Schloss Kottingbrunn

Schloss Kottingbrunn is a four-winged water castle in the market town of Kottingbrunn in Baden district, Lower Austria. It sits inside wide moats in the south-eastern corner of the town centre. The building is listed as a historic monument. The castle has passed through many noble hands since the 13th century. It began with the Lords of Brunn, then the Stüchse, Pottendorfer, Kreuzer, Kienburger, Brandis, Lamberg-Sprinzenstein and Dietrichstein families. In 1820 Peter von Bohr owned it, followed by Joachim Graf von Münch-Bellinghausen in 1840. Since 1991 the market town has owned the site and uses it as its municipal office. A long restoration from 1982 to 2000 returned the castle to good condition. Beside the castle stands the older water fortress, a square bastioned fort built in the Italian style. A stone bridge links the two buildings across the moat. The fortress once had four bastions, two of which were later turned into barrack wings. Inside the courtyard there are still traces of small gun slits and a horizontal string course. The gate tower carries a baroque clock. The castle’s restaurant and the fortress’s outbuildings now host cultural events and a music school.