Wildenau Castle

Wildenau Castle is a moated castle in the cadastral community of Wildenau in the market town of Aspach in the Braunau district (today Wildenau, Schlosshof 1). It is a protected monument under 38528!

Wildenau is one of the oldest castles in the Innviertel region. According to a legend, a fortified tower first stood here, which served the Hunnish king Attila when he set up his camp in this area.

The castle belonged for a long time to the noble family of Aham. Wildenau and its then owner Wilhelm von Aham are first mentioned in a document in 1383 as "mein haws vnd hof zw wildenaw". He was the progenitor of the Wildenau line of the Aham family, which existed until 1764. Wilhelm von Aham was a ducal court master, in 1405 he was a caretaker in Julbach and in 1418 a caretaker in Ried. After his death in 1425, Erasmus von Aham took over the castle; he was a caretaker in Trostberg in 1426, a caretaker in Braunau am Inn in 1430; in 1435 he became a councilor to the Bavarian Duke Heinrich. During the time of Erasmus von Aham, a first fire damaged the castle. In 1427, this Ahamer founded a benefice for St. George's Chapel.

After the Aham family, the Imsland family followed. Baron Franz von Imsland had the castle lavishly furnished from 1699 onwards. In 1703, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the castle, which then belonged to Bavaria, was plundered by Austrian soldiers. However, the chapel and library were spared. These Imslands were followed again by Ahamers. The last of this family at Wildenau was the hereditary chamberlain and Electoral Bavarian chamberlain Johann Eustach Graf von Aham, who died in 1764. The heir was again a Baron Franz von Imsland; he had a so-called "flying staircase" with 72 steps built. In 1765, half of Wildenau went to Thurn und Taxis. Baron Franz von Imsland had the castle rebuilt and enlarged in 1795.

Even before the beginning of the French Wars, the decline of the stately castle began. A first fire in 1800 and a second in 1805 caused great damage. In 1809, there was another looting and a fire. These damages were not repaired until 1868. The chapel, picture gallery, library, and archive were still preserved at that time. The subsequent heir, the married Salzburg Major von Spieß, could not keep the property due to high debts and had to sell it to the "estate butcher" Johann Baier, a farmer in Mehrnbach, who had essential parts of the building fabric demolished in 1882. The valuable interior furnishings and the archive were squandered and scattered all over the world. He also sold the estate, so that the castle lost its livelihood. In addition, a fire in 1880 further damaged the castle.