Geisterschloss, Ghost train in Prater, Austria

The Geisterschloss is a ghost train in the Prater where visitors ride in small electric cars through dark passages filled with mechanical figures and animatronics. The journey takes passengers through themed rooms designed to create surprise and fright effects.

Friedrich Holzdorfer built the first Geisterschloß in March 1933 on Prater plot 96, today's Calafatiplatz. It burned down completely in April 1945 during the air raids on Vienna. In 1955 the Kolnhofer showman family bought plot Prater 17 and opened a new ride there, the Geistermühle, converted into the Geisterschloss for the 1957/58 season.

The name "Geisterschloss" (formerly spelled "Geisterschloß") has been used for two rides on the Wurstelprater. The current one opened around 1955 as the "Geistermühle" and was converted to the castle facade for the 1957/58 season. It is run by the Kolnhofer showman family, in whose private ownership it has been since 1955; Alice Kolnhofer has been the owner since 1981.

The ride lasts about four minutes with alternating indoor and outdoor segments where cars briefly exit the building. These intervals of natural light break up the darker sequences throughout the journey.

The gorilla animatronic on the right-hand balcony, about a metre above street level, moves its torso, head and both arms and invites passers-by for a ride in Viennese dialect. It replaced an earlier figure destroyed by a suspected arson fire around 3 a.m. in September 2002, when the ride had no power.