Kollmitz Castle is a ruined castle east of Raabs an der Thaya in Lower Austria. The castle was first mentioned in the 13th century and the construction of its main tower was completed in 1319.
In the 14th century the castle was used as a district court with ownership changing often. In 1411 the Freiherr von Hofkirchen came into possession of the castle, whose family would control the castle for the next two centuries. The Hofkirchen family lost possession of the castle in 1611 when Wolfgang von Hofkirchen died in exile in Prague during the Habsburg’s Counter Reformation, which saw him as a ringleader of Protestant nobility.
Following the end of Hofkirchen control, the castle changed hands several times and may even have been abandoned. In 1708 the Castle was acquired by Franz Anton von Quarient und Raal under whom the castle fell into disrepair as it no longer could serve any practical purpose.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.