Katzenberg Castle

The original castle was built on a Quaternary Inn terrace. Two moats were dug around the castle. The excavated material was used to build an embankment between the moats, and a high wall was erected on it. A battlement ran along its inner side. The actual castle was surrounded by a high curtain wall. The gate was protected by a square tower. This and its counterpart on the side facing the Inn were later removed. A transverse wall with the current gate was built in place of the front tower. Residential wings were added to the curtain wall. The necessary windows had to be broken out of the thick wall. During this renovation, the inner moat was partly converted into a park, but partly left in its original state. With these changes, more emphasis was placed on comfort. The facades facing the inner courtyard are provided with open loggias and arcades. Of the interior rooms, the great hall, the old library, and the castle chapel are noteworthy. The stucco ceiling (1680), portals, and stucco figures of the latter are probably by Giovanni Pietro Camuzzi, a pupil of Giovanni Battista Carlone. The frescoes were created around 1690. The altarpiece depicts St. Sebastian. It was painted in 1731 by Paul Erlmiller from Braunau. The stucco work in the Knights' Hall was made in 1676. A Gothic coat of arms relief from the early 16th century is attached to the large gate tower with a wooden cap. On its inner side is a stone statue of a Madonna from the mid-17th century.

The park and castle buildings appear to be in need of significant renovation; the property is overgrown, parts of the building have fallen into disrepair, and the castle building looks very dilapidated from the outside. Only the castle tavern, which is clearly visible on the right on the path leading to the castle in Weniger's engraving, has been excellently renovated.

In 1196, the building is documented as the property of the Bishops of Passau and referred to as Chotzenperig Castle. In 1251, the diocese enfeoffed the Counts of Ortenburg with the fortress, which they had administered by bailiffs. These included Wernhart von Chumbrechting and Otto von Ritzing. From 1300 to 1525, the Mautner family from Burghausen held the fief. They were followed by the Schwarzensteiner family. After the death of Hans Wolf Schwarzensteiner in 1595, his son-in-law, Count Burkhard von Taufkirchen, inherited the property. Under his descendants, the castle was transformed into a palace and baroqueized in the 17th century. In 1629, a fire caused severe damage to the castle. During the Bavarian peasant uprising of 1705, Katzenberg was taken by the peasants. In 1798, Count Josef Albert Matthias von Taufkirchen bought the lordships of Forchtenau and Aurolzmünster, which he united with Katzenberg. In 1819, Walpurga, the daughter of the last Count of Taufkirchen, married Franz Xaver Graf Aham zu Neuhaus. However, he sold Katzenberg in 1830 to Baron Karl von Pflummern, separating it again from Forchtenau and Aurolzmünster. In 1885, the lordship was acquired by Max Pfliegl, and in 1895 by the Danish Baron Waldemar von Thienen-Adlerflycht. At that time, a brewery was attached to the castle. In 1931, the current owners, the Steinbrener manufacturing family from Schärding, acquired the building. In 2004, the state exhibition took place in the castle garden.

A bookbinding museum is set up on the ground floor of the castle, displaying magnificent Bibles and prayer books. The museum documents the publishing and bookbinding history of the former large corporation J. Steinbrener, which employed up to 1000 people in its heyday and had branches in over 65 countries.