Dürnstein Castle Ruins, Dürnstein, Austria

The city of Dürnstein and Dürnstein castle ruin are connected by a wall. The castle was built between 1140-1145 by Hadmar I Kuenring and blasted by Sweden under General Torstenson in 1645. You can see a model of the city and the ruins at Dürnstein Abbey.

Dürnstein castle is known from the legend about Richard the Lionheart. The legend tells, that the English King Richard the Lionheart tore up the Austrian flag on the return journey of his crusade and refused to share the spoils of war with Leopold V. Sure, Leopold V. held the English king in the castle 1192-1193. The Royal prisoner could receive travelling singer (troubadours) for his entertainment, resulted in probably later the legend of Blondel singer. His faithful minstrel moved from Castle to Castle, until he discovered his King in Dürnstein, by singing a song verse, the prisoner added. Richard the Lionheart was released after a ransom of 150,000 Silver marks in freedom.

References:

duerstein.at

User Reviews

Suha Shakaa (5 months ago)
You can get a nice view up there but don’t stop halfway. The scenery from the top is even better

Bites Teodor (5 months ago)
an incredible little town, probably the most romantic place on the Danube. It is worth visiting, my personal opinion, a small corner of heaven.wine, snap, 1000 things made from apricot to soap, do not forget wine jam

v l (7 months ago)
Nice walk up along the vineyards. So pretty. View of Danube and valley is amazing.

Georgia Little (8 months ago)
We explored the old town within the castle walls and enjoyed the beauty of the church, then we hiked up to the top of the castle ruins. It’s a 30 minute walk but basically vertical. It was so beautiful to see the Wachau Valley from up high. All the villages along the river are so beautiful it’s like a fairy tale.

Margaret Princep (8 months ago)
Absolutely breathtaking views up and down the Danube. Well worth the effort of walking up there. Make sure you wear sturdy shoes. Lots of steps. A beautiful strenuous walk.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright damiankania550

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Moszna Castle

The Moszna Castle is one of the best known monuments in the western part of Upper Silesia. The history of this building begins in the 17th century, although much older cellars were found in the gardens during excavations carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the investigators, including H. Barthel, claimed that those cellars could have been remnants of a presumed Templar castle, but their theory has never been proved. After World War II, further excavations discovered a medieval palisade.

The central part of the castle is an old baroque palace which was partially destroyed by fire on the night of April 2, 1896 and was reconstructed in the same year in its original form by Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. The reconstruction works involved an extension of the residence. The eastern Neogothic-styled wing of the building was built by 1900, along with an adjacent orangery. In 1912-1914, the western wing was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. The architectural form of the castle contains a wide variety of styles, thus it can be generally defined as eclectic.

The height of the building, as well as its numerous turrets and spires, give the impression of verticalism. The whole castle has exactly ninety-nine turrets. Inside, it contains 365 rooms. The castle was twice visited by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. His participation in hunting during his stay at the castle was documented in a hand-written chronicle in 1911 as well as in the following year. The castle in Moszna was the residence of a Silesian family Tiele-Winckler who were industrial magnates, from 1866 until the spring of 1945 when they were forced to move to Germany and the castle was occupied by the Red Army. The period of the Soviet control caused significant damage to the castle's internal fittings in comparison to the minor damage caused by WWII.

After World War II the castle did not have a permanent owner and was the home of various institutions until 1972 when it became a convalescent home. Later it became a Public Health Care Centre for Therapies of Neuroses. Nowadays it can be visited by tourists since the health institution has moved to another building in the neighbourhood. The castle also has a chapel which is used as a concert hall. Since 1998 the castle housed a gallery in which works of various artists are presented at regular exhibitions.

Apart from the castle itself, the entire complex includes a park which has no precise boundaries and includes nearby fields, meadows and a forest. Only the main axis of the park can be characterised as geometrical. Starting from the gate, it leads along the oak and then horse-chestnut avenues, towards the castle. Further on, the park passes into an avenue of lime trees with symmetrical canals running along both sides of the path, lined with a few varieties of rhododendrons. The axis of the park terminates at the base of a former monument of Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. On the eastern side of the avenue there is a pond with an islet referred to by the owners as Easter Island. The islet is planted with needle-leaved shrubs and can be reached by a Chinese-styled bridge. The garden, as part of the whole park complex was restored slightly earlier than the castle itself. Preserved documents of 1868 state that the improvement in the garden's aesthetic quality was undertaken by Hubert von Tiele-Winckler.

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