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History of Perchtoldsdorf


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It is the site of a castle in a chain of fortifications constructed during the Babenberg rule, while the region was part of the March of Austria, to defend newly conquered territories from the recently displaced Magyars on behalf of the Ottonian and Salian emperors.

The Babenberg vassals continued to rule from the castle after the end of that dynasty until the death of Otto von Perchtoldsdorf in 1286, when the House of Habsburg inherited control.

During the medieval period, the settlement was granted the rights of a Market town and the castle was used as a residence for the widowed Duchesses of the Habsburg dynasty, including Beatrix von Zollern (widow of Albert III). The Duchess Beatrix established a hospital in 1407, now demolished, and an attached church which still survives.

The conflict between Frederick III and Albert VI started an unstable period in the region. In 1446, many homes in the town were burned during the invasion of John Hunyadi, the regent of Hungary. During this time, the castle was occupied by various rival forces, including mercenaries of the King of Hungary from 1477 until 1490 when Maximilian I reestablished Habsburg control over the area. This turbulent period interrupted the construction of the Peel tower which started in 1450 and was finished about 1521. This tower and other fortifications permitted a successful defense of the city against the Turkish troops during the Siege of Vienna in 1529.

However, an Ottoman Turkish assault in July of 1683 effectively destroyed the town, and many residents were killed or enslaved. The mass slaughter came after Ottoman troops had offered a traditional demand for surrender and the keys to the town were indeed handed over. When in the same month the commander of the defenders of Vienna heard of the post-surrender sacking of Perchtoldsdorf, he decided he could not trust a similar offer from the Ottoman commander to surrender Vienna. Thus instead of a 1683 surrender of Vienna,
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