The ruins of Dürnstein are situated high above the city. The former castle was built in 1130 by the Kuenringer Hadmar I. and destroyed during the thirty years war by Swedish soldiers.

The most famous guest must have been Richard the Lionhearted.

Once the proverbial fortress of the highway robbers of Kuenringer, today it holds viewers spell-bound with its breath-taking panorama and charged atmosphere. Legend has it that Scheck vom Wald (15th century) used to throw prisoners down from the “Rosengärtlein”, a 4 m wide and 10 m long promontory among the cliffs.

The Renaissance castle of Greillenstein was built in the 16th century and for a long time used for administrative purposes. It has survived the course of the centuries almost unscathed and is now privately owned. Greillenstein Castle has a lot to offer: Renaissance baths, a dungeon, a park and the dwarves' garden with an interesting collection of sandstone dwarves.

The Renaissance castle of Rosenburg with its medieval core, splendid Renaissance arcades, thirteen towers and impressive courtyard is considered to be the perfect example of a fortification having gradually evolved over the course of the centuries. The castle is picturesquely situated on a rock high above the River Kamp.

Highlights include the guided tour of the castle, the free-flight displays of falcons and eagles, the newly designed gardens and its unique atmosphere in general.

The Schallaburg, located about 5 kilometers from Melk, ranks among the finest Renaissance castles north of the Alps. The core of the fortress, which dates back to the Middle Ages, has survived in the form of the Romanesque residential castle and the Gothic chapel. The Schallaburg castle received today’s characteristic appearance in 1572, when the prosperous Lose Steiner dynasty established a manor for themselves that was modeled on the Italian palazzo of the time and whose impressive silhouette can still be seen from far away to this day.

Artstetten Castle stands high above the Danube at the border of the Wachau region of Austria. Surrounded by a dreamland park, it offers a fairytale background to relive the turbulent past of Austria and Europe.
The visitor strolls the narrow path between happiness and sorrow, life and death, and enters the many facetted life and times of the politician, reformer, collector and family man Archduke-Heir Francis Ferdinand.