Rosenberg Castle

The architecture corresponds to that of a typical Salzburg manor: The four-story building is approximately square in its footprint and features a corner oriel at each of the four corners, as well as a semicircular central oriel on the east-facing main facade. It is covered by a mighty hip roof.

Rosenberg Castle was built at the end of the 16th century by the two guild brothers Karl and Hans Rosenberger zu Rosenegg on a plot of land (Weinlehen) that had previously been used purely for agriculture. Today, this is located in the center of the city of Zell am See. The two builders had purchased the property on February 14, 1577, from the Zell citizen Balthasar Egger and his wife Regina Stainerin.

After Hans Rosenberger died in 1604, the castle passed to his three sons Hans, Georg, and Hans Christoph. When Georg died in 1614 and Hans sold his share to Hans Christoph in 1633 due to heavy debt, the latter became the sole owner. He sold the castle in 1640 to Baron Karl Khuen. After his death, his son Wolf Wilhelm Khuen could not take up the inheritance due to illness, which is why it passed to the family members and brothers Hans Sigmund and Erasmus Khuen von Belasy in 1662. After their death, the appointed curators sold it in 1670 to Baron Georg Dietrich Khuen zu Kammer. From his daughters, the castle was handed over in 1706 to Maximilian Johann Preisgott Graf Khuen zu Kammer und Prielau, who sold it in 1617 to Joseph Anton Jud, an innkeeper from Piesendorf.

This was followed by major renovations, but also the partial neglect of the castle, before it was resold in 1762 by Wolfgang Sigmund Jud, son of the previous owner, to Johann Michael Silberer. He was a brewer and set up an inn in the castle. But already in 1769, the property was sold again, this time to a mining college from Salzburg, which housed its administrators in the castle. The last private owner was Franz von Lürzer in 1820.

In 1842, the Imperial-Royal Senior Forestry Office moved into Rosenberg, which had previously been housed in Fischhorn Castle. From 1867, it then belonged to the Imperial-Royal Court Treasury, with the Zell am See District Court being housed there until 1903. From 1928, Rosenberg Castle then belonged to the Republic of Austria. From 1941 to 1945, it was taken over by the German Reich and subsequently (from 1947) served as the administrative seat for the Austrian Federal Forests.

Finally, in 1970, the municipality of Zell am See acquired the castle and, through careful construction measures, converted it into the town hall. It still fulfills this function today.

Most recently, the building was modernized between June and December 2009 for approximately 800,000 Euros.