Wagegg Castle (Ruin)

Wagegg is a castle ruin and former castle of the Prince-Abbots of Kempten in the municipality of Haldenwang in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria.

Wagegg Castle is first mentioned around the year 1170. The knightly lordship of Wagegg was owned by the Lords of Wagegg until 1374, who were among the more important vassals of the Prince-Abbey of Kempten. Afterwards, the castle and lordship fell to the Prince-Abbey. After several changes of ownership, including to the Lords of Schellenberg, by inheritance to the Lords of Eisenburg, and in 1466 to Archduke Sigismund of Austria, Wagegg Castle came into the possession of the Lords of Laubenberg in 1469. In 1525, it was captured by peasants. In 1580, the Prince-Abbey reacquired Wagegg. The castle increasingly fell into disrepair after 1581. From 1642, the complex was initially provisionally repaired as a hunting lodge for the Prince-Abbots and later, from 1715, expanded into a magnificent castle with gardens and ponds. In 1796, it was plundered by the French. In the course of secularization, the castle was mortgaged to the Bavarian State in 1806. The castle was sold for demolition in 1807, with the last side wing being demolished in 1851. In 1906, the site was acquired by the forestry office. An associated farmstead was demolished in 1908, and a nearby hunting lodge, only built in 1761, was demolished in 1967. In 1976, emergency stabilization of the ruin was carried out. The castle also included a castle mill, the Vögelesmühle.