Schattenburg castle was mentioned in the chronicle by the monks Ortlieb and Berthold in 1138. Muntifurt Castle, mentioned in the first half of the 12th century, may have housed vassals of the Earl of Bregenz, who ruled over the area at the time. At his coming to power (1182) the Earl Hugo I, the grandson of the last Earl of Bregenz Rudolf (1150), repositioned his residence to Feldkirch Castle, important for reasons of power politics and the control of traffic.
For 200 years, the Castle remained the property of the Earls of Montfort. Upon the death of the last of the Montforts, Rudolf IV (1390), the castle and the power that came with it passed to the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs ruled the estate through governors who lived in the Castle until 1773.
Only from 1416 until 1436 was their rule briefly interrupted, when it came into the hands of the Earls of Toggenburg. Duke Friedrich of Austria’s help in the flight of the antipope Johannes XIII turned out to be fatal for him. Not only was he outlawed in the name of the Emperor and excommunicated, he also lost all is possessions, among which Feldkirch. In 1825 the City bought the partially ruined Castle from the state for 833 Guilders. Today Schattenburg is a museum.
References:The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.