Schloss Totzenbach

Schloss Totzenbach in Totzenbach, Austria, is a moated castle established by a local medieval knightly family and with origins reaching back to the 12th century. The site acquired much of its present character during a late 16th-century renovation in the Renaissance style, when the medieval complex was expanded into a four-wing residence while older defensive elements were retained. Over the centuries the castle served as the centre of a local lordship and changed hands among several regional noble families, remaining a notable manorial seat in the surrounding countryside.

The site began with the Totzenbacher family, recorded in 1147, who held the local lordship through the medieval period. That male line ended in 1394, and ownership passed to the Polheimer family; later proprietors named at different times include Georg Steiner in 1438 and Mathias Graßer in 1465. In 1513 the property was transferred to David von Trauttmansdorff. A later member of that house, Job Hartmann von Trauttmansdorff, rebuilt and enlarged the complex between 1588 and 1594, creating a four-winged Renaissance residence while preserving the medieval keep (defensive tower) and the palas (great hall).

The castle survived regional conflict in the early modern era. It emerged unhurt from the First Austro‑Turkish War, a series of Habsburg–Ottoman clashes, and in 1683 it was spared the destruction that the surrounding village suffered during the Great Turkish War. Members of the Trauttmansdorff family seldom resided on the island; instead, a steward administered the estate and exercised the manorial rights on behalf of the owners.

In 1822–1823 the princely Liechtenstein family of Neulengbach acquired the property but made little direct use of it. The buildings provided housing for a forester and later for the village schoolmaster, and maintenance declined. The eastern wing was taken down in 1857 and some of its stone was reused in construction at the nearby Kirchstetten railway station. After the school relocated, the south wing was demolished in 1894. By the 1970s the complex had fallen into ruin. The municipality purchased the site in 1971 and then, in 1974, an antiquities dealer named Josef Figl bought the property and undertook an extensive rebuilding campaign from 1974 until 1979. That work repaired the collapsed curtain wall, reconstructed a largely lost gatehouse, re-excavated the silted moat and pond, and rebuilt a previously reduced round corner tower, while uncovering medieval foundations in the inner courtyard. The estate changed hands again in the early 21st century, passing to the Ruschitzka family in 2002 and then to the Berger family in 2003. The castle today is a private residence with some rooms available for private functions and occasional events held in the courtyard, festival hall, or cellar.