The Villa Wartholz or Castle Wartholz is a former imperial villa in Reichenau an der Rax in Lower Austria.
The Villa Wartholz or Castle Wartholz is a former imperial villa in Reichenau an der Rax in Lower Austria.
Villa Wartholz was designed by Heinrich von Ferstel in the historicist style in the years 1870 to 1872 for Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria. The castle-like building with towers was for recreational purposes, not for military means. The villa was designed with a view over the valley. Karl Ludwig spent so much time in this area, he reserved this place only for hunting by the imperial court. It was built near by his home Karl-Ludwig-Haus on the Rax.
This area around Reichenau was a popular tourist area for the aristocratic society since the construction of the Southern Railway. Members of the imperial family, and other members of the nobility, artists and scientists met at the Villa Wartholz. Nearby another palace subsequently arose, the Schloss Rothschild.
The villa also was used by Emperor Charles I of Austria and Empress Zita. Their son, Otto von Habsburg (1912 – 2011) was born in Villa Wartholz. His baptism and first Communion were received in the chapel, which was located in the villa. On 17 August 1917, Emperor Charles held a ceremony where he handed over the Military Order of Maria Theresa to 24 officers, among them Kövess, Dankl, Arz, Johann Haas von Haagenfels, Wenzel von Wurm, Cavallar and Banfield.
Due to the Habsburg Law the Wartholz villa was owned by the Austrian state. The Habsburgs staked a claim of private ownership and for many years this was a point of contention whether they would be reinstituted as owners. In 1973, the government sold the mansion to the State of Lower Austria. From this it was again sold in 1982 and is now privately owned.
The name derives from a cross on a nearby late-Gothic object, Wayside shrine with the name waiting. This cross is from the period around 1500.
Since 2008, the castle holds an annual Wartholz literature competition.
Charles VII was the prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor thus marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule although he was related to the Habsburgs by both blood and marriage. After the death of emperor Charles VI in 1740, he claimed the Archduchy of Austria by his marriage to Maria Amalia of Austria, the niece of Charles VI, and was briefly, from 1741 to 1743, as Charles III King of Bohemia. In 1742, he was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Charles VII and ruled until his death three years later.
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Otto von Habsburg, was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece upon the death of his father. He resigned as Sovereign of the Golden Fleece in 2000 and as head of the Imperial House in 2007.
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Sigmaringen Castle was the princely castle and seat of government for the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Situated in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, this castle dominates the skyline of the town of Sigmaringen. The castle was rebuilt following a fire in 1893, and only the towers of the earlier medieval fortress remain. Schloss Sigmaringen was a family estate of the Swabian Hohenzollern family, a cadet branch of the Hohenzollern family, from which the German Emperors and kings of Prussia came. During the closing months of World War II, Schloss Sigmaringen was briefly the seat of the Vichy French Government after France was liberated by the Allies. The castle and museums may be visited throughout the year, but only on guided tours. It is still owned by the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family, although they no longer reside there.
Archduke Charles Stephen Eugene Viktor Felix Maria of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg, a Grand Admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and candidate for the Polish crown.
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The Heimatstil is an architectural style of the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth referring to the historicist tendencies which one encounters in the German-speaking countries, including Switzerland, but also in Victorian England and even in the north and eastern parts of France, as well as Belgium and Flanders. The Heimatstil is characterized by the use of wood on the façade and sculpted beams, connected by protruding or rusticated stone, recalling the illustrations from literature and folklore, especially Germanic ones, from the time period.
Coordinates: 47°41′54″N15°49′35″E / 47.69833°N 15.82639°E
