The castle of Riegersburg or, from 2017, the castle of Ruegers, is a castle in Riegersburg near Hardegg, on the border with the Czech Republic. Riegersburg is the westernmost village in the Lower Austria district of Hollabrunn. The nearby castles are the Hardegg castle, the ruins of Kaja, the Niederfladnitz castle and the castle of Fronsburg and in the Czech Republic Vranov nad Dyjí.
Schloss Ruegers History
The name "Riegersburg" probably derives from the aforementioned Rueger. A similar name appears at this time in relation to the Neudegg to Pulkau ruin. It is not known if a connection exists here.
The first mention of Riegersburg in the border area of Weinviertel and Waldviertel provides - depending on the source - different information: the earliest mention dates back to the year 1212 (possession of the Counts of Hardegg or followers), another source is the year 1390 (a castle is called Ruegers)
In 1568, Sigmund Graf von Hardegg purchased the castle from the Eyczingerns, who had owned it since 1441. Instead of the ruined castle, he built a moated castle and established his administrative headquarters for Hardegg County, but also the residence. His son, Johann Wilhelm von Hardegg, after taking over the succession, began to buy indebted gentlemen and found himself therefore in a financial crisis. After his death in 1635, his property was declared bankrupt. His heir Julius von Hardegg took over the debts and sold them, to repay them, in 1656 the counties Riegersburg and Hardegg.
The buyers were the counts of Saint Julien-Wallsee, which in turn sold Hardegg County and the Riegersburg domains, the village of Prutz and Upper and Untermixnitz, including all the affiliations to the imperial count in 1725 Sigmund Friedrich von Khevenhüller.
A few days later, the buyer, together with his son Johann Joseph Khevenhüller-Metsch, who had signed the purchase contract, went to Riegersburg, where he found a shabby and probably even uninhabitable building. Between 1730 and 1780, the castle was built in its present form in several phases between 1730 and 1780 according to the plans of Franz Anton Pilgram, a pupil of Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt.
In 1945, only a few expelled from neighboring southern Moravia were lodged in the castle, so the Soviet occupation forces moved here. After their retreat in 1955, not much of the original furniture remained. Only in the still functional kitchen, they left a newly installed kitchen stove
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Friedrich Schiller in 2005, his comedy "Kabale und Liebe" was filmed for television with Götz George, Detlev Buck, Katja Flint, Katharina Thalbach and others under the direction of Leander Haußmann. Besides the Riegersburg castle there were, among other castles, Charlemagne in Niederfladnitz, Schrattenthal, Greillenstein and Hagenberg in the localities of Loosdorf.