Reichenstein Castle

Reichenstein Castle, locally known as Burg or Schloss Reichenstein, lies in the village of the same name, in the province of Upper Austria in Austria.

An Ulrich von Reichenstein was first mentioned in 1230. He probably built the castle between 1230 and 1300. Several other families followed as owners of the castle; the Lords of Capellen, the Lords of Wallsee and the House of Liechtenstein.

In 1567 Reichenstein Castle was acquired by a Styrian knight; Christoph Haym. He had the medieval castle completely rebuilt into a  Renaissance style residence within 3 years. He was only able to do this by increasing the taxes and demanding socage tenure of his subjects. This led to the Reichenstein Socage Uprising between 1569 and 1582 in which his subjects rebelled. In 1571 Haym was shot during an ambush.

Since 1729 the castle is owned by the House of Starhemberg. They abandoned the castle in 1750 after which it fell to ruin. It was partially restored in the last decades.

At present an underground part of Reichenstein Castle houses a nice museum about castles in Upper Austria. Another part can not be visited and another part can be visited for a small fee. A nice castle, especially in combination with the museum.

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