The fine way of life on the road of emperors and kings

Schönbühel Castle in the Wachau market town of Aggsbach dates back to the same period as the famous monastery. Marchwardus de Schoenbuchele had it built in the early 12th century on a rock 40 meters high, on which, to all appearances, a Roman fortress once helped secure the border of the empire. In the course of the next 200 years, the Schoenbuchele family, who were obviously concerned about the common good, extended their imposing residence with a church and a school. After the dynasty died out, the castle fell to a nobleman with the fabulous name of Conrad von Eisenbeutel and shortly thereafter to the Melk monastery, which in turn sold it to the Starhembergs in 1396. It remained in their possession for the next 400 years (and a little longer).

In recent years, however, the Starhembergs had more important things to do than take care of the property in the Wachau. In 1819, Ludwig Josef Gregor of Starhemberg left the castle together with the ruins of Aggsbach Castle - which was also part of Starhemberg's real estate portfolio - to Franz von Beroldingen. The count did a great job and restored the largely dilapidated Schönbühel to its former glory within two years. In the general overhaul of the tower, the castle church and the three-towered residential wing, Beroldingen renounced the neoclassical zeitgeist and allowed late Baroque taste to prevail - but without touching the main portal, which with its panther's paw, laurel-adorned sword and dropped crescent recalls the soldierly merits of Ernst von Starhermberg in the course of the liberation of Turkish besieged Vienna. Today, the castle, including sustainable agriculture and forestry, is maintained by the joint stock company Schlossgut Schönbühel Aggstein.

In its geographical as well as stylistic proximity, two real Baroque jewels can be found: In Dürnstein, the baroque Kellerschlößel at the foot of the wine-famous Kellerberg, established in 1715 by master architect Jakob Prandtauer; in Persenbeug, the baroque castle of the same name, which to this day belongs to the Habsburgs and, as a private matter, is not open to the public. In 1045, a serious construction defect in its predecessor castle almost cost the German Emperor Heinrich III his illustrious existence: At a banquet, the beam floor of the possibly overstaffed Knights' Hall broke under the weight of the table and the guests, who landed in the cesspool below along with their regent. Like Henry III, numerous other emperors and kings on transit also liked to stop here - or in the castle of the opposite Ybbs.

In the Strudengau region upstream from the Wachau, the exquisitely furnished Greinburg Castle conveys aristocratic savoir vivre. The landmark of Grein is the oldest residential castle in Austria. For almost 200 years, its lords and ladies have been the dukes and dukes of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who have plenty of living space in the four wings of the three-story building. Columned arcades from the Renaissance make it possible to walk in the fresh air with a dry head even when it rains. The two knights' halls of the Greinburg are ideal for larger gatherings. The Sala Terrena on the ground floor is a special gem: mosaics made of thousands and thousands of Danube pebbles adorn this grotto hall with its finely ribbed diamond vault, which in the Rococo period served as a backdrop for shepherd's hours as well as for theater performances.

Clam Castle, not far from Grein, is similarly steeped in history, at whose feet the rock'n'roll circus has been pitching its tents for several summers. It can boast of being the only Austrian castle that has been continuously inhabited by a noble family since its construction over 550 years ago. Count Clam-Martinitz represents the 23rd generation of the dynasty, which has made the castle more and more homelike and has made itself perfectly at home in it. The inventory of the house with arcades and comfort rooms includes not only precious tableware made of Meissen porcelain but also its own pharmacy.

Ennsegg Castle in Enns hardly reveals that it served to fortify the border between Upper and Lower Austria a long time ago. The fact that the lords of the castle of yesteryear were pronounced aesthetes pleases not least the wedding couples of Enns today. The state hall of the castle is used by the administration of Austria's oldest city for the civil wedding ceremony, which is particularly festive under the gold leaf panelling amidst softly pastelized parchment wallpaper. An equally splendid ambience can be found a little further on in the Augustinian canons' monastery of Sankt Florian, which traditionally served the Austrian emperors as a travel hostel. Carlo Carlone and once again Jakob Prandtauer created the Baroque reconstruction, during which the 14 stucco-decorated imperial rooms were created for the Most High couple and their entourage. The wall coverings and the furniture are among the best that money could buy at the time.

Schönbühel Castle and the ruins of Aggsbach Castle were not the complete land and real estate holdings of the von Starhembergs on the Danube. Much more important was and is Starhemberg Castle on the town square of Eferding. Apart from a short interruption in the 17th century, the castle has been part of the Starhemberg property for more than 450 years. Today, Georg Adam Fürst Starhemberg takes care of its preservation with a family foundation. It was the Counts of Schaunberg who bought their official castle in Eferding from the Bishopric of Passau in the 14th century and began to furnish it in a representative manner. As an inheritance, the castle went to the Starhembergs, who further upgraded it and in the course of time formed a classicist residential castle out of the walls. Part of the house is open to the public as the Fürstlich Starhemberg'sches Familienmuseum (Princely Starhemberg Family Museum), which provides a deep look into the lives and ways of the Austrian nobility. Among the gems of the interior are the Renaissance coffered ceilings (commissioned by Count Georg III von Schaunberg), a monumental tiled stove set in 1580 by Linz stove master Paul Zilpolz, and stucco-framed ceremonial mirrors. As is common in museums, some of the house's fine pieces were once located elsewhere: The inlaid ceiling of a hall, which is more than 400 years old, comes from Hartheim Castle, which was part of Starhemberg's estate for a long time. And the carefully restored castle organ stood in the Old Linz Cathedral until about 50 years ago, where it was most likely played by Anton Bruckner.

Obernzell Castle, built on an artificially raised island on the Danube, would be as unimaginable as Eferding Castle without the Passau clergy. In the 16th century, the prince-bishops of the city on the three rivers expanded the moated castle with its function of controlling ship traffic into a Renaissance palace with an irrepressible will to modernity, indeed to the avant-garde of their time. With humanist-pious quotations in the theological world languages Greek, Latin and Hebrew, the walls of the Knights' Hall decorated in this way testify to the broad intellectual horizon of the Bavarian noble clerics - and Obernzell as a whole to their material wealth.

The former monastery of St. Emmeran in Regensburg also stands at the interface of capital, clergy and nobility. In 1812, the Thurn and Taxis family, which had always been successful in business, received it from the Reich as a consolation prize for the abolition of the postal monopoly, from which the Thurn and Taxis family had earned a fortune. The family invested part of this fortune in the conversion of the monastery into a palace residence that ranks among the most beautiful in Europe. When Princess Gloria was given her first tour of her future home in 1979, it took her - as she confided to Vanity Fair - a full four hours to see the most important things: the Yellow Salon with its Baroque interior, the Silver Salon designed by Sisi's sister Princess Helene in Bavaria, the Green Salon designed by Valhalla architect Klenze, the Marstall Museum in the old riding hall, and much more that remains inaccessible to ordinary visitors to the palace. In contrast to the pop aristocracy, which Gloria - noblesse oblige - led through St. Emmeran in the form of Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Quincy Jones and Elton John.