Schloss Peigarten

Schloss Peigarten stands on a rocky outcrop above the Taxenbach stream at the western edge of Peigarten village in the northern Waldviertel of Lower Austria. The site was first fortified in the 11th century during the colonisation of the region. By 1200 the local family known as the Peigartners appear in written records. In 1375 the knightly Taxner family took possession of the castle. Later owners included Heinrich von Neuhaus and Bernhard von Inpruck. From 1644 the Lilienfeld Abbey acquired the property and transformed it into a grand residence with a farmyard, sheepfold, tavern, brewery and distillery. The years under Abbot Cornelius marked the castle’s golden age. In 1809 Philipp Ferdinand Graf Grünne bought the estate and merged it with the neighbouring Dobersberg lands. After frequent changes of hands in the 19th century, the writer Vicki Baum spent her summer holidays here from 1893 to 1903. In 1978 Martin and Ula Wolfer purchased the castle and began careful restoration. They reopened the castle chapel in 1979, where an annual Martinmas service is still held. During later work, medieval frescoes were uncovered in the chapel. Visitors reach the site along a path beside the Taxenbach and climb to the bergfried. From the tower they look down on the maierhof and the village below. The restored chapel contains Romanesque wall paintings discovered in 1987. The castle also serves as a base for the Waldviertel group of the St Lazarus Aid Organisation, founded by Martin Wolfer. The surrounding landscape of rolling hills and forests belongs to the northern Waldviertel countryside.