Pragstein Castle

Schloss Pragstein stands on a rocky island in the Danube at Mauthausen in Upper Austria. Built between 1491 and 1506 by Ladislaus Prager, it was meant to control river traffic and collect tolls. The five-storey building has a distinctive iron-shape plan of 19 by 35 metres. A narrow bridge once linked it to the left bank before the Danube arm was filled in during the 19th century. The river now runs past the south side, while the B3 road passes the north side. The castle has been home to a succession of owners: Prager’s family, the emperor’s officials, the Cavriani family who renewed doors and floors, and finally the market town of Mauthausen. Emperor Leopold I spent a night here in 1680, and French troops garrisoned it in 1742. Today it houses the Mauthausen local museum with steel engravings and hunting trophies, an apothecary museum, the district music school and the registry office. Visitors enter through the pointed west end where high-water marks show past floods. The central staircase leads to the four floors, and the south façade bears Ladislaus Prager’s coat of arms from 1507. Outside, the Danube flows past the old north gate, while inside the museums display regional history and pharmacy artefacts. The building’s sharp angles once carried watch turrets, and its walls still carry the marks of centuries of river and war.