Blühnbach Castle

Blühnbach Castle is located in the Blühnbach Valley near Werfen in the federal state of Salzburg. The castle is privately owned and "hermetically sealed off."

Originally, the castle was a wooden hunting lodge, first documented in 1431. Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1559–1617) had the hunting lodge expanded into a stone hunting castle between 1603 and 1607. In 1816, after Salzburg's final annexation to Austria, ownership transferred to the state treasury.

When Hermann von Barth stayed there in 1873, it had "already for many years been leased by a large hunting society, mostly of Austrian princes and cavaliers," who employed numerous hunters to supervise their game-rich territories. "Guided by the head huntress, who runs an excellent household here, I inspected the various cabinets of the hunting lords, and finally also the splendidly furnished dining room in the northwest corner of the castle, all in the purest huntsman's style yet luxurious and comfortable at the same time. Tourists always find hospitable reception and excellent accommodation in Blühnbach Castle."

In 1908, the Habsburgs acquired the property. Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand (1863–1914) had the hunting lodge rebuilt or newly constructed in 1910. He also had 14,000 hectares of forest converted into a ruler's domain, hermetically sealed off from the outside world and used exclusively for hunting; this led to massive conflicts with the local population and the Alpine Club. After his assassination in 1914, the castle was sold in 1916 to the Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach family. The "last Krupp," Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach, was buried in the crypt of the castle chapel of Blühnbach Castle in 1986. After his death, the American industrialist Frederick R. Koch (Koch Industries) bought the castle in 1988/89.