Hohenwang Castle

The castle was probably built before 1160 by the Landesere, who soon also called themselves Lords of Hohenwang. From the beginning, it was a princely fief. In 1171, a Gewolf von Hohenwang is mentioned, and in 1222, a Wulfing von Hohenwang.

The Landesere were a ministerial family who usually resided in their castle Landsee. They had Hohenwang administered by burgraves. In 1286, the Landesere family died out, and Hohenwang fell to the prince and was administered by burgraves. The first burgrave was Ulrich der Schenk von Hohenwang, who is mentioned in 1332. In 1354, Hohenwang was briefly pledged by Duke Albrecht to Ulrich von Graben.

After that, the dominion was again handed over to princely burgraves for administration. These usually named themselves after Hohenwang. In 1406, Duke Leopold enfeoffed Friedrich von Fladnitz with Hohenwang. In 1434, the dominion was divided between the brothers Friedrich and Wilfing von Fladnitz on the one hand, and Hermann and Hans von Montfort on the other. However, the castle remained with the Fladnitz family. Between 1480 and 1490, the fortress was occupied by the Hungarians. In 1512, the Scherffenberg family acquired the Fladnitz family's share of the Hohenwang dominion. They also received the princely fief, though not until 1525. In the same year, a large fire caused severe damage to the castle buildings. Due to the good sightlines, a beacon station had been established on the castle grounds in the 16th century. Ulrich Christoph von Scherffenberg, who took over the dominion in 1602, established a family fideicommiss, into which Hohenwang was incorporated.

The Scherffenberg family only occasionally inhabited the castle in the second half of the 17th century. In 1711, Hans Wilhelm Kundschäck was hired as administrator. In 1770, the castle was so severely damaged by an earthquake that it was left to decay, and the seat of the dominion was moved to Krottenhof in 1780, on whose grounds Neu-Hohenwang Castle was built. To avoid confusion with the castle, it was now referred to as Alt-Hohenwang. The family died out with Hans Graf von Scherffenberg in 1849. However, the Hohenwang dominion had already been sold in 1838 to Alfred Fürst von Schönburg-Hartenstein. After his death, Christian Heinrich Gottfried Plattensteiner bought the entire property in 1840. Just five years later, it passed to Josef Ritter von Wachtler.

Towards the end of the Second World War, an aerial bomb destroyed several parts of the walls of the former castle. The ruin remained in the possession of Wachtler's descendants until 1961. At that time, the industrialist family Schrack bought the ruin with the surrounding forests. In 1961, a castle association was also founded in Langenwang, which has since commendably ensured the thorough renovation and preservation of the remaining walls.