Founded in 1157
What a way to spend a Saturday! Tour the only dipping-candle production site in this part of Europe, inspect the Winnetou village in Gfoehl and then see the impressive twelvth century Rappottenstein castle which was often attacked, but never taken. Even though my husband comes from here, we as a family spend little time in the mystic Waldviertel these days, after having lived in Zwettl for three years.
What better opportunity than a visit from Down Under to see the castle in Rappottenstein?
http://lilly.fam-gundacker.eu/gallery/?album=12&gallery=26&show=slide
We discovered that Burg Rappottenstein was never conquered though often attacked. It is built on rock cliffs with eight gates and five courtyards spiralling inwards to the well protected castle. The wooden roof tiles on the attached utility buildings need to be replaced every forty years.
Today it is open for inspection during tours and accommodates a Red Cross project for children. There are meeting rooms and even accommodation available, though these were not included in our tour.
There’s an impressive film about the area taken from the air, though narrated in German available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-j73GicoWI8#t=283
There is also a FaceBook page which you may like about the castle: https://www.facebook.com/burgrappottenstein?fref=ts
The recent renovations are graphically documented on the FaceBook page and it looks like ancient historical places are meeting high-tech modern times in social media. 🙂
To my eyes, there has been a big investment of time and money to improve the castle and the Red Cross sign at the entrance gateway is another attraction to our family which has two former Red Cross civil servants who now act as volunteers.
