Burg Greifenstein

Sankt Andrä-Wördern, Austria, Austria

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Burg Greifenstein is a high medieval castle perched on a prominent rocky outcrop above the Danube River near the village of Greifenstein in the municipality of Sankt Andrä‑Wördern in Lower Austria, north‑west of Vienna and at the northernmost edge of the Alps.

It was probably built in the early 11th century by the Bishop of Passau, first mentioned in documents in 1135, and from then on played a key role in the Danube‑line defence system, with many different noble families owning or holding it over the centuries.

The castle was repeatedly attacked, captured, and damaged, notably by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary in 1477 and by Ottoman forces during the First Siege of Vienna in 1529, but was repeatedly rebuilt and adapted, and after being abandoned and gradually falling into ruin in the 18th century it was acquired in 1807 and extensively renovated and newly furnished in the romantic historicist style by Johann I von Liechtenstein from 1818 onward.

In the 20th century the largely intact castle was used as a restaurant and cultural venue, but a major fire in September 2006 destroyed parts of the interior, including the ceiling of the knights’ hall, and since then the building has been closed to the public, undergoing long‑term renovation and sold in 2010–2012 before being acquired in 2013 by a logistics entrepreneur who promised to bring the complex “back to life”.