the Counts of Güssing in the course
of the Güssing feud. In the middle of the 16th century the castle was
owned by the Teufel family. Erasmus Teufel, whose epitaph is in the
Winzendorf branch church, was imperial "Counselor Spann and Captain of
Ödenburg" and "supreme commander of the light cavalry in Hungary".
Erasmus was in Transylvania as the Emperor's emissary at negotiations,
where he was captured by the Turks in 1552 and executed by the
Janissaries. According to another story, he was sunk in a sack in the
Black Sea. After several changes of ownership, the castle came to Baron,
later Count Nikolaus Esterházy, in 1612.
On July 12, 1707,
between 10 and 11 a.m., the first fire broke out, causing severe damage
to the Kobersdorf side (northeast side) of the castle, where the owner's
apartments were located. After that, the castle was restored, but later
on it began to deteriorate, and it was already suggested that some parts
should be demolished. On June 2, 1790, the castle burned again
devastatingly. Its owner, Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy, known as "the
Magnificent", died on September 28, 1790 in Vienna. His successor,
Prince Anton, was forced to take severe austerity measures because of
the lavish lifestyle of his predecessor, who had left him 3.8 million
guilders in debt. The complex (called the castle at the time, see the
historical map) was no longer built and was abandoned (in the end in
favor of Forchtenstein Castle and the then Lackenbach dominion). In 1802
the complex was described as "ruinous". It then served as a quarry for
the buildings in the area.
The castle ruins have been secured and
made accessible to the general public since 1968.
The complex is about 300 × 200 m in size and, even as a ruin, it can
still be clearly seen that the castle consisted of four
fortification rings, the first of which were separated by two moats.
The outermost ring of walls, which is poorly preserved, is the
youngest. The year 1668 is on the first, simply built gate. The
second, already heavily fortified gate is reached by a wooden bridge
over the first ditch. Behind it, the main entrance way leads over
another wooden bridge over the second ditch to the third gate.
Behind this gate lies the large outer courtyard. From there, the
fourth gate leads south into a narrow inner courtyard, the fifth
(collapsed) gate leads to another courtyard, to which the
residential wings, which have fallen to the ground, are connected to
the east. From there, a stairway through the sixth gate leads to the
central building, in which the location of the kitchen can still be
seen. Similar to Forchtenstein, the strongest fortifications
(thickest walls of the keep) face west, i.e. towards Austria, while
the living quarters are on the east, secured by steep slopes. The
walls of the residential tower (donjon) are up to ten meters thick.
Several towers are attached to it, one of which housed the chapel.
In it, a new staircase leads to the former roof area of the donjon
(with a lonely brick arch), from which a far-reaching view of the
Sopron area, the southern part of Lake Neusiedl and the Bucklige
Welt is possible.
The first chapel of the castle was
dedicated to St. Ursula and was located in the chapel tower
belonging to the central part of the existing ruins. This tower was
built between 1460 and 1485. The castle also had its own cemetery
("Schlossfriedhof" on the access road to the ruins), in which the
first parish church in Landsee was located. This church was
dedicated to St. Nicholas and was already described in 1647 as "very
old". As part of the expansion of the castle from 1650 to 1679, a
baroque chapel was built, which was also dedicated to St. Nicholas.
Concerts, theater evenings and other entertainment events take
place in the outdoor courtyard during the summer months.