Fuschl Castle

Schloss Fuschl was built in the middle of the 15th century during the reigns of Archbishops Sigmund I von Volkersdorf (1452−1461) and Cardinal Burkhard II von Weißpriach (1461−1466) and initially served as a hunting lodge. The first written mention of a princely-archiepiscopal hunt dates back to 1545. There are also records of a grand ceremonial hunt under Paris Graf von Lodron (1619−1653) from 1624, among others.

In 1803, the dissolution of the spiritual principality of Salzburg led to the end of episcopal rule. After five changes of ownership, Salzburg finally became part of the Austrian Empire in 1816, and with it Schloss Fuschl. It fell into disrepair because it was used as a residence for foresters and not maintained. From 1833 to 1939, Schloss Fuschl had several tenants and owners. One of the owners, the Royal Bavarian Auditor Erl, furnished Schloss Fuschl with a number of partly valuable paintings and furniture, which, however, have been untraceable since the end of World War II. In 1939, the castle was illegally transferred to Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop via a foundation. When the rightful owner, Gustav Edler von Remiz, a friend of Ribbentrop's brother-in-law Stefan-Karl Henkell, protested against the expropriation, he was interned in Dachau concentration camp, where he died on August 29, 1939.

The building is now a protected monument and was completely renovated between January 2005 and June 2006. The construction cost was around 30 million Euros.

Since 1950/51, Schloss Fuschl has been a hotel. In 1957 and 1958, it was a filming location for the Sissi films with Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm. From 1958 to 1974, the owner Dr. Carl Adolf Vogel, with his wife, the actress Winnie Markus, transformed it into a first-class hotel. Since then, the castle hotel has enjoyed worldwide fame and has hosted guests such as Nehru, Nikita Khrushchev, Anwar as-Sadat, Jiang Zemin, and Queen Sirikit of Thailand.

Since 2004, it has been owned by the Schörghuber Unternehmensgruppe. It initially belonged to the Luxury Collection of Sheraton Hotels, then to the Leading Hotels of the World. Since May 2010, Hotel Schloss Fuschl has again been managed within the Luxury Collection of Sheraton Hotels.

In addition to the actual castle tower and its extension, the hotel complex also includes several historic outbuildings of the castle grounds, such as the Jägerhaus (hunter's house), the Remise (coach house), the Bootshaus (boathouse/cafeteria), as well as an accommodation complex largely discreetly integrated into the slope towards the lake, and modern bungalows in a wooden architectural style inspired by Salzkammergut boathouses. The resort also includes the Hotel Jagdhof above the castle, on Wolfgangsee Straße, and a golf course (9-hole GC-Fuschl).

The castle houses the Schloss Fuschl Collection, a collection of over 150 works by Old Masters from the 17th to 19th centuries, and the Bernheimer Galerie Schloss Fuschl, which is operated with the Munich gallery Bernheimer Fine Old Masters under the concept "Guest of Old Masters".

In 2008, Schloss Fuschl Betriebe GmbH also took over the five-star hotel Schloss Pichlarn in Irdning in Styria.