Kollmitz Castle lies, near the village of Kollmitzgraben, in the province of Lower Austria in Austria.

Kollmitz Castle is situated on a ridge in a bend of the valley of the river Thaya and is one of the largest ruins in Austria. The ruins consist of a semicircular gate tower, a round cornertower, a keep and the remains of a two-level residential building.

The castle was first mentioned in the 12th century as "Chalmunze". The castle was property of several noble families and later on of the Gera abbey and the Lords of Raabs. The castle had its heyday however during the Renaissance under the Lords of Hofkirchen.

The keep has 2.90 meters thick walls and is some 25 meters high. The gothic cornertower, probably built in the 15th century, has walls of 3.7 meters thick. You can see both the towers on the picture on the right; left is the gothic tower and right the keep.

The residential building was renovated around 1700. In 1800, however, the roofs were taken off because of the rooftax imposed during the Napoleonic wars. This made the castle uninhabitable after which it fell to ruin.

About 400 meters north of the actual castle, stands a large, freestanding curtain wall, called the Bohemian or Devil's wall. It was built around 1448 across the smallest part of the ridge and defends the road leading to the castle. The wall is 5 meters high and some 160 meters in length. The wall is a unique example of a -this far- separated defensive wall in Austria. It kept the castle safe in 1450 when it was besieged by the troops of the Bohemian King Podiebrad.

The castle ruins are now owned by the city of Raabs and are cared for by the Society for the Preservation of the Kollmitz Ruins. The ruins are freely accessible.

This is a cool ruin; lots of passageways and several large cellars. You can also climb both the keep and the round tower. Also the road leading to the castle itself is a nice walk through the woods. I could not find any substantial history about the castle, so if you can inform me; please do!

Three entrance gates; the first through the Bohemian wall, the second through the gate tower into the bailey, the third (below) into the inner ward.

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