Aicha Castle

Aicha vorm Wald Castle is a castle in the municipality of Aicha vorm Wald and the only moated castle in the Bavarian Forest. The complex was the administrative seat of the Hofmark Aicha vorm Wald. The castle is somewhat hidden on the outskirts of the village on a small hill in the Gaißa valley.

A tower in "Aichakirchen" owned by the Counts of Hals is first attested at the beginning of the 14th century. Since 1360, the Pfeil family was the feudal lord. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Püchler von Weideneck took over the castle, and in 1540, through marriage, the Siegertshofer family. Anton von Siegertshofen died in 1548, Kaspar von Siegertshofen in 1562, and his wife Susanna in 1565. Then followed the Edlen von Stoer, who essentially shaped the current appearance of the complex around 1580. In 1682, the electoral council Baron Kaspar von Schmidt zu Sulzbach bought the castle and sold it again before 1689 to Siegmund Friederich Süntzl von Söldenau. After his and his widow's death, Adam Leopold von Rehling inherited it in 1724. Max Alois von Asch acquired it from him. On June 10, 1742, the Pandurs devastated the town. In 1752, Baroness von Hackledt bought the castle, and in 1773, it passed to Baron von Schönhueb. Between 1765 and 1777, Baron von Schrecksleb is also mentioned as the owner of some properties. In 1776, the then owner set up a chapel on the upper floor of the castle. In 1792, Joseph Anton Freiherr von Hackledt took over the castle. He died in 1799, and in 1800, his heir, Baron Joseph von Peckenzell, became the new lord of the castle. In 1816, the master dyer and later member of parliament Friedrich Zaspel acquired the property. Peckenzell, however, sold the Dominikalien in 1816 to Kajetan von Hueb zu Eberhardsreut.