Etzelsdorf Castle

Etzelsdorf Castle is a Renaissance-style castle located on the western edge of the Upper Austrian town of Pichl bei Wels. The building was erected in the 17th century near an older complex, which dates back to the 12th century.

The magnificent two-story Renaissance building is covered by a wide, hipped roof. The castle is flanked by two freestanding outbuildings, enclosing the courtyard in a horseshoe shape. The simple facade is decorated with a stucco band running along the lower edge of the roof. The windows on the back side have wrought-iron baskets on the first floor. The entrance leads into a stone-paved hall, from which the rooms on the ground floor and (via a corridor staircase) those on the upper floor are accessible.

The exact construction date of Etzelsdorf Castle is unknown. The predecessor building was located behind the current castle and the Innbachtalstrasse. Here, in the middle of a circular pond, enclosed by an embankment and surrounded by a moat with flowing water, one finds a circular island planted with deciduous trees; the original Etzelsdorf seat had stood on it. In a report on the princely fiefs from 1558, Etzelsdorf is described as "a desolate castle site with nothing on it, having a double moat around it, but no water in it"; it also indicates that the old seat was probably destroyed by fire around 1551.

In the 14th century, the administrator Niklas der Eczelstorfferer was first mentioned, who was also the administrator of Tollet Castle. In 1377, the "honorable knight" Niklas der Eczelstorfferer became administrator of Pernstein, in 1379 Niklas Eczelstorfferer and his son-in-law Hans Jörger attested a donation from the Seelinger family to Lambach Monastery. Through marriage, the estate came to Kaspar Jörger. From 1430, the castle was owned by the Struz family, and in 1558, a Jörger was mentioned again. In 1563, after a long inheritance dispute, it came to Erasmus von Gera, and in 1590 to Engel von Wagrain. In 1600, Josef Krenner bought the predecessor building of the current castle. The Seeauer family became successors, selling it in 1625 to the Schmidtauer von Oberwallsee family. In 1626, the castle burned down during the Peasants' War after being plundered. Christoph Schmidtauer († 1722) had the old castle demolished and rebuilt in its present form. Further owners were Carl Anton Schmidtauer, in 1805 Josef Franz Schmidtauer, in 1832 Karl Schmidtauer, and finally in 1894 Rosa von Schmidtauer. In 1901, Etzelsdorf came to the Imperial Noble Anna von Unkrechtsberg († 1929).

She bequeathed the castle with the surrounding properties to her long-time cook Josefa Pühringer († 1946), who, due to her advanced age, immediately passed the castle on to her daughter Maria (married Nöbauer) († 1966). Maria's husband, Ignaz Nöbauer († 1957), had become wealthy through a lottery win. However, the marriage was not particularly happy; the husband was suspected of having raped a twelve-year-old girl, and he was also rumored to have had an affair with a domestic servant. This led to his wife reporting him for indecency with minors after the invasion of German troops, and he was admitted to Mauthausen concentration camp in 1939. He survived this period as a functional prisoner. After his release, former prisoners apparently tried several times to get hold of him, but without success. After the death of the castle owner, the estate was divided among 13 heirs. In 1970, it came into the possession of a Linz entrepreneurial family. Apparently, the new owners had doubts whether they could ever renovate the castle. So the owner Hans Herbert Jeitschko made a vow that if the castle were ever renovated, he would donate a chapel. This castle chapel was built in 1996 and is owned by Ingrid Jeitschko. The current castle owner is the Jeitschko family from Linz. The castle is privately inhabited, and the inner courtyard is accessible upon request.

Nazi Era

In the summer of 1944, the National Socialist People's Welfare established a "Foreign Children's Home" in Etzelsdorf Castle, which functioned as a care facility for foreign children. The background was the fact that during the Nazi era, about 1.7 million women were deported to Germany as forced laborers, and some of them became pregnant and gave birth to children. As a rule, the children were taken from their mothers immediately after birth; however, representatives of the Nazi state were undecided about what should happen to these children. Their murder was discussed, as was making them forced laborers later or releasing them for adoption. In the Gau Oberdonau, such homes were established in Windern Castle near Desselbrunn, in Burgkirchen near Mauerkirchen, in Schwanenstadt, in Braunau, in Klam near Perg, in Weng near Hofkirchen, in Lindenhof in Spital am Pyhrn, in Wilheming near Utzenaich, and in Waldschloss Schardenberg.

Until the end of 1946, children of forced laborers were housed here. At least 13 of these 39 children died in the autumn of 1944 due to inadequate care and nutrition. The children's nurses had not spoken to the children, so they could not develop any language; the children were tied to their beds, and even two-year-olds could not walk after liberation. After 1945, Upper Austria was restored, which also led to changes in the care concept. Some of the children were returned to their mothers, although there were also mix-ups, as the children had not been addressed by their respective names and name tags had not been customary. The other children were taken to the Czech border in the autumn of 1946, after which their trace is lost.