Rohrau is subdivided into the following Katastralgemeinden: The area in pre-Roman times belonged to the Celtic kingdom of Noricum.

The chateau (Schloss Rohrau) has been owned by the Counts of Harrach and their descendants since 1524, and it contains the largest private collection of Dutch oil paintings in Austria.

In the early 18th century, the town was plagued by attacks from the Kuruczes, described by Geiringer as "the peasant army of the anti-Habsburg Hungarian party".

A resident who lost his house to the flames in both 1704 and 1706 was Lorenz Koller (born 1675), who was the Marktrichter (roughly, mayor) of the town and the maternal grandfather of Joseph Haydn (see below).

Rohrau once had a border checkpoint at the bridge crossing the river to what was then the Hungarian part of the Austrian Empire.

This checkpoint, which now is a farmhouse, was only an internal border crossing, and the local noble family Harrach, in fact, owned land on both sides.

[6] It was originally placed in the park of Harrach chateau, on an artificial island (the "Haydn-Insel") in the Leitha River, created for the purpose.

Traditionally the People's Party has a stronghold in Lower Austria, due to the support they get from farmers and white-collar employees.