Steyregg Castle

The origins of Steyregg Castle date back to the 11th or 12th century, when an Ottokar von Steyr from the Traungau family had a castle built. In 1147, the complex is mentioned as a Passau fief. After various owners, including the Lords of Wildon and the Kapeller family, the castle came into the possession of the Liechtensteins after 1406 through marriage, who enlarged it and expanded its jurisdiction. In 1581, Wolfgang Jörger acquired the property and transformed the fortress into a Renaissance castle with a chapel, library, and art collection. During the Counter-Reformation, the Protestant Jörgers temporarily lost the castle but regained it. In 1638, it passed to David Ungnad II von Weißenwolff, whose family united the lordships of Steyregg and Luftenberg. Fires in 1770 and 1779, caused by lightning strikes, destroyed parts of the castle and the town. The west tower was not rebuilt, and a former gardener's house was converted into the new castle. After the Weißenwolff male line died out in 1917, the Thurn und Taxis family inherited the castle.