Schloss Waldbach

Schloss Waldbach once stood in the village of Waldbach, part of Gschwandt near Gmunden in Upper Austria. Built in 1441 by Wolfgang Freytag, the salt official in Gmunden, it occupied Traunkirchen land beside the Müllerbachstraße. The Freytag family owned it until 1600, when Veith Spindler of Hofegg, another Gmunden salt official, took over. His grandson later added nearby Schloss Weyer in 1653. By 1725 Karl Josef Oktavianus von Frey appears as owner, yet the building was already falling apart. The estate declined through the 18th century. In 1820 the Frey family joined Waldbach to Schloss Weyer. New owners Engelhardt and Josef Kirchmayr followed, and in 1885 Josef’s son Ignaz demolished the ruin because it was unsafe. Stones from the old castle became a farmhouse at Waldbach 150. The former castle pond, partly drained in 1953, still exists beside the site. Today a villa stands on the small peninsula where the castle once rose. Visitors see the quiet pond and the farm built from castle masonry. The surrounding village keeps the name Waldbach, marking the place where Upper Austria’s salt officials once built their seat.