Schwertberg Castle

Schwertberg Castle is a castle complex in Upper Austria, located on the edge of the town of Schwertberg in the Mühlviertel region. The castle was first mentioned in the 14th century and expanded to its current size in 1608. Since 1911, the castle has been owned by the Hoyos family of counts.

The first documented mention was as a Regensburg possession in 1327. In 1355, the first recorded owner, Leutold II von Kuenring, died. Presumably named after their ancestral seat Kühnring near Eggenburg (Lower Austria), the Kuenringer – pronounced and read: Künringern, Kuhnringern, Kohnringern, Konringern or Kunringern, but probably the vowel is to be articulated as an umlaut as in kühne, kühn adj. (bold, warlike) – were a significant noble family in Austria. Leutold's successors Andre von Lichtenstein, Friedrich von Wallsee renounced ownership of the castle for a sum of money, which was thus acquired in 1359 by the buyer Eberhard von Kapellen, in 1402 by Ernst Preuhofer and in 1406 by the Liechtensteiner, in 1412 by Chunrad den Schaffer, and at the same time the Öder family were also owners. In 1462, ownership passed to Reinprecht IV von Wallsee. Through inheritance, the Öder family came into possession of the castle in 1470. Successors were the Hauser family, again through inheritance. In 1506, Christof Zeller zu Riedau bought the castle from Hans dem Hauser. The Zeller family were robber knights and made the Machland and Aisttal unsafe. At the Imperial Diet in Worms in 1521, Bernhard Zeller was acquitted under the prevailing feuding law, but upon his return, he was beheaded by enraged citizens of Linz.

His cousin Georg von Wolframsdorf inherited the castle. Around 1530, the castle passed by marriage to the Tannberg family, who sold the castle to Hans von Tschernembl in 1575. His son Baron Georg Erasmus von Tschernembl from Carniola also owned the Windegg dominion. In 1608, he had the castle extended by Antonio Canevale, giving it its present appearance. As a spokesman for the Protestants, Georg had to leave the country, and the castle was expropriated in 1620. Count Leonhard Helfried von Meggau bought the castle in the same year. During the Upper Austrian Peasant War in 1626, the castle was conquered and briefly occupied. Subsequently, the castle belonged to the Starhemberg family and then to the Küffstein family, before the Counts of Thürheim inherited the castle in 1749. It remained in the possession of the Thürheim family until 1899, after which Baroness Therese von Schwitter owned the castle. In 1911, Count Alexander Hoyos acquired the castle, and it is still owned by the Hoyos family today. After the Second World War, the Chinese Salon was even renovated by the Soviet occupation forces.