Kronburg Castle

In 1380, Count Hans von Starkenberg received permission from Duke Leopold III to expand the existing fortifications into a strong castle. The Starkenbergs originally came from Bavaria. They primarily lived at Schenna Castle in South Tyrol and used Kronburg as an administrative center for half of their North Tyrolean estates. The administrator they appointed also exercised lower jurisdiction. Hans von Starkenberg's grandsons, Ulrich and Wilhelm, tried to shake off the suzerainty of Duke Friedrich IV and rebelled with several other Tyrolean nobles against the Habsburgs. This naturally resulted in the loss of their estates. With Ulrich and Wilhelm, the Starkenbergs died out.

From 1423 to 1504, Kronburg was a princely domain and was mostly administered by stewards. In 1485, Archduke Sigmund the Rich in Coin mortgaged the lordship to the Salzburg canon Ruprecht Rindsmaul, but Emperor Maximilian I redeemed the pledge in 1502 and enfeoffed the Counts Fieger with Kronburg two years later. The Fiegers expanded the original keep into a mighty residential tower and, in 1717, had the pilgrimage church of Mariahilf built below the castle in place of a small chapel. In the 17th century, Kronburg was abandoned and was already considered a ruin by 1766. In 1802, the Fiegers died out with Count Johann Nepomuk Valerian, and the lordship reverted to the Austrian state as an escheated fief. After Kronburg had been administered by the Bavarian government for several years, it was sold to the farmer Sebastian Stocker in 1812.

The next owner in 1835 was the Tyrolean freedom fighter and field chaplain Stephan Krismer. He used the castle as a quarry. In 1848, he had a monastery built next to the pilgrimage church. After his death, the castle grounds went to the convent sisters. Since 1952, Kronburg has been owned by the Hallein School Sisters. From 1985, a local castle association was able to stop the further decay of the ruin and secure its existence. In 2005, the Sisters of Mercy of Zams took over the entire property including the castle, agriculture, inn, and monastery from the Hallein Sisters.