Tratzberg Castle

Already in the 13th century, a fortification of the Counts of Tyrol-Görz was located here. The princely castrum Tratzperch had the task of controlling the gorge between the Inn and the Stanser Jochwand and securing the Inn Valley against Bavaria.

As the Bavarian historian Aventin reports around 1517, Count Palatine Rudolf of Bavaria invaded Tyrol in 1294 and destroyed a fortification called Trasobergamum. However, this may have only referred to the barrier. Count Meinhard II began rebuilding a castle in 1295. The count's account book mentions that Sighard Cholb was appointed as administrator at Tratzberg in 1296.

In 1310, Seyfried von Rottenburg took over the castle supervision. In 1346, Tratzberg fell as a pledged possession to the Freundsberger, who owned it until 1407. Afterwards, the Archdukes of Austria, recognized by Margarethe Maultasch as Tyrolean sovereigns, kept Tratzberg under their own administration and appointed administrators. Occasionally, the castle was also pledged. In 1410, citizens of Innsbruck and Hall prevented the invasion of Bavarian troops who wanted to support the rebellious Heinrich von Rottenburg. Archduke Sigmund the Rich in Coin had the castle expanded in 1462 and supplemented with a new barrier. In the winter of 1490/91, the castle burned down to its foundations due to the carelessness of the administrator Sanazeller.

King Maximilian I ceded the ruin in 1499, in exchange for Berneck, to the mine owners Veit-Jakob and Simon Tänzl. Between 1500 and 1515, they had a new building erected, still in the forms of late Gothic. They created the valley-side front, the east wing, and the gatehouse. The residential needs were clearly in the foreground during the construction of the castle. Larger construction works were also carried out in the following years. With the death of Simon Tänzl, they came to a standstill in 1525. In 1552, the Tänzl family had financial problems. They had to sell their Tyrolean possessions to Mathias Manlich.

Manlich sold Tratzberg just two years later to his cousin Georg Ritter von Ilsung. He built the west and north wings from 1560 to 1571, creating the present square building. Jakob Fugger married Anna Ilsung in 1570 and inherited Tratzberg in 1589. In 1657, Leopold Fugger sold the castle to Konstantin Imhoff and his aunt Barbara Filin. Imhoff's daughter, Maria Elisabeth, married Franz Rudolf von der Halden. He had the castle administered by clerics.

In 1689, a snow avalanche destroyed the mountain-side roofs. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bavarians invaded Tyrol in 1703. The damage the castle suffered was later only superficially repaired. In 1731, Josef Ignaz Reichsfreiherr von Tannenberg acquired the lordship. When the Bavarians and Saxons, allied with Napoleon, occupied Tyrol in 1809, the castle again suffered major damage. Through marriage to Countess Ottilia von Tannenberg, Franz III Count Enzenberg came into possession of the already quite neglected Tratzberg in 1847. He had it completely restored by 1879. His descendants still own and inhabit the castle today. The current owner since 1992 is Ulrich Graf Goess-Enzenberg.