Description of the attraction
The ruins of Rauenstein Castle are located 3 kilometers northwest of the historic center of the Austrian city of Baden. Previously, there was a powerful medieval fortress.
The first mention of a fortified structure on this hill dates back to 1130. Until 1384, this building was owned by a noble family of knights Rauenek, in whose honor the castle got its name.
The castle was an important vantage point - it towered over the trade route towards Vienna, overlooking the valley of St. Helen (Helenental) and the rivers Tristing and Schwechat. Together with the Rauenack castle located opposite, now also destroyed, and the neighboring Scharfeneck castle, Rauenstein formed a single network of defensive fortifications.
It is known that the fortress was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. By the way, unlike the neighboring Raueneck castle, Rauenstein castle survived both during the invasion of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who took Vienna in 1485, and during the Turkish war of 1529.
However, in the end, Rauenstein Castle was also destroyed. Moreover, the history of its extinction turned out to be rather prosaic - in the 18th century in Austria there was a real estate tax, the amount of which was directly proportional to the height of the building. Thus, it was unprofitable to maintain a fortress with a high tower typical of the Middle Ages - a bergfried, and Rauenstein was abandoned. Only in 1881, restoration work was carried out here, which slightly ennobled the ruins of the building.
Now the castle consists of the main tower - bergfried, reaching 20 meters in height and almost completely destroyed living quarters and a reception hall. All this is surrounded by a fortress wall, the thickness of which reaches three meters. Bergfried is the oldest part of Rauenstein Castle - it was built in the 12th century.
Since 1993, a fun and colorful festival dedicated to witches, ghosts and other evil spirits has been held on the territory of the Rauenstein castle. Such a theme is not surprising - after all, this festival happens only once a year - on the night of May 1, that is, during the famous Walpurgis Night, the witches' Sabbath.
