Schloss Schallaburg

In 1242, the castle appears in a document for the first time mentioned as a Schala fortress. From the 13th to the 15th century the castle was owned by the lords of Zelking. From 1456 to 1614 Schallaburg Castle was in the possession of the von Losenstein family. In the 16th century Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein renovated it in a Renaissance style and rebuilt the Loosdorf church into a Renaissance Lutheran church. There he also founded a Lutheran high school for noble and non-noble young people ("die Hohe Schule"). In 1601 Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein died, causing high debts in the castle. In 1614, George von Stubenberg's father-in-law of George Christoph auf Losensteinleithen bought the castle. In 1627 the church and the school were closed under a law issued by the Archduke of Austria Emperor Ferdinand II, who wished to restore the Catholic faith in Lower Austria. From the 17th century to the 20th century the castle changed owners several times. It remained private property until 1945. In 1945 it was confiscated by the Russians, then in 1955 the castle became the property of the new Republic of Austria.

In 1967 the government of Lower Austria bought the castle from the Austrian state. The government of Lower Austria has decided to renovate Schallaburg. In 1968 began the restoration with the roof. In 1974 the Schallaburg was opened as a museum for Lower Austria.

The theme of the first Schallaburg museum exhibition in 1974 was the Renaissance. Every year there is a new exhibition; the 2011 exhibition was on the history of Venice, the 2012 one on Byzantium. On 29 March 2014 an exhibition on the First World War entitled "Glory and Darkness - living with the Great War 1914-1918" was inaugurated. The exhibition showed weapons, films, historical posters, postcards of details and other objects of that time. In 2015 the Vikings were the theme of the annual exhibition.