Puchheim Castle

The origins of Puchheim Castle lie in a fortress first documented in 1130, which served as the ancestral seat of the Puchheim knightly family. In 1348, Albrecht von Puchheim transferred his Upper Austrian possessions to Albrecht II of Austria, receiving Litschau and Heidenreichstein as fiefs in return. Following further changes of ownership, including Duke Albrecht VI, the complex came into the possession of the Polheim family in 1551. A fire destroyed the medieval fortified castle in 1585, after which the Polheims erected a four-winged Renaissance castle on the same site. After the Upper Austrian uprising and the Counter-Reformation, the Polheims' estates were confiscated in 1627. From 1636 to 1767, the castle belonged to the Salburgers, and then until 1838 to the Counts of Fuchs. In 1839, Archduke Maximilian Joseph of Austria-Este acquired the property. In 1847, he brought Jesuits to Puchheim for pastoral care, but they had to leave due to the Revolution of 1848/49.