Castle Ruin Waxenberg

What a view!

Älgbert Elgson

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The Waxenberg castle ruins can be found at 802 meters in the beautiful region of Mühlviertel. The first castle Waxenberg was probably built in 1140 by Ulrich and Cholo von Wilhering. The castle changed hands several times and eventually fell into disrepair after the last owner died. Today it is called Rotenfels Castle Ruin or Alt-Waxenberg, but there is not much left of it. Today’s Waxenberg castle ruins were built before 1300 and are located about 4.5 kilometers from the old castle.

The Waxenberg castle belonged to the Habsburgs and was owned by several feudal lords and owners until it was bought by Konrad Balthasar von Starhemberg in 1644. The outer castle covered 1260 square meters and the main castle had an area of 885 square meters. In 1756, lightning struck the castle, almost completely destroying it except for the keep, and turning it into a ruin. In the course of time, this decayed more and more until, from 1950, the Waxenberg Cultural Association took care of its renovation. In the course of the renovation work that continued until 2013, the 30-meter-high circular keep was expanded into a lookout point and can be accessed around the clock for a small fee of € 2 per person. The keep has a diameter of 10 meters with a wall thickness of 3 meters and dates from the 15th century.

In the direction of the town of Waxenberg, where the castle of the same name can be found, there is one of two battery towers from the 16th century. The ruin including the battery tower is accessible all year round and can be visited at any time of the day. There are several rocking chairs on the premises, where you can enjoy the wonderful view of the country.

How to get there?

The village of Waxenberg is in a rural location and is therefore best reached by car. The ruin itself is in the immediate vicinity of the village and parking spaces are available (see yellow arrow). The way to the ruin is not far (approx. 300 meters) and can be done with normal shoes.

Conclusion:
Unfortunately, not much remains of the original castle, but the ruins and the view are still worth seeing. It’s great that the local cultural association and many volunteers are taking care of the renovation and that the income of the visitors is used for it. It is worth seeing, certainly also because of the ambience, the knight festival that takes place every two years, the winter solstice fire and the gourmet festival.

We were here: 2020