Burgruine Ried, Sieghartskirchen

The Burgruine Ried stands on a low hill called Hausberg, about one kilometre south of Ried am Riederberg in the Vienna Woods. It was probably built around 1200 as a spur castle on a rocky spur. Today only fragments remain: the base of a round Romanesque tower, part of the enceinte wall and traces of the outer bailey. The castle passed through several noble families in the 13th century. Konrad von Ried, a ministerial of the Babenbergs, founded it before 1170. The Kuenrings acquired it early in the 1200s; in 1260 they swapped it with King Ottokar II Přemysl for Zwettl and Rossatz. Rudolf of Habsburg later pledged it to Konrad of Tulln for war costs, and it eventually became the seat of the Schenken von Ried until the family died out in 1412. Visitors walk among the ruins on a roughly 3,000 square metre plateau surrounded by a ditch and earthworks. The most visible remnant is the stump of the round tower, built in the early 13th century. Elsewhere low walls mark the outer defences and the forecourt, while the inner stronghold lies partly buried under centuries of rubble. A small conservation group now protects the site and carries out archaeological research with local volunteers.