- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1205 · 13th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 47.5812°, 12.1691°
History
The castle on the rock above the Inn is first recorded in 1205 as a possession of the bishops of Regensburg, and for centuries afterwards it belonged to the dukes of Bavaria. In 1504, during the War of the Landshut Succession, Emperor Maximilian I besieged the fortress and took it with heavy artillery, and Kufstein was annexed to Tyrol. The emperor then had the massive Emperor's Tower built, completed in 1522. The fortress was enlarged over the following centuries, and in the 19th century it served as a state prison that held, among others, Hungarian participants in the revolution of 1848. It has belonged to the town of Kufstein since 1924.
What to see
You can ride up to the fortress by funicular or walk up through a series of gates and covered passages. At the top stands the Emperor's Tower with the cells of the old prison, and a museum occupies the fortress buildings. The Burghers' Tower houses the Heroes' Organ, the largest open-air organ in the world, whose daily noon recital can be heard all over town. The walls look out over the Inn valley and the Kaisergebirge.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q700709
Popularity: articles about this site in 23 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).