Location: Tyrol
Constructed: 12th century
Freundsberg Castle is a castle on the southern outskirts of
Schwaz in Tyrol. The hilltop castle lies on a steep hill that can be
seen from afar, approximately 170 m above the bottom of the Inn
Valley.
The castle was founded in 1150 by the Lords of
Freundsberg. Initially, the complex only consisted of a five-story
residential tower (28 m), which has been preserved to this day and
in which parts of the original frescoes can still be seen. The first
chapel, dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. Mary, was consecrated on
November 23, 1176 by the papal legate Archbishop Conrad I of Mainz.
In 1467 the castle was sold to Archduke Sigismund the Rich in Coins,
who rebuilt it in the following years and temporarily gave it the
name Sigmundsruh, or, according to another source, Siegmundsfried.
From 1634 to 1637 a castle church was built in the late
Renaissance style. After changing owners, the facility has been
owned by the city of Schwaz since 1812, which began restoration in
1966.
The first museum in the city of Schwaz was opened in
1930 on Innsbrucker Straße. Since 1948, the castle keep has served
as a local museum in which the development of the town of Schwaz and
the silver mining that took place in its area are documented.