Wald Castle

Around 1140, the Lords of Wald were first mentioned. They held Wald as a fief of the Bishops of Passau. In 1288, the children of Otto von Wald bore a beaver in their coat of arms and called themselves Piber. They died out in 1378. Through the widow of the last Piber, the lordship passed to Stephan Scheck.

In 1467, Wald Castle was captured by the imperial commander Ulrich von Grafenegg. Georg Scheck was outlawed and lost his possessions. Emperor Frederick III handed the lordship over to Ulrich von Grafenegg, who, however, soon defected to the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus. Wald was again confiscated and in 1479 pledged to Sigmund Slickh von Weißenkirchen. In 1485, Matthias Corvinus stormed the castle.

From 1486 to 1507, Wald was pledged to Jakob von Hinterholz, but in 1510, through Emperor Maximilian I, it came into the possession of the Knights of Greiß. This family transformed the medieval castle into a more habitable Renaissance palace. In 1683, it fell into the hands of the Turks. From 1687 to 1782, members of the Spindler von Hofeck family were the lords of the castle. They were followed by the Counts Fuchs until 1817. In that year, Jérôme Bonaparte briefly appeared as owner under the name Hieronymus Prince of Montfort. The next owner was Franz Freiherr von Pillersdorf. Between 1847 and 1928, Wald belonged to the Counts Haugwitz. From 1848 onwards, they had the New Castle built onto the Old Castle.

Baron Friedrich Baratta-Dragom, a grandson of Karl Wilhelm Count Haugwitz, eventually took over the estate but could not hold it during the Great Depression. At the subsequent auction in 1930, Prince Karl Auersperg-Breunner acquired it. As an old Austrian nobleman, he left Austria shortly before the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. He only returned after the withdrawal of the Russian occupation forces. His family still owns and inhabits the castle today. During the restoration work in the 20th century, the historicist changes of the 19th century were also rectified.