Weitwörth Castle

Weitwörth Castle is a castle in the municipality of Nußdorf am Haunsberg in the Austrian state of Salzburg and is located between the Weitwörth-Nußdorf stop on the Salzburg-Lamprechtshausen railway line and the village of Schlößl, which belongs to Nußdorf.

The area where Weitwörth Castle was built, now located in the Nußdorf cadastral community of Weitwörth, was originally the court-owned estate of Oberpichl in the Haunsberg district court. It was acquired on February 12, 1665, under Archbishop Guidobald von Thun, and Prince-Archbishop Max Gandolf von Kuenburg erected a hunting lodge on it in 1671. A spacious park, still existing today, was laid out around it. Originally, the castle was to be named Gandolphswörth after its builder; however, this name did not catch on. In 1726, the castle was altered for the first time by Archbishop Franz Anton von Harrach and extensively rebuilt in 1777. In 1790, stones from the dilapidated Haunsperger Castle near Nussdorf were also used for this purpose. The former inventory consisted of portraits (for example, of Dean Christof Clam, 1700) and beautiful 18th-century stoves. The large stable was built by Johann Georg Laschensky. In the 19th century, the castle was rebuilt again by the master builder and architect Valentin Ceconi.

After the separation of the Rupertiwinkel from Salzburg, Weitwörth Castle served as a court seat from 1821 to 1867. In 1863, it was acquired by the Auersperg family, in whose possession it remains today. In the second half of the 19th century, the building was extended upwards, a new staircase was added on the west side, and a single-story wing was built on the east side. In 1892, a chapel was erected on the north side and connected to the castle by arcades. The earlier chapel, used by the archbishops, was located on the second floor of the old hunting lodge.