Wildegg Castle

Wildegg Castle stands near Sittendorf in Austria and was built by the Wildegger family of the medieval Austrian nobility.

Construction of the stronghold took place in the mid to late twelfth century, likely after the founding of the nearby Heiligenkreuz monastery in 1133 and before the first written mention in 1188. The first named member of the family, Heinrich von Wildegge, is recorded as the probable builder. From its earliest phase the site became part of a chain of rock castles erected along the Wienerwald to guard against incursions from Hungary.

The Wildegger line held the castle until 1261, when the last family member, Konrad von Wildegg, died and the property passed by inheritance to the Altenburger family. By 1346 the Altenburger-Wildegger connection appears to have been broken and a forest official, Leutold Veusel, is documented as an owner thereafter. Ownership then changed hands several times through the later fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the mercenary leader Hans Holuber is among the named holders before 1486, when the site was sold to the Neidecker family.

Under the Neideckers the medieval stronghold was transformed into a Renaissance residence and enlarged in 1621. During the Reformation the Neideckers adopted Protestantism, which brought repeated disputes with the nearby Heiligenkreuz monastery and led the family to shift burial from the monastery to the local parish church in Sittendorf. The castle suffered serious damage during Turkish attacks, most notably during the Second Turkish Siege of 1683, and the Neideckers lacked the funds for full repairs. On the advice of Emperor Leopold I the damaged estate was sold to Heiligenkreuz monastery.

Abbot Clemens Schäffer carried out repairs including replacement of the roof, and the monastery placed a succession of stewards at the castle until 1776. During that period the building reached the footprint and massing it largely retains today. In the twentieth century the site was leased in 1923 by a Catholic hiking association, which carried out renovations. In 1945 Waffen-SS units occupied the castle temporarily; approaching Soviet forces planned to destroy it but a member of the hiking association negotiated to prevent demolition. In 1947 the Katholische Jungschar movement was founded at the site. Since 1986 the Burg has been owned by the Katholische Jungschar of the Archdiocese of Vienna and is operated by that organization as a self-catering house. The castle has appeared as a setting in literature and is listed under legal monument protection.