Mayerling Castle (in German language Schloss Mayerling) was until 1889 an imperial hunting residence located in Lower Austria, near Alland, south-east of Vienna. Today it houses a convent.
In 1550 the castle was registered for the first time as a possession of the Heiligenkreuz abbey.
After the dissolution of the ecclesiastical structures at the end of the eighteenth century, the structure was purchased by a private individual but left almost unused until 1886 when the building was purchased by the Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg-Lorraine who intended to make it a hunting lodge.
On the night of January 30, 1889, Archduke Rodolfo took his own life here together with his lover, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Francesco Giuseppe, Rodolfo's father, upset and saddened, made the last residence of his son a temple dedicated to him.
The place where Rodolfo's bedroom was located was demolished to make room for a church that was added to the back of the building, in the exact place where the two young people took their own lives.
After having made these changes, Francesco Giuseppe entrusted the residence to the Carmelites who were ordered to guard the monastery.
Contrary to his wishes, Rodolfo was buried in the imperial crypt in Vienna, while his lover Maria Vetsera was buried right in the cemetery next to the castle church.
Mayerling Castle
Address: Mayerling 3, 2534
Phone: +43 2258 2275
Site:
Location inserted by
giulia