Zell Castle

Zell an der Pram Castle is located in the market town of the same name and dates from the late Renaissance.

The current castle is already the third castle or fortress of this name. The first building, referred to as a burgstall, was located on the other side of the Pram; the long-standing foundation remains were removed during the construction of the B 137 running there, so that nothing remains of it today.

The next Zell Castle was a moated castle, which was replaced by the current building. The moated castle, a two-story residential building surrounded by a wall with towers, was located on an island in a pond. The current Renaissance building dates from the second half of the 18th century.

Zell itself has been documented since 955. The first Zellers, still settled in the castle on the left bank, were Hermann and Otto de Celle. A part of this family also owned the Riedau lordship between 1433-1484, which was then merged into a common administration. The later moated castle was built by this family in 1426 on the right bank of the Pram. In the 16th century, this lineage died out with Christoph Zeller in 1550. His two daughters brought half of the property each to their husbands, Christoph Retschan and Leo von Hoheneck. The Retschan share passed through inheritance to the Hochbergs and subsequently to the Tattenbachs, who were then able to acquire the other part again in 1638. Due to their merits, Emperor Ferdinand had already elevated the Tattenbachs to the status of Imperial Counts in 1637. However, the Tattenbach-Rheinsteins did not live in Zell, but in St. Martin. Zell Castle was a widow's residence. Count Ferdinand Josef von Tattenbach-Rheinstein had the old moated castle, which was severely devastated during the War of the Spanish Succession, rebuilt between 1709-1712. In 1760, the moated castle was demolished and the construction of the current castle began, which was completed in 1774. The master builder was Franz de Cuvilliés the Younger, the Electoral court painter Christian Wink (1739 – 1795) designed the fresco painting on the ceiling, gallery and organ loft in Rococo style, the walls in the ballroom with their trompe-l'œil architecture are by the Munich theater painter Josef Damian Stuber. In 1821, Count Maximilian von Arco-Valley bought the entire property with St. Martin, Zell and Sigharting after the extinction of the Tattenbachs.