Mariastein Castle

In 1360, the Lords of Freundsberg built a two-story residential tower, simply called "stayn". It served to monitor the main road through the Inn Valley, which passed by the castle until the 16th century.

In 1379, Hans von Freundsberg sold the lordship, court, and toll station to the Duke of Bavaria. After the road was moved to the right bank of the Inn and the advent of artillery, the castle largely lost its strategic importance. When Duke Heinrich of Lower Bavaria sold the property to his administrator Hans Ebbser in 1448, the "Hofmark zu Stein" became Austrian again. The Lords of Ebbs had the tower raised by two stories and donated a Madonna figure with the infant Jesus.

In the 16th century, several families alternated in possession of the lordship. In 1558, it was owned by Georg Ilsung from Augsburg. According to an old legend, Friedrich Ilsung is said to have taken the long-revered lime wood statue of Mary to Augsburg. However, the statue is said to have been returned to the castle twice by angels. When this became known, crowds of pilgrims soon flocked to the miraculous image of Mary in the castle. In 1587, it came into the possession of Karl Freiherr von Schurff I. He became the greatest patron of the pilgrimage. Under the Schurff family, who owned the castle until 1688, it was redesigned to its present appearance. At that time, it also received its current name.

The Schurffs were followed by the related Counts of Stachelburg, then in 1747 by Simon Felix von Crosina, and from 1773 to 1835 by the South Tyrolean Counts of Klotz. Mariastein then came to the Archdiocese of Salzburg, where it has remained to this day. Between 1959 and 1966, the castle was fundamentally restored.