Schloss Kahlsperg

Schloss Kahlsperg stands in the village of Oberalm near Hallein in Salzburg. It began as a water castle surrounded by moats, traces of which still appear on old maps. The present building is a five-storey block with four corner turrets and a curved courtyard formed by outhouses. The whole group once formed a horseshoe shape around a central courtyard. The castle’s owners changed many times over seven centuries. The Chalasperger family held it until the late 1400s, then the Nussdorfer family rebuilt it in the 15th century. Later owners included Leonhard Harder, the Haunsperg brothers, and Katharina von Lodron, who turned the grounds into a park. In 1812 it passed to Johann B. Maffei, whose descendants sold it in 1952 to the Hallein Franciscan sisters, who turned it into an old people’s home. Visitors today see a plain five-storey building with small corner towers and a glass-fronted entrance porch. The old moat is dry, but its outline remains on site. Remains of the park survive in wrought-iron gates set between stone pillars. Inside, the former residence now houses a care home run by Casa Leben im Alter and Caritas Salzburg.