Ruine Hinterhaus, Medieval castle ruin in Spitz, Austria

Ruine Hinterhaus is a castle ruin perched on a rocky outcrop above the Wachau town of Spitz, in Lower Austria. What remains are sections of perimeter wall and a tower that still stands several stories high above the valley.

The main castle already stood in the 12th century; the site was first documented in 1243. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Knights of Spitz held it as vassals of the Kuenringers. The ruin passed into the ownership of the market town of Spitz in 1970, and from 1977 the local tourist association began maintenance and restoration work.

The ruin is also called Oberhaus, the upper house, a name that pairs with Hinterhaus, the house behind, for its position above and behind the settlement of Spitz. Local lore holds that the ghost of Adelheid, wife of Heinrich der Eiserne, appears on the ruin each year on the anniversary of her husband's death, after he remarried within the mourning year.

The ruin is reachable on foot from the center of Spitz in a short walk, though the path climbs steeply and can be slippery after rain. Sturdy shoes make the difference, and entry to the site is free.

The castle's oldest part, the main castle, already stood in the 12th century, before the first written mention of 1243. Local legend holds that the ghost of Adelheid, wife of Heinrich der Eiserne, appears on the ruin each year on the anniversary of her husband's death, because he remarried within the required mourning year and died soon after.