To be privately owned
Cultural Events
CastleWeißenberg
Weißenberg Castle
Weißenberg Castle belongs to the market town of Neuhofen an der Krems and is located north of Neuhofen on the Kremstal federal highway (B 139).
A Roman fort or watchtower is already presumed to have existed at the site of the present castle in the 1st century AD. The exact time of the construction of the original Weißenberg Castle is unknown, but it must have been before 1195, because at that time a Hezel and a Werhard von Wizenprech participated in the court day of Duke Ludwig of Bavaria in Herzogen-Hall (today Bad Hall). Warmund von Weißenberg is mentioned as the last of his family in 1261. He had the already dilapidated castle renovated. The Weißenbergers were followed by the Polheimers, who held Weißenberg as a fief from the Austrian dukes. Georg von Volkensdorff bought the castle from them around 1362. From this period, a siege and conquest of the castle is also reported during a feud with Hans von Lichtenstein. Nevertheless, the property remained with the Volkensdorffers.
The conversion of the castle into a palace began between 1517 and 1575 under Volker von Volkensdorff. Under Hans Caspar von Volkenstorff, the present palace in Renaissance style was built in front of the old castle. This remained connected to the palace by a bridge resting on four arches over a moat. In 1594, the extensive complex was one of the defensible refuges for the civilian population. The heirs after the last Volkensdorffer sold the castle and lordship to Count Werner von Tilly in 1629. They did not keep the property for long and sold it on to Karl Sebastian Vorig von Hochhaus in 1724. In 1730, Baron Johann Josef von Weichs acquired the castle, from whom it passed to Kremsmünster Abbey. The Kremsmünster Abbot Alexander had the old castle with its fortifications and the Ascension Chapel demolished in 1803 and a new castle wing built in their place. The moat was filled with the building material and the castle grounds were leveled. The gap in the building was closed by a new transverse wing located to the east.
In the 20th century, a multitude of owners followed; it also belonged to the Roth shoe factory, which established its operations in an outbuilding of the castle. From 1969 to 1971, the castle stood empty.
Present Day+
In recent years (1970), Weißenberg Castle was acquired by the Kuthy family and exemplarily restored. Today it primarily serves residential purposes and cultural events. Apart from vernissages and other cultural events, the castle can only be viewed from the outside.
The village of Weißenberg and the associated castle are located below the Kremstal federal highway. This can be explained in terms of building history by the former Weißenberg Castle, which no longer exists today. The floor plan of the inner courtyard is an irregular pentagon. Access is possible through a gate hall in the three-story gate tower, which is covered by an oversized wedge roof. The wide Renaissance gate is flanked by half-columns and artistically designed. Above it, between two short obelisks, is a plaque with a Latin inscription. The building wings bordering the spacious courtyard are consistently two-story. They are equipped with arcades and loggias, but the former are partly bricked up. The living quarters are in the right wing. A Roman stone immured in a courtyard facade is noteworthy. The facade shows late Baroque pilaster articulation, the side wings end in hipped gables. In the entrance wing is the former castle chapel with a three-bay cross-rib vault.
Outside, on the south side, in a wall niche, stands a large baroque wooden statue of St. Florian from the 17th century. An arcade once stood on this side, but it too was bricked up.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schloss_Wei%C3%9Fenberg_Eingang.jpg
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 48.1678, 14.2350