Feldegg Castle

Feldegg Castle is located in the eponymous district of the municipality of Pram in the Grieskirchen district.

A predecessor building of the current castle was probably located on an island in the pond at the foot of the present castle (foundations of which are preserved). The castle, or later palace, was first the seat of the Pilch (Pillich) family. Hans I. Pilch vom Baumgarten, administrator of Wernstein am Inn, is mentioned in documents in 1414. In 1442, a Toman (Thomas) Pilch zu Feldeck and Paumgarten († 1460) is listed, meaning he had already named himself after Feldegg and built the second castle north of the current castle directly on the Pram. The first castle stood about 500m south and was simply called "Am Feld". Toman Pilch (Pillich) was married to Katharina Mamlinger zu Mamling. In 1461, Hanns II Pillich († 1488) inherited the Feldegg lordship. The last male heir of the Pilch family was Stephan Pilch († 1494); his daughter Barbara Pilchin brought the property into her marriage with Caspar von Retschan († 1545), imperial pledge holder of the Wolfsegg lordship. Her grandson Christoph Abraham von Retschan rebuilt Feldegg Castle from scratch between 1589 and 1594. The old moated house is said to have supplied some of the building material for the new castle. He also had a richly figured epitaph for his ancestors placed on the northeast side of the parish church of Pram. After his death († December 1, 1604), the castle passed to his sister Rosina, who was married to Ferdinand von Hochberg from Styria. Her son Christof Melchior von Hochberg auf Feldegg, Riedau and Zell was married to Euphemia von Bergheim († 1615). The son from this marriage, Christoph Ferdinand von Hochberg († 1640), who mostly lived at Schwarzgrub Castle, remained unmarried. From the estate, Ehrenreich Freiherr von Pranckh († 1646) bought the property in 1642. His son Franz Adam Gottlieb von Pranckh, who was in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, succeeded to the property in 1648; he sold Feldegg in 1713 to Johann Achaz Wiellinger von der Au zu Feldegg and Hinterndobl († 1738), a grandson of the well-known peasant leader. Under his successor Johann Achaz Wiellinger († 1760), Feldegg was auctioned in 1760 and came to Franz Karl Pogner, who, however, soon after (1768) sold it to Beneventura von Roo († June 9, 1809), who came from a Dutch noble family. His son Felix von Roo became the successor in possession. In 1811, a fire broke out in the castle, destroying the attic, the onion dome of the castle, the chapel, and the hunting lodge. In 1826, Franz Manzador bought the castle at auction from the estate of Felix von Roo.

In the 19th century, the castle and estate frequently changed hands, including: Franz Maximilian von Heyß (1836), also owner of Innersee Castle and Hinterndobl Castle, Karoline Hauer, the grandmother of the Bohemian Forest poet Karl Faustin Klostermann (1851), Josef and Anna Mayrhofer (1853), Angelo Saullich (1855), Johann Niedermayr (1861), Eva Ringl (1864), Johann and Rosa Ringl (1867), remarried to Josef Mühlböck (1878), Josef and Maria Berger (1910) and Josef Irger-Berger (owner of Furthmühle and mayor of Pram). In 1913, the real estate dealer and "estate butcher" Georg Kaisinger wanted to have the castle demolished, after he had already torn down three sides of the farm building and sold the plots. In 1916, the property came to Josef Witzeneder. In the First World War, from 1915, the castle served as accommodation for 120 Trentino refugees, who were quartered in the castle with their own clergyman, Father Angelo Cazzanelli. Afterwards, another 68 Galicians and another 80 Trentino people arrived, who, after their departure in 1917, left the castle in an almost dilapidated state.

In 1917, the castle came to the art historian Karl Alfred Walcher, Knight von Molthein († 1928), who saved it from ruin and began extensive renovations of the castle. His son Johann Georg Walcher von Molthein († 1969) took over his father's inheritance in 1929. In the Second World War, the castle remained undamaged and was spared from quartering. The widowed wife Anselma, née von Wellenheim, of Karl Alfred died on April 30, 1945. Her son and the two daughters remained unmarried and without successors. From her son Johann Georg, known as "Schlosshans", the property was acquired by Georg Hanreich in 1964, to whom the preservation and diverse revitalization of the castle are owed. In 2002, his son Bernhard Hanreich, a furniture restorer trained in Florence, took over his mother Liselotte's share of the castle. The building history of the castle is documented and illustrated in detail by Hanreich (2003).