Burg Hardegg

Hardegg, Austria, Austria

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Burg Hardegg is a large medieval hill castle perched on a rocky spur above the town of Hardegg in the Thayatal valley of Lower Austria, right on the historic border between Austria and what is now the Czech Republic (formerly Bohemia/Moravia).

First mentioned in documents around 1140 and probably built in the first quarter of the 12th century as a border fortress against Bohemia, it was originally a wooden fort on the same site that had already been inhabited since the 10th century, and it later became the seat of the powerful Hardegg family, whose name the castle and town took.

Over the centuries the castle was repeatedly expanded and damaged, sold to the Khevenhüller family in 1731, and in 1764 partially demolished so that its stones could be used to rebuild the town after a major fire; only the southern and eastern parts were restored in the late 19th century under Prince Johann Karl Khevenhüller‑Metsch, and after wartime losses of its collections it was again renovated in 1956 and opened to the public.