Schallenberg Castle

The castle ruin Schallenberg is a vanished hilltop castle at 434 m above sea level in the municipality of Kleinzell im Mühlkreis in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria. Schallenberg is a dilapidated clearing castle, situated on a rocky outcrop high above the Große Mühl. The castle once served to control the pack animal trail directly below the castle and the ship traffic on the Große Mühl, which was navigable at the time.

The castle was the property of the Prince-Bishopric of Passau and was probably built around 1231. In 1260, the Passau ministerialis Heinrich de sancto Ulrico appeared in a documented soul endowment to Wilhering Abbey and called himself Heinrich de Salchinberc. However, the Sankt Ulrichers retained the name "von Schallenberg", although they were no longer feudal lords around 1300. In 1308, a Christian von Urleugsb(p)erg appeared at Schallenberg. In 1360, the castle passed as a pledge from Passau Bishop Gottfried von Weißenbeck to Ulrich Leutzeneder. In 1378, Dankwart Herleinsperger followed in the pledge, and he was also enfeoffed with the castle by the Passau bishop. In 1428, the lordship returned to the Schallenbergers through Kaspar von Schallenberg. The castle remained in family possession until 1660. (The crypt of the Schallenbergers is located in the cemetery chapel of Niederwaldkirchen, dedicated to St. Joseph.)

In 1440, the castle was destroyed by the Hussites. The decay of the castle likely began under Christoph von Schallenberg († 1542); at that time, the seat of justice was moved to the Schallenberg court office in Praitenfelden. Count Christoph Ernst von Schallenberg sold the castle and the seat of justice in 1660 to Count Otto von Seeau zu Helfenberg.