Burg Schärding

Burg Schärding stands in the town of Schärding, Austria, and was built by medieval local lords, most likely the Counts of Formbach.

The site probably originated in the 1100s and first appears in written records in 1150. In 1160 the castle passed by inheritance to the Andechser family and in 1230 it came into the possession of the Babenberg dynasty. Duke Leopold VI replaced earlier wooden defensive works with a stone-built castle set on the granite outcrop above the Inn, creating the first masonry stronghold at the site.

From 1248 until 1357 the Dukes of Bavaria were lords of the castle and town. In 1357 Duke Albrecht I of Bavaria-Straubing pledged Schärding, its surrounding territory and its toll revenues to the Dukes of Austria for 20,000 goldgulden. The Peace of Schärding on 29 September 1369 assigned Tyrol to Austria while Schärding itself was returned to Bavarian control; the Bavarian portion, including the castle and town, remained under Bavarian rule until 1705.

Between 1429 and 1436 Duke Ludwig the Gebartete ordered major strengthening of the defensive works, including work on the town ditch, the outer castle gate, and the principal town gates. At the start of 1705 Austrian troops occupied the town and castle during the War of the Spanish Succession. After the Peace of Rastatt, Bavarian regiments regained the castle in early 1715.

On 18 June 1724 a fire started during a Corpus Christi procession when salutes ignited nearby buildings; that blaze destroyed thirty-two houses and gutted the castle. Only the administrative offices were repaired thereafter; the main residential hall remained a ruin. A further fire caused by arson on 9 November 1775 damaged parts already affected by the earlier conflagration. The Peace of Teschen in 1779 transferred Schärding back to Austria. In 1809, during the Napoleonic-era wars, the castle was finally destroyed and was not rebuilt; the filled-in ditches contain much of the fire debris from that final devastation.