The heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie lived here and this is their final resting place. His assassination in Serbia triggered the First World War.
The castle was first mentioned in documents in the 13th century. It was redesigned several times over the centuries until it found its present final form: a square central building flanked by seven characteristic towers. The round towers with the large onion-shaped helmets are from the conversion of the medieval castle.
Last resting place for the heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg, who both fell victim to a fanatical youth in Sarajevo in 1914.
The castle church, today the parish church, is dedicated to St. James the Elder. To the left of the high altar he is depicted in a picture. He appears riding on a white horse to the Spaniards in the battle of the Moors.
The painting is from the Kremser Schmidt.
The castle houses the Archduke-Franz-Ferdinand-Museum, which in the permanent exhibition "For Heart & Crown" gives the visitor an insight into the life of the heir to the throne and his family with many pictures.
Some pictures of the exhibition
Arrival of Empress Elisabeth at Miramar near Trieste on 18.5.1861
Elisabeth returned on board the British yacht VICTORIA AND ALBERT after her first escape from Austria and a six-month stay in Madeira. The impatient Franz Joseph travelled to
meet her, accompanied by his brother Ferdinand Max.
Painted by P.A. Sencig on behalf of Archduke Franz Ferdinand from a design by Cesare dell'Acqua.
Franz Joseph and Elisabeth
Elisabeth, just before her wedding
Elisabeth
Elisabeth
Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand as head of the Royal Prussian Poznan Uhlan Regiment "Prince August of Württemberg No. 10".
With a handwritten dedication of the Emperor Wilhelm II.
"In memory of Stetting September 1900 Wilhelm"
Handcrafted photo by L. Klett.
Heinrich Count Clam-Martinic (1863 -1932)
Member of the Austrian Manor House, Minister of Agriculture 1916,
Austrian Prime Minister 1916 - 1917.
World travel companion of Franz Ferdinand.
On the Danube bicycle tour I visited the castle Clam
Melk - Maria Taferl
Maria Taferl
