Burg Raabs an der Thaya is a castle in municipality

Raabs an der Thaya Raabs an der Thaya is a municipality with 3,114 inhabitants in Waidhofen an der Thaya (district) in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria, near the Austrian border with the Czech Republic. About 27.6 percent of the municipality is forested. The German ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, built in the second half of the 11th century, it is above sea level.Burg Raabs an der Thaya Altitude and Location
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History

The medieval history of this area begins with the old

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

n fortification in the ''Sand'' location, near Burg Raabs. This fortified settlement was discovered in 1992 by Kurt Bors. According to the results of dendrochronological dating, the Northern Wall was built between 926 and 929. However, the settlement was abandoned after several decades, probably destroyed by catastrophic fire by the Hungarian raid. Prior to being overthrown by the Hungarians, the Great Moravian Empire ruled today's

, up to

Enns river The Enns (, ) is a southern tributary of the river Danube, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the village Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, ...

. The first written records related to the lord of the castle "Gotfridi in castrum Racouz" is in Czech Cosmas Chronicle from 1100. From the years 1074 and 1076 are named forest areas "silva Rogacz" ("Rogacz forest" - territory around the later town Horn), they are named in two royal gifts for the margraves of the

Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...

family. The castle has been called Rakous (formerly Rakús) by neighbouring

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

, which is the origin of the Czech and Slovak name for Austria as a whole, Rakousko/Rakúsko. Instability in South Moravian space in the first half of the 11th century led to repeated conflicts. For example, in the Altahensis annales it is recorded that in 1082 the son of Margrave Adalbert took one of the towns at the present northern provincial border after it was forcibly taken from his father by the Přemyslids. After the extinction of the Raab Counts in the male line (around 1192) the western territory with the castle passed to Count Hirschberg-Tollenstein. In 1252, Czech King

Přemysl Otakar II Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

acquired the whole county. Owner of the castle became Vok I. of Rožmberk from Czech noble clan

Vítkovci The Vítkovci ( la, Witikonides) were a Czech noble clan from southern Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider ...

. In 1282, the Castle passed to

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

, because after 1278 a large part of the county was confiscated by King Rudolf.

References

''This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia.'' Castles in Lower Austria {{Austria-castle-stub

History

See also

References