Burg Forchtenstein:
The Castle
Continued from page 2

About Forchtenstein Castle:

I passed the heights of the Rosaliengebirge, a breeze on the lower slopes stirring the leaves to an undulant sea of color. As far as I could see, orchards stretched away. Orderly rows of cherry trees in full bloom, the paper-white petals etched against a webbing of crisp black branches, diminished in the distance. Apricot and peach trees tossed plumes of pale and deeper pink. Nature, I observed, had strewn color with a prodigious sweep. Swathes of flowering purple sage and wild blue lupins formed a background to the flowering fruit trees.

From far off in the plain I could see the Castle of Forchtenstein, its high piled walls and towers shining pale yellow and russet under the crisp black of inky-black tile roofs. This province of Burgenland owes its name--"The Land of Castles"--to its number of ancient castles. Many of them stem from 11th and 12th century fortresses, while others, like the great Esterházy Palace at Eisenstadt, is a resounding example of Austrian Baroque architecture.

As I drew nearer to the village of Forchtenstein, I noted that the castle today is in perfect repair. Every black tile on the roof is in place, the famous frescoed walls fresh in color. In the highest circular tower in the province hangs the deep-toned bell called Tota, to honor the sister of Bertram, Count of Mattersdorf. In 1200 this woman of Spanish origin was conceded to be peerless by all who beheld the splendor of her raven hair and alabaster skin. Troubadors from afar sang that her beauty had no equal throughout the world. A second brother of Tota's, called Simon, hung a bell in the tower to ring out each morning at sunrise and each evening at sunset the tidings of his sister's perpetual beauty. Today it still rings out. The legendary beauty of Tota is symbolized by the beauty of the flowering spring, the golden heat of poppy-strewn summer, autumn heavy with fruit, and the stillness of violet-silver winter.

Panorama of Austria
James Reynolds
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1956

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