Burg Kogl: A Hilltop Castle Ruin in Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page7 sections
History
Burg Kogl is a hilltop castle ruin in Austria, above St. Georgen im Attergau on the Koglberg. Built in 1264 on behalf of the Bishopric of Bamberg, it replaced a castle established at Attersee in 1007 and was initially known as Neuattersee. The name Kogl later became established, and the castle developed within a long history of ecclesiastical lordship, pledged ownership, political conflict, and regional administration.
From royal estate to Bamberg castle
The wider Attergau had earlier been associated with the palatinate of Atarhoven, also called Atarnchova, Atterhof, or Attersee. A palatinate was a royal or imperial residence and administrative center. Mentioned in the eighth century as an Agilolfing possession, the estate became a Frankish royal holding from 788. The Agilolfings were the early medieval dynasty associated with Bavaria, while a Frankish royal estate was land controlled directly by the Frankish monarchy.
In 1007, King Henry II gave the royal palatinate to the Bishopric of Bamberg to support construction of Bamberg Cathedral. The bishopric was an ecclesiastical principality whose bishops exercised both religious and territorial authority, so its connection with the Attergau involved political rule as well as church administration. A castle was built at Attersee, and in 1264 Bishop Berthold of Bamberg ordered Burg Kogl to be constructed in its place.
Changing lords and Habsburg control
Kogl passed through many hands and was repeatedly pledged as security for debts. From 1249 to 1309, its holders included Chunrad Zizmann, Heinrich Zizmann, and Haidfoch. The Bishop of Bamberg then pledged it to the Schaunberg family, which held it from 1309 to 1342. Later holders included Chunrad Kuchler and Hertel’s son.
In 1379, Kogl became a Bamberg fief held by Duke Albert III of Austria. A fief was property granted by a superior lord to a dependent holder. The Habsburgs subsequently treated Kogl as their own possession, granting it as a princely fief or pledging it to other holders. Count Herrmann of Cilli was the first pledge-holder in this phase, followed by Heinrich von Wallsee in 1411 and Hans Eitzinger until 1416.
In 1453, King Ladislaus ordered the custodian Michael Albrechtsheimer to transfer Kogl to Gilg Vischmeister. After Ortolph Geymann, the holding passed to Reinprecht V von Walsee. When the Wallsee family died out in 1483, Emperor Frederick III reclaimed Kogl as a reverted fief.
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century administration
Emperor Maximilian I pledged the Kogl lordship to his governor Wolfgang von Polheim in 1499. Because the Polheim family was Protestant, King Ferdinand I transferred the possession to Hans Hofmann. In 1550, Ferdinand allowed his chamberlain Johann Hofmann von Grünpichl to redeem Kogl from the pledge held by Cyriak von Polheim. Emperor Rudolf II finally extinguished the pledge debt in 1570.
Kogl received its own regional court in 1581. A regional court was a territorial judicial district responsible for local legal matters, and its creation gave Kogl a distinct administrative role. In the same year, Rudolf II sold Kogl, Kammer Castle, and Frankenburg Castle to Hans Freiherr von Khevenhüller, his ambassador in Madrid. Bartholomäus, Khevenhüller’s Protestant brother, succeeded him, followed by his Catholic son Franz Christoph.
In 1594, Burg Kogl was regarded as one of the fortified refuge castles intended to protect people during wartime. During the religious conflicts between Protestant and Catholic authorities and communities in the Reformation’s aftermath, the Protestant Karl von Jörger occupied the castle. In 1619, it was leased to Abraham Grünpacher. The following year, the Protestant Hans Geymann, also known as Geumann, seized Kogl, expelled the priest of Lochen, plundered the parish house, and brought the booty to the castle. Geymann became its custodian but later fled from advancing Bavarian troops.
Abandonment and decay
At the beginning of the second half of the eighteenth century, the Khevenhüller family abandoned the castle. Its defenses were outdated, and the site was difficult to reach by road. In 1750, the family built the new Kogl Palace at the foot of the Koglberg. After the old castle ceased to be permanently inhabited, it began to decay.
Remains
Burg Kogl occupies the summit area of the 680-metre Koglberg in the Kogl locality of St. Georgen im Attergau. The surviving site consists of a few sections of wall, while a ditch still surrounds the castle area. Dense overgrowth has made the defensive layout difficult to recognize, but the ditch remains part of the physical setting of the ruin.
Surviving castle area
The castle was a hilltop fortification, and the surviving masonry represents only a small portion of its former structure. The surrounding ditch belongs to the site’s defensive arrangement. A 1674 engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer presents Burg Kogl in the Topographia Austriae superioris modernae, a topographical work depicting places in Upper Austria. The ruin is not protected under monument-preservation law.
