The pearl of Southern Burgenland
Castle ruin
A wooden castle and a Benedictine monastery used to stand on the basalt tuff cone. Under King Béla III. (1173 to 1196) a new stone castle was built here. In this way it formed the strategic counterpoint to the Styrian Riegersburg in the western defence belt. In the 13th century the fortress came under the control of the "Counts of Güssing". The most famous of this - correctly to be called "Günser" - dynasty was probably Ivan, who both as a general and as a politician ruthlessly and unrestrainedly deceived his opponents skillfully and thus increased his power in western Hungary. His attacks on Styrian and Lower Austrian territory, however, led to a counter-attack by Albrecht I of Austria ("Güssinger Feud"). In 1457 the property was given to the vojvod of Transylvania, Nikolaus Ujlaky, as a pledge. After the extinction of this family, the Güssing province was transferred by King Ludwig II to the "Turkish hero" Franz Batthyány in 1524. This donation marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the dominion. This dynasty reached its peak in the 18th century, when members of the count's family rose to the highest ranks of the monarchy: the elevation of Karl Joseph Batthyany to the rank of prince of the empire (1764). The fortress-policy importance of the castle was extinguished by an imperial decree of 1775, according to which the weapons of all family castles were to be handed over to the state when they ceased to be country castles. The once impregnable bulwark against all onrushes was thus left to decay.The castle today:
Access to the outer bailey is via a paved gate on the north side of the complex. Its courtyard is surrounded by remains of the former fortress. A wide flight of steps leads to the inner courtyard of the stronghold. The buildings surrounding the courtyard usually have three storeys, of which the basement was partly hewn directly from the rock. Between the residential and the chapel tract from the 15th century rises the mighty keep, some of which dates back to Romanesque times. 20 rooms of the stronghold are now home to a castle museum with around 5000 exhibits. The exhibits include the Ancestral Gallery and the Family Museum of the Batthyány family, old weapons, sculptures and handicrafts as well as paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, including two portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A very special attraction is the ascent to the accessible bell tower, from which a panoramic view of the Pannonian Plain is possible. Today, theatre performances, concerts and readings take place on the castle grounds. Some rooms can also be rented for private events. For example, it has recently become possible to have a civil wedding at the castle and a church wedding in the Castle Chapel Maria Schnee. The Batthyány family meets every year at the end of June for a family day at their family castle. In recent years some members of the Batthyánys' family have also been baptised in the castle chapel. Since 1994, the "Güssinger Burgspiele" have been held annually in the summer in the castle courtyard, continuing the cultural tradition of the Batthyánys.
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