Lichtenau Castle

Lichtenau Castle is a castle complex in Upper Austria, located in the municipality of Lichtenau, about two kilometers northeast of the municipality of Haslach in the Mühlviertel region. A castle was built at the beginning of the 13th century, converted into a palace in the 17th century, and burned down in World War II. Since 1965, the castle has been rebuilt and is now in private ownership.

It is believed that the castle was built around 1217 as a refuge castle and belonged to the Rosenbergers. The first documented mention occurred in 1293, when the then owner Sifrit der Hugenberger died. Lichtenau was then a fief of the Rosenbergers. Sifrit was succeeded by his namesake son and later his grandson. In 1399, the castle came to Elisabeth Anhanger, a widowed Jörger. Her son, Hans Jörger, inherited the castle but did not live there. From Bernhard Jörger, the castle passed to the Oeder family before 1426.

Until 1483, the Wallseer were the feudal lords of the castle, and they enfeoffed Marx Oeder with Lichtenau. Through marriage, it came into the possession of the Herleinsperger family before 1555, remaining in their possession until 1624. Around 1594, during the time of the Turkish invasions, the castle was designated as a bulwark for the upper Mühlviertel. Under the Herleinsperger, the castle was converted into a fortified Renaissance castle at the beginning of the 17th century. Elisabeth Herleinsperger married Dietmar Schifer von Dachsberg in 1608, into whose possession the castle came after 1624. In 1661, the castle came through marriage as a dowry to Count Johann Secundus von Sprinzenstein, and in 1728, again through marriage, to Count Philipp von Welsberg. The dominion then included about 150 subjects.

Georg Fölser, a textile merchant from Haslach, bought the castle in 1831. In 1885, it again served as a dowry and thus came to the textile industrialist Heinrich Vonwiller. At the beginning of the 20th century, further alterations were made. After the end of World War II, the castle was occupied by Soviet soldiers, and a fire on September 8, 1945, destroyed parts of the castle. The severely damaged north and east wings were demolished. In 2001, the castle was sold. The new owners, the family of the expatriate Austrian B. A. Tibensky, carried out extensive general renovation and restoration, and the castle now serves as a second home. In 2004, the family was awarded the State Heritage Preservation Prize for the exemplary restoration of the entire complex. The castle is not open to the public.