Oberwallsee Castle

Oberwallsee Castle, locally known as Burg Oberwallsee, lies on a hill above the village of Bad Mühllacken, in the province of Upper Austria in Austria.

In 1364, Eberhard von Wallsee, a local governor, got permission from the Lord of Freudenstein to build a castle here and give it his name. It was finished around 1386 and called 'Oberwallsee' because Eberhard already owned a castle named 'Niederwallsee' in Lower Austria.

In 1483, the castle went to the Count of Schaunberg through marriage. They installed a warden in the castle. After the Schaunbergers died out in 1559, Oberwallsee Castle went to Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, after a long legal battle. Ferdinand gave it in fief to Hans Hofmann, Baron of Grünpichl and Strechau. His descendant sold the fief to his steward Schmidtauer in 1584. The steward and his son rebuilt the medieval castle into a residential castle.

In 1620, during the Thirty Years' War, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, confiscated the Hofmanns' possessions and annulled the 1584 sale of the castle to the Schmidtauers. Ferdinand gave the castle to Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg, Duke of Krumau, who again installed a warden in the castle.

When the Von Eggenbergs died out in 1717, ownership of Oberwallsee Castle passed to Count Gundaker Thomas Starhemberg. Because he resided and had his administration in Eschelberg Castle, Oberwallsee Castle was left to fall into decay. Only a farm in the outer ward stayed active. In 1931, the ruined castle was sold by Prince Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg to commoners. Several other owners followed.

At present, Oberwallsee Castle is private property, and a private residence occupies the buildings in the outer ward. Therefore, because the ruin is in danger of collapse, it can not be visited. A nice castle ruin.

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