Burg Lockenhaus was built around 1200 and first appears in written records in 1242. It stands 1,207 feet (368 meters) above sea level. The article describes Romanesque and Gothic styles. Its features include a crypt, a Gothic Knights' Hall with cross-ribbed vaulting, outer walls with circular towers and a chapel with frescoes in a tower. A double-apsed room may be connected with the Knights Templar.
Charles I of Hungary destroyed it in 1337. The Nádasdy family owned it from 1535 to 1676, and then the Esterházy family took possession. The Turkish War of 1683 caused heavy damage.
Professor Paul Anton Keller and his wife Margaret bought the ruined castle in 1968 and restored it. A foundation has controlled it since 1980, and the Kammermusikfest chamber music festival began in 1982. About 1,200 bats live there each year.
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