Schloss Wiespach is a complex of palaces in Neualm, a district of Hallein, in the province of Salzburg, Austria. Dating back to the 14th century, over the centuries it has been remodeled to the current Baroque façade. Attualmte hosts an art gallery with faccè and atelier, as well as being available as a location for events and shows.
Schloss Wiespach History
The building is a plain castle dating back to the High Middle Ages. The Gothic predecessor, a fortified tower, was probably built around 1300 as the seat of the lords of Wiespach. In the fifteenth century it was a reconstruction or a new building by Georg Kölderer. After 1600, under Marx von Gils, the building received the current current Baroque facade.
The building is structured in a two-storey square shape, with a high pavilion pyramidal roof, a decentralized lighthouse next to the main portal with a two-wing staircase, two ramps, a half platform and a second turret on the back.
Inside there are barrel vaulted rooms with stems, the vestibule also with cross vault on central conglomerate pillars, ceiling stucco on the upper floors.
On the ground floor of the main building there is a corner chapel, which dates back to 1607, and is designed as a 2 jacron iron rod with Gurtbögen. The wall shows in a renovation of the late eighteenth century, with Doppelpilastergliederung and one-storey gallery. The structure of the altar is late Baroque, the main sheet is a representation of the Blood of Christ, the upper image is a hl. Dionysius from an unknown hand.
The lords of Wiespach, Wißbach or Wispeck, a knight, are documented for the first time in 1167 with a Hainricus de Wispach and until 1370. Initially simple ministerial, they had risen to the rank of archbishop of Salzburg as one of the most important aristocratic families in the province of Salzburg. The family came out in the second half of the sixteenth century. The castle is mentioned for the first time in 1434, but much older.
In 1434, the rule - Georg von Wispeck had moved to Velburg Castle - as a fiefdom of a Veit Aschacher, and 1476 was handed over to the trades of Pongau Georg Kölderer von Hoch.
Paul Rettinger von Wiespach and Radeck, personal physician to the archbishop prince, presumably from Nördlingen, took the castle in 1555, followed by his son, Martin Herkules Rettinger von Wiespach, later prince-bishop of Lavant, then his daughter Benigna Rettinger. 1570 is the judge of the city of Salzburg Stephan Frankmann von Ochsenfeld in the seat, 1601 his stepson Marx von Gils, the archbishopric Kuchelmeister and the keeper of Glanegg, who put the castle in its current appearance. Johann Christof Pauernfeind of Eyß buys the estate Wiespach 1647, 1660, owned by Staudacher of Wispach, in particular of his son-in-law Baltasar, chancellor of Salzburg. His brothers Elias and Franz Staudacher of Wispach. Paris Ignaz, Franz's nephew, sold it to Leopold Graf von Pranckh in 1760, the same in 1768 to Franz Friedrich Freiherr von Negri. In 1816 the castle was put up for auction. In 1878 Daniel Count Esterházy bought the property, in 1926 the Steinbacher family.
In 1958 the house became the property of the municipality of Hallein, which built a swimming pool next door and ran a youth hostel with the Jugend- und Familiengästehäuser association until 2006. In 2010 it was taken over by the couple Gabriela and Claus Spruzina, president of the notarial chamber of Salzburg, and a "house of art" was established with gallery, café and atelier.
It is also available as a location for events, weddings, or family celebrations, all special occasions to celebrate require a very special environment. . For up to 85 people, it is possible to rent the different rooms of the castle and use the catering service of the house or bring your own cook. The atmosphere of the medieval castle of Wiespach and the surrounding art will make the celebration a special and unforgettable experience.