History

The first castle in Wiener Neustadt was built in 1193/94, when at the same time, the city walls of Wiener Neustadt were built. The costs were paid from the ransom of Richard the Lionheart

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...

. This castle is said to have stood on the north-eastern corner of the city, but there is no archaeological evidence of this.

When that castle became too small, however, the newer castle was built on the present site by Leopold VI the Glorious

Leopold VI, Duke of Austria

Leopold VI , called the Glorious, from the House of Babenberg, was Duke of Austria from 1198 to 1230 and of Styria from 1194 to 1230....

 at the beginning of the 13th century. Since the area is quite marshy, it was built on wooden piles. Under Frederick II the Warlike

Frederick II, Duke of Austria

Frederick II, known as the Quarrelsome or the Warlike , from the House of Babenberg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1230 to 1246....

 it was finally surrounded by a moat, outer walls and towers.

In 1246 east of the castle the Battle of the Leitha was fought, when Frederick II was killed. A monument at Burgenland road still reminds of it. In 1260 the castle was first mentioned in documents. The wall was removed, however, under Otakar II of Bohemia already in 1253 and built up again in the late 13th Century.

During an earthquake in 1348 the castle collapsed. This led to a larger new building under Leopold III starting in 1378. On the terrace that was built over the tomb chapel of Leopold IV

Leopold IV, Duke of Austria

Leopold IV of Austria, Duke of Further Austria was an Austrian Habsburg Duke of the Leopoldinian Line.He was the second son of Leopold III. His eldest brother Duke William of Inner Austria took him as his effective co-ruler, putting him in particular charge of Further Austria, which also meant...

 Peter Pusika on behalf of Duke Ernest the Iron

Ernest, Duke of Austria

Ernest the Iron was Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, of the Leopoldian line, whose head of the family he was from 1411 to 1424.-Biography:...

 built the Gottsleichnamkapelle (God's Body Chapel) and later, on behalf of Emperor Frederick III

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

 the St George's Chapel in the newly created West Wing. In many places of the castle the inscription “A.E.I.O.U.

A.E.I.O.U.

AEIOU, or A.E.I.O.U., was a symbolic device utilised by the Habsburg emperors. Emperor Frederick III , who had a fondness for mythical formulae, habitually signed buildings and objects with the acronym...

” can still be found, which dates back to Frederick III.

When Frederick III. refused to dismiss Ladislaus the Posthumous from his guardianship, this led to creation of the Mailberg Confederation (Mailberger Bund) and a siege of the castle in 1452 by an Estates' army of 16,000. Only after negotiations Frederick dismissed his ward. Subsequently he founded the St. George's Order and made the castle available as the Order's seat. The seat, however, was repealed in 1598.

1486 saw a renewed siege by Matthias Corvinus, which ended after two years with the defenders' surrender. Only after Matthias' death in 1490 the occupation troops were expelled again from castle and city.

Under Emperor Maximilian I

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

, the castle lost the status of permanent residence and it became only a retreat of the emperor. Maximilian was in buried St. George's Chapel, although previously a tomb had been built in the Innsbruck Court Church

Hofkirche, Innsbruck

The Hofkirche Innsbruck, Austria, is a Gothic church built 1553–1563 by Ferdinand I as a memorial to his grandfather Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , whose cenotaph within boasts a remarkable collection of German Renaissance sculpture...

.

In 1521 Ferdinand I

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...

 retreated to the castle because of the resistance of the Protestant Estates. Subsequently, though, the Vienna city government was arrested, and they were brought to trial (Wiener Neustädter Blutgericht, i.e. Wiener Neustadt Bloody Trial) and executed here.

However, also other celebrities were detained in a tower that was adapted as a state prison, the Rákócziturm (Rákóczi Tower), such as Francis II Rákóczi

Francis II Rákóczi

Francis II Rákóczi Hungarian aristocrat, he was the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden...

 or Peter Count Zrin

Petar Zrinski

Petar Zrinski was a Croatian Ban and writer. A member of the Zrinski noble family, he was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian rebellion of 1664-1670 which ultimately led to his execution for high treason.-Zrinski family:Petar Zrinski was born in Vrbovec, a small town near...

.

During the first Turkish Siege of Vienna

Siege of Vienna

The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, and was the result of a...

 in 1529, the castle was attacked but not conquered. During the second siege

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

 in 1683 it was not attacked. In the meantime, however, in the years 1608 and 1616 fires caused major damage.

In 1743 1,400 French prisoners of war were detained in the castle. A little later, a pestilential epidemic broke out, which claimed many victims. The castle therefore remained closed because of the risk of infection for two years after withdrawal of the survivors. Thereafter, it was hardly used and neglected.

In 1751 the Theresian Military Academy

Theresian Military Academy

The Theresian Military Academy is an academy, where the Austrian Armed Forces train their officers. The Academy is located in the castle of Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria.- History :...

 was established in the castle by Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

. This involved numerous changes which were implemented by Viennese architect Matthias Gerl.

In 1768, an earthquake again caused severe damages, which made the building uninhabitable. Three of the four towers had to be removed. In the east wing new rooms were furnished for the emperor. In the place of God's Body Chapel, the main staircase was erected.

After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the military academy was closed, but reopened in 1934. During the bombings at the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in 1944/45, the castle – just like the city as a whole – was so badly damaged that only the outer walls remained standing. It was rebuilt after the war so that the military academy was able to resume operations in 1958.

The castle, which had always been the sovereign’s property, is now owned by the Republic of Austria.

Buildings

St. George's Cathedral

The St. George's Cathedral is a late Gothic hall church

Hall church

A hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....

 with three naves. It was created by Peter von Pusica and was built in the years 1440 to 1460.

The original chapel was called St. Mary's or Our Lady's Chapel. Under Frederick III. it was renamed to St. George's Chapel as the seat of the Knights of St. George's Order.

The Chapel was heavily destroyed in World War II. Only one pillar remained original. It was rebuilt after 1945 using the white sandstone from Kaisersteinbruch quarry.

In 1784, the former bishop's see was moved to St. Pölten. Only in 1963 Wiener Neustadt became the see of the military bishop and the chapel was promoted to cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 status in 1987 under military bishop Alfred Kostelecky.

Academy Park

The originally swampy area between the town and Leitha river was drained under Frederick III. Also a zoological garden was created, which existed until 1751. The 106-hectare (262-acre) area was later converted into a park and has been open to the public since Maria Theresa.