Baroque Halbturn Castle

Schloss Halbturn, the most significant Baroque structure in Burgenland, once served as a hunting and summer residence for the imperial family. Located in northern Burgenland, the castle and its magnificent park are considered one of the country’s most valuable historical landmarks.

Castle View
The attractive cultural program with its numerous events, the premium Schloss Halbturn Winery, the vinothek, as well as the Schloss-Hotel and Restaurant Knappenstöckl, draw thousands of visitors each year. In December, the famous Pannonian Christmas Market enchants guests in the historic ambiance of the castle.

The castle was built in 1711 by Lucas von Hildebrandt, one of Austria’s most important architects of late Baroque art, during the reign of Emperor Charles VI. Through his daughter, Maria Theresa, Schloss Halbturn became the private property of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She acquired it from the Hungarian Crown and gifted it to her favorite daughter, Archduchess Marie Christine, as a wedding present upon her marriage to Duke Albert Casimir of Saxe-Teschen, the founder of the Albertina in Vienna. Subsequently, Schloss Halbturn remained in the possession of this branch of the Habsburg-Lorraine family.

Ceiling Fresco by Anton Maulbertsch
A special jewel of the castle is the ceiling fresco “Allegory of Time and Light”, created in 1765 by Franz Anton Maulbertsch as a wedding gift for Archduchess Marie Christine.