Schloss Kassegg

Schloss Kassegg in St. Gallen, Austria, is a late 19th‑century hunting lodge built around 1886 in the Historicist style during the Austro‑Hungarian period, and it was established by Georg Ritter von Aichinger. Erected at the Erbsattel in the Gesäuse mountains, the building combined new brick construction with parts of a preexisting farmhouse and then entered a succession of different uses and owners that linked it to both regional leisure culture and major political events of the 20th century.

Construction and alteration, 1885–1902. Around 1885 Georg Ritter von Aichinger acquired the Kahsegger farm at the Erbsattel and soon afterward the lodge rose on the site, incorporating the farmhouse cellar and sections of its stone walls into the south wing. Timber felled in Gstatterboden in 1886 supplied material for the building. Before 1900 the complex included a west wing and a prominent west tower, but serious structural problems between 1899 and 1902 threatened the tower’s collapse. Repairs at that time shortened the west wing, moved part of the tower, and removed the castle chapel.

Ownership and elite residence, 1911–1918. Ownership records differ for the years before World War I; one report names a Baron von Carg as purchaser in 1911, while other information indicates the von Aichinger family maintained possession at least until 1915. In 1918 Ottokar Count Czernin, who served as the last foreign minister of the imperial and royal monarchy, bought the property and retired there after the Sixtus Affair, a 1917 diplomatic scandal during the First World War involving secret peace negotiations. His brother Otto Count Czernin also used the house as a residence.

Confiscation and wartime uses, 1938–1945. In 1938 National Socialist authorities seized the property and placed it under the staff office of the Reich Forestry and Hunting Master Hermann Göring. During the war years the building served several functions: it housed a children’s home for children from Graz for two years, provided accommodation for about 200 Bukovina Germans relocated into the German Reich, and at times stood empty and suffered plundering.

Postwar transfers and institutional use, 1946–1988. Heirs of Count Czernin recovered an empty, damaged property in 1946 and sold it soon after to a Vienna real‑estate agent. Subsequent buyers included a farmer named Wörnschimmel around 1948 and, in 1953, Gustav Franz de Paula Hoffmann, who bought the estate with roughly 4.5 hectares of land and an overgrown park for 70,000 Schilling. From 1954 to 1964 the building operated as a boarding and special school for the state of Upper Austria. Between 1964 and 1988 it functioned as a children’s and youth holiday home with 196 beds and became a major regional accommodation, recording peak seasons with up to 35,000 overnight stays per year; a private ski lift was installed to serve winter groups and for more than fifteen years groups from the European Schools in Brussels used the facility.

Late 20th‑century renovations and changing uses, 1976–1991. The exterior underwent a redesign in 1976 and a 1979 addition to the west wing replaced a long wooden first‑floor balcony with a dining hall. A general renovation and conversion for hotel operation took place in 1988–1989. Between 1989 and 1991 it operated as a youth club‑hotel under the name Adventure and Fairy Tale Club Schloss Kassegg. In 1991 Armin Leebmann bought the property with plans for a spa center, and the building stood empty from 31 August 1991.

Early 21st century restorations and reopening, 2004–2011. A further extensive renovation in 2004–2005 altered the castle’s external appearance, including removal of the characteristic chimneys, but the work was not completed despite an investment of about 4.6 million euro. By 2008 the complex was again offered for sale. Press reports in March 2011 proposed converting the site into a large‑capacity hotel for youths and families, and on 2 July 2011 the property reopened as the Natur Hotel Schloss Kassegg.