Medieval castle of the Habsburgs The origins of Burg Kreuzenstein, like most castles in Lower Austria, date back to the 12th century. Originally built by the
Counts of Formbach (now Vornbach, Bavaria), the castle passed into the possession of the Counts of
Wasserburg through marriage. Through
Ottokar II of Bohemia, the castle came into the possession of the
Habsburgs, in 1278. In July 1527, the
Anabaptist preacher
Balthasar Hubmaier was arrested under the pretext of causing riots in
Mikulov,
Moravia and transferred to Burg Kreuzenstein. He was interrogated there but refused to renounce his beliefs and was burned at the stake in Vienna. Until the
Thirty Years War, the castle had never been conquered but then it fell into the hands of the
Swedish Field Marshall Lennart Torstensson, who, on his departure in 1645, blew up three parts of the building (some sources say four).
Reconstruction under the Counts of Wilczek (1873 - 1932) In the 18th century, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Wilczek who had amassed a large fortune through their coal mines in
Silesia. In 1874,
Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek, best known as a polar explorer, began reconstruction of the castle but in a style entirely different from the original
Romanesque-
Gothic architecture. The existing ruins were incorporated into the new castle, in particular, parts of the outer wall, the east tower and parts of the chapel. The practised eye can easily distinguish between the surviving medieval masonry and the 19th century additions. The reconstruction was overseen by architect
Carl Gangolf Kayser, court architect of
Maximilian I of Mexico, until his death in 1895. The building was then taken over by
Ritter Humbert Walcher of Molthein and the artist
Egon Rheinberger. A
family vault was built under the castle and Johann Wilczek is interred there. As well as building the castle from the original masonry and on the original site, Wilczek gathered building components from all over Europe. Additionally, the castle was equipped with a large collection of medieval furnishings and historical artefacts, including one of the oldest surviving medieval catapults, purchased from
Hohensalzburg Castle. The reconstruction work lasted for 30 years and
Kaiser Wilhelm II was present at the reopening on 6 June 1906. A fire caused by a lightning strike in 1915, burned part of the archives and library wing. ==Burg Kreuzenstein today==