Harchheim Castle

The castle ruin Harchheim, also known as Burgstall ruin, stands on a rock above the Kleine-Kösslbach gorge in the middle of a nature reserve in the Tullern district of the municipality of St. Ägidi in the district of Schärding in Upper Austria.

Only a few records of the former castle have survived. In 1260, Heinrich von Harchhaim is mentioned, and in 1307, Her Peter von Harchheim. The Harchhaimers are still mentioned as a knightly family in various documents in the 15th century. In 1536, the governor of Upper Austria ordered that delinquent inhabitants of Niederkeßla be sentenced and imprisoned in the castle. However, since the Burgstall was already very dilapidated at the beginning of the 16th century, the seat of the court was moved to St. Aegidi half a century later (1583). Most of the building material was used for the new construction of the St. Pankratius Church, which was built in 1550 by the Engelszell abbot Pankrazius on the site of an earlier building. This church has also been closed since 1784 by Emperor Joseph II. In its place, the still existing St. Pankratius Chapel was built.

The lower Kleine Kößlbach has always formed a natural border between the lordships, municipalities, and parishes, some of which were attributed to Passau, some to Austria, yet disputes over this area continued for centuries. It was only with a state treaty concluded in 1765 between Empress Maria Theresia and Prince-Bishop Leopold III of Passau that it was regulated that St. Ägidi belongs to Austria.