Kammer Castle

Kammer Castle in Schörfling am Attersee, Austria, is a medieval lake castle whose origins reach back to around 1200 and which became an important feudal seat in the later Middle Ages. By the mid-13th century the stronghold belonged to the Schaunberger family and their retainers, and the site served as a local centre of noble authority in the region.

The earliest named proprietors appear in the 12th and 13th centuries, with individuals recorded in 1165 and again in 1249. A fortified residence stood on the site by about 1200, and by 1260 the castle formed part of the Schaunbergers’ territorial holdings; some of their vassals later adopted the castle name. In the late 14th century the building became embroiled in a noble conflict between Duke Albert III of Austria and Count Heinrich von Schaunberg. During that dispute the stronghold was taken for the duke by Reinprecht von Walsee around 1380, and in 1386 control passed to the Habsburg dynasty through a compulsory sale.

Under Habsburg ownership the estate was repeatedly pledged or granted in fief to various noble families, and imperial custodians administered the property in the later 15th century. In 1570 the lordship reverted to Emperor Maximilian II. A few years later, in 1581, Emperor Rudolf II sold Kammer together with nearby Kogl and Frankenburg to Johann Khevenhüller; he was elevated to the comital rank in 1593 and his domains were consolidated as the County of Frankenburg. The Khevenhüller family retained the castle for several centuries, keeping it through the period of Bavarian military occupation of Upper Austria from 1810 to 1816.

Financial strain prompted the sale of the estate in 1904 and it passed through a series of private hands during the 20th century, including owners by marriage and later the Jeszenszky family until the early 1990s. For a time in the 1960s the castle operated as a hotel. The main roof was repaired in 1970, and in the early 1990s Elisabeth Max-Theurer purchased and carried out a thorough renovation that halted further decay. The Republic of Austria placed the property under monument protection in 1993 (registration number 37478). The Max-Theurer family became the recorded private owners from 1994, while a large portion of the castle park entered municipal ownership and is open to the public. The castle and its lime-tree avenue were the subject of numerous early 20th-century paintings by Gustav Klimt.