Illmau Castle

A castle is first mentioned here in 1337. In 1348, it was owned by the Hauser family, who mortgaged it to a Jewish moneylender in 1369.

Between 1373 and 1468, it belonged to the Lords of Puchheim, who leased it back to members of the Hauser family. Then the Gockendorfers bought the fortified building. After that, the owners changed frequently. Illmau sometimes had several lords simultaneously. In 1556, it came into the possession of the Wochenitzky family. Zacharias Wochenitzky had the late medieval moated castle converted into a three-winged Renaissance castle in the second half of the 16th century. In 1642, Count Ferdinand Ernst von Herberstein was lord of Illmau. In 1657, Illmau was annexed to the Dobersberg dominion.

From 1670, the castle served as a glass factory. After 1745, the building was used as a paper mill, which existed until 1862. In 1808, the Counts of Grünne took over the castle. At the beginning of the First World War, it stood empty and was requisitioned by the district administration of Waidhofen to set up an internment camp here. In the 1930s, the castle was used as a youth recreation home. The castle was not particularly well maintained by its then owners. After the Second World War, it came into peasant ownership, which resulted in further damage.

Since the early 1970s, Illmau Castle has been owned by Ambassador (ret.) Dr. Werner Ehrlich von Ehrnfeldt, who has carried out the most urgent safety measures and made a significant part of the castle habitable again.