Schloss Lichtenberg

Schloss Lichtenberg, also Burg Lichtenberg, a former Pfleggericht, is a castle in Saalfelden, a municipality in the Austrian province of Salzburg.

The exact time of the origin of Lichtenberg Castle is unknown, but it was first mentioned in a document in 1281. At that time, however, the castle, which is enthroned on a rocky promontory of the Steinernes Meer about 60 meters above Saalfelden, must have already existed, because it is handed down that Archbishop Friedrich II of Walchen succeeded in handing over Lichtenberg Castle to his brothers Alberto and Otto von Walchen after a dispute with the Kalham family.

Only six years later, however, Archbishop Rudolf claimed this castle again as an archiepiscopal fief. After 1290, after Gebhard von Felben withdrew his garrison from Lichtenberg, the castle was occupied by an archbishop's keeper.

From this time and afterwards, however, it has been handed down in various documents that there were differences of opinion between Bishop Konrad of Chiemsee and the Archbishop of Salzburg regarding the legal claim to Lichtenberg. From this, historians conclude that the castle was already built before 1228, but in any case under the Counts of Plain, i.e. before 1249.

From Lichtenberg, the Saalfelden-Lichtenberg court was then administered by an archiepiscopal official. The keepers were all members of the Salzburg nobility, such as the Thurn, Hunt or Ramseider.

In 1526 the castle was destroyed in the peasants' revolt, but then had to be rebuilt by the judicial municipality of Saalfelden. In the course of this, it also received the mighty round tower in the southwest and was almost completely rebuilt by 1580.

In the following years, actually centuries, the castle came down quite a bit. In 1699, the archbishop wanted to get out of the responsibility of preservation and simply assigned the castle to the countryside, which was responsible for warfare. The latter objected to this at the Diet.

At the beginning of the 18th century the keepers moved their seat to the valley and the castle served only as a hunter's dwelling. It was not until 1791 that the order was issued to start the restoration of the building without delay. A detail on the side: it was difficult to get workers who were free from giddiness and could cover the roofs.

Not much renovation was done and so Lichtenberg Castle was auctioned off on October 13, 1870. The auction price was 3106 gulden, which corresponds to today's value of about 22,500 euros. The auction was won by Dr. Adolf Ritter Weiß von Teßbach for 8340 gulden. Thus Lichtenberg Castle was finally saved from decay. It was under the noble family of the Weiß von Teßbach that Lichtenberg Castle got its present appearance. Today, the family still owns the entire grounds, but there are no sightseeing opportunities or public access.