Schloss Hohenlehen, Castle in Hollenstein an der Ybbs, Austria

Schloss Hohenlehen is a two-storey Belle Époque villa built by architect Maximilian Katscher between 1906 and 1910, standing at 430 m above sea level on a terrace above the Ybbs between Opponitz and Hollenstein. Its raised central tower section carries a lantern-like top room, and a broad first-floor balcony is reached by stairs on both sides. The facade has plain historicist rustication. A tree-lined avenue leads 300 m to the four-sided Waldbauernschule farmstead.

The property was purchased between 1896 and 1906 by Gustav Davis, founder of Kronen Zeitung newspaper, who transformed it from a hunting lodge into a grand residence. Architect Maximilian Katscher designed the Belle Époque exterior that still characterizes the building's appearance today.

Since 1949 the estate has housed the Waldbauernschule, renamed Wald- und Gebirgsbauernschule Hohenlehen in 1971 and run by the province of Lower Austria since then. Its forestry branch is the only Forstfachschule in Austria. The separate Fachschule Unterleiten, originally the girls' school, has been attached as an Expositur since the beginning.

The castle sits at elevation with commanding views of the Ybbs valley landscape and is best reached on foot via nearby hiking trails. The grounds are privately maintained, so visitors should confirm in advance whether tours are available and what rules apply to access.

Gustav Davis, founder of the Kronen Zeitung, died at Hohenlehen in 1951 at the age of 95. The estate he assembled from 1896 onward covered about 1,500 hectares, roughly 80 percent of it forest, and was run mainly as a private hunting ground. After World War I it became a model farm known beyond Austria's borders, where the Hohenlehner Braunvieh cattle breed was developed.