Hardegg

Hardegg
Hardegg town and castle
Coat of arms
Hardegg Location within Austria
Coordinates: 48°51′N 15°52′E / 48.850°N 15.867°E / 48.850; 15.867Coordinates: 48°51′N 15°52′E / 48.850°N 15.867°E / 48.850; 15.867
Country	Austria
State	Lower Austria
District	Hollabrunn
Government
• Mayor	Heribert Donnerbauer, ÖVP
Area
• Total	93.2 km2 (36.0 sq mi)
Elevation	309 m (1,014 ft)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	1,307
• Density	14/km2 (36/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	2082
Area codes	0 29 48
Website	www.hardegg.gv.at

Hardegg is a town in the district of Hollabrunn in Lower Austria, Austria. It is situated in the Waldviertel region on the river Thaya, directly on the border with the Czech Republic. The Thaya valley is protected as a national park, adjacent to the Podyjí National Park on the Czech shore.

Since 1975 the municipality comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Hardegg, Felling, Heufurth, Mallersbach, Merkersdorf, Niederfladnitz, Pleissing, Riegersburg, Umlauf (unpopulated, is entirely located within the Thayatal national park and comprises a mere 12 fishermen's huts), and Waschbach. As Hardegg proper has only 78 inhabitants, it is often referred to as Austria's smallest town.

Hardegg Castle in the March of Austria was first mentioned in an 1145 deed, it was acquired by the Counts of Plain about 1187. Hardegg itself is first documented as a town in 1290. Located on the border with the Kingdom of Bohemia, the area was devastated during the Hussite Wars in 1425. In 1483 Hardegg was bequeathed to the Habsburg archdukes of Austria.

Emperor Maximilian I granted Hardegg to his ministeriales of the Prueschenk noble family and elevated them to immediate Counts of Hardegg in 1499. Two years later Count Ulrich purchased the Bohemian County of Kladsko from the Dukes of Münsterberg. From the Thirty Years' War onwards the castle decayed, until it was acquired by the Khevenhüller dynasty and rebuilt in the late 19th century according to plans designed by Carl Gangolf Kayser.