Lassereck Castle

Lassereck Castle ("Lasserschlössl") is located in the municipality of Unterach am Attersee in the Vöcklabruck district of Upper Austria (Klostergasse 2).

Around 1555, Wolfgang Lasser (Lassa) had a farm built in Unterach. This was managed by the tenants Georg Stauffer (1596), Blasius Dalionoso (1622), and Adam Dichter (1627). In 1628, Friedrich Lasser zu Lassereck had the farm converted into a castle ("Schloss Unt(e)rach"). This remained in the possession of the Lasser von Lassereck family until 1638. Matthäus Lasser's sons Ferdinand and Friderico (owner of the castle until 1630) appear to have been the last descendants of the Upper Austrian branch of this noble family.

In 1638 (according to other sources, not until 1667, and with Count Balthasar von Starhemberg as an interim owner around 1659), Count Franz Christoff Khevenhüller bought the castle and united it with the Kogl dominion. Towards the end of the 17th century, the castle became a brewery. When the Innviertel briefly came under the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810, Counts Anton and Josef Khevenhüller sold their Upper Austrian possessions to Andreas Pausinger. From him, Unterach passed to Baron Mayr von Melnhof in 1861.

History of the Lasser von Lasseregg family

Ruprecht Lasser appears in Salzburg in 1513 as the owner of the churchyard, later Lasseregg Castle. Emperor Maximilian I granted him a coat of arms on February 25, 1514 (which, incidentally, had already been affixed to one of the castle's pillars in 1511). In 1538, Ruprecht Lasser was elevated to the knighthood by Emperor Ferdinand I and was henceforth allowed to call himself "von Lasseregg". Ruprecht Lasser ran a trading house in Salzburg and was mayor of Salzburg in 1525. He had two sons, Christoph and Wolfgang, who continued the trading house. Christoph died wealthy in Augsburg in 1555. Wolfgang was mayor of Salzburg from 1554-1558 and made Lasseregg the family's senior seat. His two sons Wolfgang and Matthäus were appointed imperial fish masters on Lake Attersee. Matthäus bought the Unterach estate and expanded it into Lassereck Castle.

Christoph's son, Thomas (* 1570 in Salzburg), studied at German universities and in Padua. In 1592, he was admitted to the "Hohe Salzburger Landschaft" (a type of provincial parliament). Together with Ferdinand, he was enfeoffed with Lasseregg in 1614. In 1605, he acquired Marzoll Castle near Bad Reichenhall and became a nobleman of Upper and Lower Bavaria in 1625. His son Hans Ehrenreich succeeded him in possession in 1625 and also became imperial fish master on Lake Attersee and imperial councilor in 1638. In 1643, he was elevated to the rank of baron and died in Marzoll in 1658. His son Johann Georg was a Salzburg chamberlain and provincial deputy. He had two sons, Franz Ehrenreich and Georg Gottlieb (* 1661). Franz Ehrenreich became administrator of Stauffeneck; he died as administrator of Abtenau. Georg Gottlieb Freiherr Lasser von Lasseregg was also a Salzburg chamberlain, court war councilor, and chief forest master. After his brother's death, he sold Lasseregg to his brother-in-law Hilfgott Graf Kuefstein, who had married his sister Maria Clara Lasser. After his death, the widow remained in possession of Lasseregg Castle until 1728. In 1729, Ernst Gottlieb Lasser, son of Georg Gottlieb, bought back the property. He was a member of the St. Ruperti Order of Knights and married. With his son Leopold Lasser Freiherr von Lasseregg, the family died out in the male line in 1798. The property then passed to Maria Anna Josefa, Leopold's daughter.