Perchtoldsdorf Castle probably was laid out before 1000 AD, part of a chain of fortifications along the eastern rim of the Vienna Woods. One Lord Heinricus de Pertoldesdorf was mentioned in an 1138 deed, during the Babenberg rule. Their Perchtoldsdorf vassals continued to rule from the castle even when the Babenberg dynasty became extinct in 1246.
The conflict between the Habsburg emperor Frederick III and his younger brother Archduke Albert VI of Austria started an unstable period in the region. In 1446, many homes in the town were burned during the invasion of the Hungarian regent John Hunyadi. During this time, the castle was occupied by various rival forces, including mercenaries of King Matthias Corvinus from 1477 until about 1490, when Frederick's son King Maximilian I re-established Habsburg control over the area. This turbulent period interrupted the construction of the tower house (Wehrturm), the town's landmark with a height of 60 metres. The tower and other fortifications permitted a successful defense of the city against the Ottoman troops during the 1529 Siege of Vienna, while the surrounding area was devastated.
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Fisherman's Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style situated on the Buda bank of the Danube, on the Castle hill in Budapest, around Matthias Church. It was designed and built between 1895 and 1902 on the plans of Frigyes Schulek. Construction of the bastion destabilised the foundations of the neighbouring 13th century Dominican Church which had to be pulled down. Between 1947–48, the son of Frigyes Schulek, János Schulek, conducted the other restoration project after its near destruction during World War II.
From the towers and the terrace a panoramic view exists of Danube, Margaret Island, Pest to the east and the Gellért Hill.
Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896.
The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. It is a viewing terrace, with many stairs and walking paths.
A bronze statue of Stephen I of Hungary mounted on a horse, erected in 1906, can be seen between the Bastion and the Matthias Church. The pedestal was made by Alajos Stróbl, based on the plans of Frigyes Schulek, in Neo-Romanesque style, with episodes illustrating the King's life.