Schloss Grünbühel

Schloss Grünbühel stands west of Kilb in the Mostviertel region of Lower Austria. The building is a protected monument and has been altered several times over the centuries. Its rectangular shape rises three storeys high, with round towers at each corner. The castle began as a fortress mentioned in 1460 when Jörg von Pottendorf sold the Kilb estate to Bernhard von Tiernstein. Ownership later passed to the Starhemberg family and then to Georg von Velderndorf. In 1549 Jakob Gienger bought the site and his son Nikolaus transformed it into a Renaissance palace. By the 17th century the Ruess von Ruessenstein family held it, followed by the Counts of Wickenburg from 1720. Karl Theodor Graf von Wickenburg remodelled the castle in 1830 to its present classical appearance. North of the main building a round tower remains from the old fortifications. The castle is still lived in today and the chapel that once stood inside was removed in 1829. The surrounding landscape offers quiet views across the Mostviertel countryside.