Saalhof Castle

Saalhof Castle is a castle in Maishofen and one of the oldest noble residences in Pinzgau. The current building dates from the beginning of the 17th century, but during renovation work, significantly older foundations and wall sections were found on the north and east sides of the building, to which the current castle was added around 1600. In 1766, the renowned Salzburg botanist Franz Anton Alexander von Braune was born in the castle.

Since 1992, the ensemble, consisting of the castle, the Meierhaus (steward's house), and a wayside cross, has been a protected monument. The buildings are privately owned and not publicly accessible, but the building houses an accommodation business.

In 1296, the noble seat was probably owned by "Konrad the Devil". The estate was initially an archiepiscopal fief, first mentioned in a document in 1423 as being in the possession of Oswald Eisenstang. In 1584, it passed to the Amann von Judendorf family. Under Cristoff Amann von Judendorf zu Saal, the typical Pinzgau noble residence, as it can still be seen today, was built at the beginning of the 17th century. A marble plaque above the keel arch portal announces the completion of the construction work in 1606. A large part of the interior furnishings also dates from this period.

In 1634, the castle came into the possession of the Riedl family. A magnificent coat of arms on the first floor testifies to the marriage of Mathias Riedl von und zu Saal in 1661 to Maria Riedlin, née Stöcklin von Judendorf. When the property passed to the Kobald von Dambach zu Moll family in 1714, the castle contained a house chapel with a license to hold mass.

After Maria Anna von Hackledt became the owner of the estate in 1759, she bequeathed it to her four children in 1765. Her daughter Elisabeth Amalia married Rochus von Braun and took over the property in 1798. When the innkeeper Josef Zehentner from Weißbach bought it in 1840, the castle came into peasant ownership and has since been passed down within this family. In 1855, his son Johann Zehentner took over, who bequeathed the castle to his daughter Maria and her husband Josef Schattbacher in 1874. Through their son Johann, the estate came to the Rieder family, as the farmer Wolfgang Rieder had married Johann's daughter Ida in 1939. Their son Wolfgang, together with his wife Rosa, succeeded them in the business in 1969. In 1971, they had the old stables (first dated 1828 and 1586) demolished and replaced with a new building.

A comprehensive renovation of the Saalhof estate and the castle began in 2004 under the married couple Hermann and Kathrin Rieder, who also had the facade renovated in 2010 and its original 17th-century color scheme restored. Since 2006, the castle owners have been offering holiday apartments and guest rooms for rent.

The Meierhaus on the eastern side of the complex was formerly the residence for the administrator (Meier), the farmhands, and the servants. The year on the gable indicates 1686 as the year of construction. The building was used as a school for Maishofen around 1814.