Schloss Mailberg, Mailberg

Mailberg Castle is located on a hill on the southern edge of the historic center of the wine-growing village of Mailberg, northeast of Hollabrunn in the Weinviertel region of Lower Austria.

The castle and palace of Mailberg were the sites of two important historical results. On May 2, 1082, the Babenberg Leopold II lost a decisive battle here against the Bohemian prince Wratislaw, who was loyal to the emperor. In 1451, the estates of Upper and Lower Austria, which were in dispute with Emperor Frederick III over the release of the heir to the throne Ladislaus, who was under his guardianship, united in the castle and concluded the Mailberg Alliance. 250 seals confirmed this alliance in order to help the rightful heir to the throne to his rights.

The basic structural substance of the castle dates back to a castle of the Order of St. John, which was probably built at the time of the Second Crusade and is based on a donation by Chadolt of Zogelsdorf. From the 13th century onwards, the castle served as the religious, economic, military and hospital center of the possessions grouped by the Order into the Kommende Mailberg, which today constitute the oldest Order-owned Kommende of the Sovereign Order of Malta in the world.

The current appearance of the Order Castle and the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist dates back to reconstructions and extensions, ranging from the Gothic, Renaissance and especially Baroque periods to minor changes in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Today, the agricultural and forestry business of the Kommende Mailberg comprises 440 hectares of forest, 250 hectares of agriculture and 48 hectares of vineyards. In addition to the Mailberg parish church, the castle currently houses a castle hotel, a restaurant and the vinotheque of the "Schlossweingut Malteser Ritterorden" and the quality winegrowers' association "Mailberg Valley".