Rattenberg Castle

Rattenberg consists of two parts: the main castle above the town and the Upper Castle, high above the main castle. The castle was built at the latest in the 11th century by the Bavarian Rapotonen, a vassal family of the Regensburg diocese, as a border castle against Tyrol. In 1133, the Bishop of Regensburg enfeoffed Duke Heinrich the Proud with Rattenberg. However, the castle itself is not explicitly mentioned until 1254.

The Bavarian dukes repeatedly pledged Rattenberg to the Counts of Tyrol. It was they who had the castle, along with the city walls, expanded and reinforced between 1300 and 1339. Rattenberg was also the seat of the regional court of the same name for centuries.

After the Counts of Tyrol, the Kummersbrucker (until 1393) and then the Thorer (until 1405) were the pledge holders. After that, the Dukes of Bavaria appointed administrators. In the Bavarian-Palatinate War of Succession in 1504, Rattenberg, along with the courts of Kufstein and Kitzbühel, had to be ceded to the County of Tyrol. The castle was then pledged again, this time to the Counts of Lichtenstein (until 1614). After that, it was princely property until 1631. The subsequent pledge holders were the families Mohr (until 1661), Wolkenstein (until 1668), Schrenk von Notzing (until 1686), Lodron (until 1744), and Pfeiffersberg (until 1782). Since the 16th century, the castle also served as a prison.

In 1703, during the "Boarischer Rummel" (Bavarian Tumult), the fortress was first conquered by the Bavarians allied with France, and then by the rebellious Tyroleans. Both in 1703 and 1769, major fires occurred at the castle, causing severe damage. When Emperor Joseph II ordered the abandonment of all Tyrolean fortresses (with the exception of Kufstein) in 1782, Rattenberg came into private ownership through an auction. The individual buildings were partly violently destroyed, partly left to decay. Around the middle of the 19th century, the castle hill was owned by the North Tyrolean State Railway. In 1905, the ruin was taken over by the municipality and renovated over the years.