Hohenaschau Castle

The castle's origins date back to the last third of the 12th century, when the brothers Konrad and Arnold von Hirnsberg relocated their ancestral seat to the upper Prien Valley and constructed the initial parts of the castle. In 1170, "Castro Aschawe" was first documented. From 1374, the Barons of Freyberg took over, ushering in an era of Renaissance-style expansion. Following the extinction of the male Freyberg line, the castle passed to the Barons of Preysing through marriage, who expanded it in the High Baroque style, adding the ballroom and the Baroque castle chapel. In the 18th century, the complex visibly deteriorated and was plundered in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. After the Preysing family died out in 1853, the castle changed hands several times until it was acquired by industrialist Theodor von Cramer-Klett in 1875. His son, Theodor Jr., modernized and expanded the structure between 1905 and 1908. In 1942, the family sold the castle to the German Reich, which used it as a convalescent home until the end of the war.