Stixenstein Castle, Castle in Stixenstein, Ternitz, Austria

Stixenstein is a castle, not a ruin, standing on a hill above the Sierning valley north of Sieding in Ternitz. Its neo-Gothic portal and pointed-arch windows face a steep gabled roof, with a hexagonal bell tower rising beside the keep. The four-storey keep measures 13 metres on each side, has small openings only on the north-east side and an unusual ground-floor entrance; a formerly Gothic chapel adjoins it to the west.

The castle probably dates from the 12th century and was held by the Stüchse family, who restored it after a fire in 1347 and sold it to Duke Leopold III of Habsburg before 1381. Emperor Frederick III had its defences upgraded, yet Hungarian troops under Matthias Corvinus took it in 1487 (1488 in Italian sources) and held it only briefly. Hans Hoyos bought it in 1547 and converted it into a Renaissance mansion; fires in 1735 and 1802/1803 left mainly the outer walls, and it was only partly rebuilt in the first half of the 19th century.

The name Stuchsenstein, recorded for the castle, comes from the Stuchse family; research suggests they took over an older castle called Stein and renamed it around the start of the 14th century. Since 1937 the castle has belonged to the City of Vienna, which uses it as an events venue; in November 2023 two new bells were dedicated there in the presence of Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig and Ternitz's mayor Rupert Dworak.

The castle stands on a hill above the Sierning valley, reached from the road between Sieding and Puchberg am Schneeberg, which still passes through a former valley barrier. The grounds are open to the public following the restoration begun in 1996 by the cities of Vienna and Ternitz. The site is used for events, so check locally before travelling.

During World War II the castle was one of sixteen Lower Austrian depots for Vienna's art collections; storage began in August 1943 after an air raid on Wiener Neustadt. The Red Army occupied it on 2 April 1945, and looted pieces were found missing when returns started that year.