Schloss Wasserhof

The earliest mention of the Gneixendorf estate is in 1141, when Otto von Machland [de], having no heirs, bequeathed the estate to Baumgartenberg Abbey [de].^[1] The present building dates from around 1550.^[2]

In 1819 Nikolaus Johann van Beethoven acquired the property.^[2]

In autumn 1826, his brother Ludwig van Beethoven visited him. During his stay the composer wrote the finale to his String Quartet Op. 130, the last music he completed. It was a replacement, composed at the suggestion of his publisher, of the Große Fuge, the original finale. He began the piece in September, and sent the manuscript to his publisher on 22 November 1826; he left Gneixendorf soon afterwards.^[3]

In recent years the building has been restored by the present owner, the architect Ernst Linsberger.^[2]