Greillenstein Castle

Lower Austria · Austria · Castle

At Greillenstein a headless count plays pranks, a white countess watches over her descendants – and the grass grows taller in the executed man's wheel tracks.

The Renaissance castle of Greillenstein in the Waldviertel counts among Austria's most haunted houses. A headless count is said to amuse himself frightening the residents, while the White Lady – the 18th-century Countess Susanna Maria von Kuefstein – walks the halls in white, shielding her descendants from harm. The castle also keeps the legend of the gardener wrongly executed for the murder of a girl whose body was found in the pond; ever since, the grass is said to grow taller in the very wheel ruts the ox cart cut on his final journey. The legends inspired Franz Grillparzer, a guest at the castle in 1807, to write his ghost drama Die Ahnfrau, and candlelit ghost tours are still held today.

FAQ

Where is Greillenstein Castle located?

Greillenstein Castle is in Niederösterreich, Austria.

More haunted places in Niederösterreich

• The Castle Spirit of Liechtenstein Castle Lower Austria · Castle
• The Ride of the Dead at Heiligenkreuz Lower Austria · Monastery
• Primmersdorf Castle Lower Austria · Manor
• The Metal Owlet of Rauhenstein Lower Austria · Ruin
• The Ghost of Rauheneck Lower Austria · Castle ruin
• The Acorn Warden of the Anninger Lower Austria · Forest
• Dear Augustin at the Griechenbeisl Vienna · Inn
• The House at the Skull Vienna · House

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Manfred Kuzel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons