Schloss Schmiding

Schloss Schmiding stands on the edge of the village of Krenglbach in Upper Austria. It began as a water fortress in the 12th century and was owned by the Menginhart von Polheim family. The castle was later held by the Innerseer family in the 15th century and survived the Bauernkrieg of 1626 when peasants occupied it. The Batthyánys demolished much of the old water castle in 1754, leaving only a plain three-storey building with 16th-century barrel vaults and early-18th-century stucco ceilings. By 1815 the estate belonged to Fürst Philipp Batthyany-Strattmann before passing to Alfred Fürst Montenuovo. The castle changed hands several times in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1882 it went to Franz Groß, then to the Oblates of St Francis de Sales, who kept it until 1928. After the Second World War it served as a military hospital and later as a private residence. The present owners, the Artmann family, restored the building in the 1960s and opened the adjacent zoo in 1982. Today the castle is a quiet residential home surrounded by parkland. Visitors can walk past the restored façades and vaulted rooms before entering the zoo grounds. The zoo occupies part of the old water defences, now dry, and displays animals from around the world. From the castle terrace there are views over the park and the gently rolling countryside of Upper Austria.