Burg Attersee

Burg Attersee stands on the Kirchberg above the Attersee in Upper Austria. The hilltop once held a Carolingian royal court called Atarhova, mentioned in 823. By the 11th century the estate passed to Salzburg’s archbishop and was granted to the Aribonen family. Later it came to Luitpold of the Aribones and his daughter Judith, who brought it to her husband, the brother of King Otto. The bishops of Bamberg built a new castle here in 1007 after receiving lands from Emperor Henry II as a gift for the building of Bamberg Cathedral. The Attersee-Wasen ministerials managed the fortress and gave their name to the place. By the 14th century the Schaunbergers held it as a pledge, but in 1377 Duke Albrecht III of Austria bought the lordship and soon after pledged it to the Walsee family. In 1464 the seat of government moved to Burg Kogl and the old castle fell into ruin. Today the remains lie beneath the parish church of Mariä Himmelfahrt and the village square. A deep ditch and an outer rampart still encircle the site, though the southern slope lacks the wall. A second ring marks the lower bailey. The medieval foundations were reused when the first village school was built in the late 18th century, giving the present Heimathaus its distinctive curved façade. From the church terrace visitors can see the outlines of the vanished stronghold.