Windern Castle

The first documented mention of Windern occurred in 1185, when it was owned by the Styrian ministerialis Gerhoch von Viecht. Through a donation, it came into the possession of Admont Abbey and later to Hedwig von Weng and Heinrich Aistersheimer. Ownership changed frequently, including the families of Windern, Grienthal, Moser, and Polheim. The latter had the actual castle built. After a brief interlude under Count Adam von Herberstorff, it returned to the Polheims. Later, the Haydens, Zetlitz, and Höritzer families followed. In 1742, it came to Hanns Kaspar Höritzer and in 1750 to Franz Xaver Pochsteiner von Wolfenbach, whose family had the castle chapel built in 1769. During the Napoleonic Wars, Windern was heavily fortified, but the entrenchments were later leveled. After fires in 1817 and 1866, it was rebuilt. The 19th century saw further rapid changes of ownership until Karl Baron von Gagern acquired the castle in 1888, whose family cared for its preservation.