Werfenstein Castle

St. Nikola an der Donau, Oberösterreich, Österreich

The castle was built at a strategically important location. It also included fortifications on the island of Wörth opposite.

If necessary, the Danube could be closed to shipping by stretching chains between the two installations. Downstream there were other similar fortifications.

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1242. Werfenstein belonged to the sovereign and was repeatedly mortgaged to various owners between the 13th and 15th centuries. The castle was abandoned at the end of the 15th century after the last inhabitants had moved to the newly built Greinburg. In 1645, the already dilapidated castle burnt down.

The palas was demolished in 1780 due to the danger it posed to the newly constructed riverside road.
Only parts of the curtain wall and the tower remain of the medieval structure.
In 1907, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels acquired the ruins and converted them into the "Ordensburg" of his ethnically esoteric Neutempler order.

In 1963, the castle was sold again and converted into a private residence.
However, the new building erected for this purpose blends in harmoniously with the old structure and cannot be seen from the outside.