Location: Kufstein Map
Constructed: 1205 (known as Castrum Caofstein at the time)
Official site
Festung Kufstein Castle or simply Kufstein Castle is located in Tyrol province of Germany. Occasionally it is mistakenly called Geroldseck Fortress. At an elevation of 507 metres (1,663 feet) above sea level it dominates local landscape. Festung Kufstein Castle was constructed around 1205 on a strategic hill overlooking surrounding fields and a town of Kufstein below. In the official documents dating to the Medieval Period refer to the citadel as Castrum Caofstein. It was listed as a possession of the bishop of Regensburg. In 1415 its walls and towers were reinforced by Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria the Conqueror. In 1504 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire besieged the city and Festung Kufstein and captured both. Maximilian constructed a massive round tower between 1518 and 1522. Its layout was intended to house a cannon battery. With a round layout it could fire in all directions at the approaching enemy.
The fortress was first mentioned in a document in 1205 as "Castrum
Caofstein". At that time it was owned by the bishops of Regensburg.
From 1415 Duke Ludwig the Beard strengthened the fortifications.
In the course of the Landshut War of Succession in 1504, the later
Emperor Maximilian I besieged and conquered the city and fortress of
Kufstein. He had the complex renovated and expanded into a fortress.
In 1703, Bavarian troops invaded Tyrol and also conquered Kufstein
Fortress, but had to vacate it the following year after the Tyrolean
peasants rose up against the Bavarian occupation. In the 18th century
there was a fortress bridge in Kufstein. As a result of the Peace of
Pressburg, the fortress came under Bavarian rule again in 1805, together
with the whole of Tyrol, before it fell back to Austria in 1814.
During the Austrian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, the
fortress served as a prison for numerous Hungarian dissidents, including
Ferenc Kazinczy (1799-1800), Gregor Czuczor (1850-1851) and Sándor Rózsa
(1859-1865).
The fortress has been owned by the city of Kufstein
since 1924, which has leased the fortress to "Top City Kufstein GmbH"
since 1996. After criticism of the articles of association by the
Austrian Court of Auditors, it was changed in 2019, and since then the
company has been called "Festung Kufstein GmbH".
Todays use
The fortress is a popular tourist destination in the Tyrolean Unterland.
The fortress lift and the panorama railway were built in the 20th
century, and since 2005 there has been a mobile roof for the Josefsburg
so that this area can be used for events.
The former barracks of
the castle house the Kufstein local history museum, in which, among
other things, finds from the Bronze Age and Stone Age finds from the
Tischofer cave are on display. From time to time works of art are
exhibited in the Kaiserturm.
The organ pipes of the largest
open-air organ in the world, the Heldenorgel, are located in the
Bürgerturm, while the console is housed at the foot of the fortress. The
approximately ten-minute organ play takes place daily at 12 noon (in
July and August also at 6 p.m.) to commemorate the fallen of both world
wars and can be heard throughout the city.
There is a long rock
passage (casemate open to the public) and the "Tiefen Brunnen", a castle
well about 60 m deep.
The Josefsburg is used for events, there is
a fortress gastronomy with a special knight's meal. At Pentecost there
is an annual knights' festival with concerts, knight fights and the
re-enactment of Hans von Pienzenau's last battle.
List of some the prominent prisoners of Festung Kufstein
Ferenc Kazinczy- advocate of Hungarian language and literature, author of Language Reform, 1799- 1800
Countess Blanka Teleki, member of a noble family, socialite and educator, women's right activist, 1853- 56
Klara Leovey, teacher, manager of the Blanka Teleki School in Budapest, women's right activist
Sen. Miklos Wasselenyi, a Hungarian nobleman 1785- 89
Gyorgy Gaal, Protestant preacher 1850- 56
Gregor Czuczort, Hungarian Benedictine monk, a poet and a linguist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1850- 51
Sandor Rozsa, Hungarian revolutionary, legendary Hungarian outlaw"Robin Hood" 1859- 65
Mate Haubner, Evangelical bishop