Schloss Totzenbach

Schloss Totzenbach stands in the village of Totzenbach, part of the market town of Kirchstetten in Lower Austria. It is a water castle on an island surrounded by a moat fed by the Totzenbach stream. The present building replaces a medieval castle that once belonged to a knightly family first recorded in 1147. The castle passed through several noble hands before the Trauttmansdorff family enlarged it in the late 16th century. After long neglect it was rescued in the 1970s by an antiquarian who rebuilt the walls, tower and moat. Today the owners live in part of it and let rooms for private events. Visitors can walk across the wooden bridge to the gatehouse with its steep roof and painted quoins. Inside, the four wings frame a small garden with a pool and clipped hedges. The oldest wing shows a date of 1592, while the north wing has a two-aisled cellar. A round tower at the north-east corner juts into the moat and still bears traces of its old gun loops.