Foundation
The castle was built in 1528 directly in the outer bailey of the former moated castle. The roots of this castle, which was first mentioned in a document in 1229, most probably go back to the time of Louis the German (*806 – †876). In 860, the emperor gave the archbishopric of Salzburg the village of “Kundpoldesdorf”, among other things, for the purpose of missionary work. According to historians, this place is identical to Kobersdorf, based primarily on the geographical description of the place.
The first undoubted documentary reference dates back to 1229, in which Kobersdorf is referred to as “… villae, que est aput castellum”. This is also the first mention of the castle, the construction of which Count Pousa began as early as 1222.
The castle passed its first test as early as 1270: it was successfully defended during the Güssing feud, but fell in 1280 and, after being recaptured, finally in 1289 during the same war. It was not until 1291 that the peace treaty of Hainburg was signed between Duke Albrecht I and King Andrew III: “…Pressburg, Tyrnau, Kobersdorf and the bone of contention Güssing must be returned to Hungary, all other castles must be razed to the ground.”
Royal feudal lords: the Forchtensteins
In 1319, the estate was sold to Count Simon II of Forchtenstein-Mattersburg. His progenitors Simon and Bertrand were brothers of Tota, a Spanish lady-in-waiting to King Charles Robert. The two had rendered outstanding services during the Reconquista in Spain and therefore bore a black eagle in their coat of arms.
Around 1430, the castle, of which only the chapel remains, was artistically decorated by Count Wilhelm Forchtenstein-Mattersburg. He moved his main residence from Forchtenstein to Kobersdorf.
In 1445, Wilhelm pledged the estate to the Austrian Duke Albrecht VI, who in turn sold the castle to his brother Emperor Frederick III in 1451.
When Wilhelm died in 1466, he left behind two daughters. According to the law in force at the time, the castle and estate had to be returned to the Hungarian king when the male line died out. However, as Albrecht was confirmed as the rightful owner of Kobersdorf in the armistice treaty of 1447, the manor fell into Austrian hands for the first time.
Imperial feudal lords: the Weisspriach family
The castles of Forchtenstein, Kobersdorf and Landsee, located just a few kilometers to the east, were of great strategic importance to the Emperor, who resided in Wiener Neustadt. As early as 1452, he appointed the Weisspriachers, a Carinthian family, as administrators, and from 1453 as lords of the manor.
In 1458, King Matthias Corvinus temporarily took possession of Kobersdorf during the border battles, but in the peace treaties of Ödenburg in 1463, the castle was left in the possession of the House of Austria; under constitutional law, it belonged to Hungary. However, in 1466, the year of Count Wilhelm Forchtenstein’s death, Corvinus gave the castle to the Weisspriach family as a reward for their apostasy from the emperor, even though it did not belong to him.
In 1482, the Weisspriach family added the late Gothic outer bailey and the Protestant chapel to the castle.
In 1491, the Peace Treaty of Pressburg is signed; Kobersdorf is once again confirmed as Austrian property. Emperor Maximilian I appoints Prüschenk, who returns the castle to the Weisspriach family – probably not without pressure. They continue to capitalize on the troubled and dubious circumstances of the time: “Kobersdorf belongs to the Principality of Austria, therefore no taxes!”
In 1529, the Weisspriachers prove themselves in the Turkish war. They were now at the height of their power, owning estates from Eisenstadt to Güns. They expanded the castle into a palace and extended the outer bailey in the Renaissance style. As staunch Protestants, they carried out the Reformation in their area, as a result of which Kobersdorf remained purely Protestant for over 100 years.
In 1553, the Weisspriacher family died out with the daughters Esther, Judith and Susanne.
Count Johann Kéry de Ipoliker
In 1463 Susanne married Hans Csóron von Devecser. This was followed by ruinous divisions of inheritance: Not only did the Weisspriach estates become more and more fragmented, but the castle itself was also divided among the various heirs.
It was only when Johann Kéry married Ursula Czobor, Csóron’s great-great-granddaughter, in 1648 that the castle and estate were reunited. He bought up all the small shares and completed the castle extension in 1656, now already in the style of the late Renaissance and early Baroque.
On April 16, 1670, the two magnate conspirators Franz Frangepany and Peter Zrinyi spent the night in Kobersdorf, partly because they were friends with Franz Kéry, son of Johann, and partly because they thought they were safe in Kobersdorf, Hungary. That same night, however, Johann betrayed them to the emperor in Vienna; Leopold I had them both arrested and taken to Wiener Neustadt, where they were executed a year later.
Disaster struck in 1683: The castle, now already a palace, is an easy target for the Turks. The castle, which had remained standing next to the palace until then, was completely destroyed and the rest set on fire.
Earl Paul Esterházy
After the death of his father in 1694, Franz Kéry attempted to repair the worst of the damage, but by 1704 he was forced to sell the castle and estate to his brother-in-law Prince Paul Esterházy.
For the princes, who had their residences in Fertöd and Eisenstadt, the castle itself was of little interest. This had the great advantage that it was essentially able to retain its late-Renaissance features, but it also fell into increasing disrepair. In 1809, French officers were quartered there, in 1876 the roof truss burnt down, in 1895 there was a severe flood which tore down the eastern bastion walls and silted up all the cellars. In 1914, 200 Serbs were interned in the castle, in 1942-45 a prison camp for officers, in 1945-47 the Russian surveying department.
Prof. Dipl. Arch. Martha Bolldorf-Reitstätter
Finally, in 1963, demolition of the ruins was considered in order to turn the area into building plots. At relatively short notice, Martha Bolldorf-Reitstätter decided to attempt to rebuild it. This was carried out with great sacrifice until her death in 2001.
Martha Bolldorf-Reitstätter, originally from Tyrol, was Austria’s first female academic architect. She carried out many of her building projects in Burgenland, such as the residential complex with high-rise building in Eisenstadt (the income from this project was used to finance the roof extension of the castle), the redesign of the cathedral and the Bischofshof.
The castle passed into the ownership of her daughter Dr. Anna Schlanitz in 2004.