Mauterndorf Castle

Mauterndorf takes its name from the Maut, the toll: the castle was built from the thirteenth century by the archbishops of Salzburg to control and tax the road over the Radstädter Tauern, which carried traffic between Salzburg and Carinthia, and it is a toll station made into a fortress. The Gothic chapel with its wall paintings and the great hall survive. In 1894 the physician Hermann Epenstein bought the decayed castle and restored it as a residence; his widow left it in 1939 to his godson Hermann Göring, who was never entered as owner in the land register - a history the museum covers directly. It is now run by the Salzburg museum service with an audio-guided route through the halls, chapel, keep and kitchens, and a falconry display in the grounds in season.

History

The castle probably stands on the site of a Roman fort of AD 326 or earlier, which guarded the road from Teurnia over the Radstädter Tauern to Iuvavum, now Salzburg, and a deed of Emperor Henry II from 1002 points to a toll, the Maut, on the road that gave the place its name. The castle itself is first named in 1253, when the keep was built; the prince-archbishops of Salzburg enlarged it greatly in the 15th century under Burkhard Weisbriach and Leonhard von Keutschach, the toll kept castle and village going until 1803, and in 1806 it passed to the Austrian state. In 1894 the physician Hermann Epenstein bought and restored the decayed castle as a residence, it has belonged to the state of Salzburg since 1968, and a castle museum opened in 2003 (Wikipedia, Mauterndorf Castle).

Highlights

• A toll fortress - built to tax the Tauern road for the archbishops of Salzburg.
• A Gothic chapel - with surviving medieval wall painting.
• The Epenstein restoration - the castle as rebuilt from 1894, and its later history, addressed by the museum.
• An audio-guided route - through halls, keep, kitchens and tower.

When to go

May to October; closed over winter. Half a day.

Things to know

Closed for the winter. There are many steps and no lift in the older parts. The Göring association is uncomfortable and the museum treats it as history, not decor.

Nearby

Tamsweg and the Lungau villages are close; the Katschberg is west.

Key facts