The best dog-friendly hikes and walks around Hofkirchen im Traunkreis

The photos are of the mausoleum located above the Pfaffenstiege. The mausoleum is the burial site of the Auersperg princely family. Erected by Karl, Prince of Auersperg in 1911. (Information panel at the mausoleum)

The Pfaffenstiege was first mentioned in 1733. Until the founding of Maria Laah in 1786, it was used by the clergyman residing at Losensteinleithen Castle for his daily walk to mass in Maria Laah. (Sign at the foot of the stairs)

The Bründl is located on the north side of the building opposite the church

Bernhard von Losenstein had the current castle built in 1515 and gave it the name "Losensteinleiten". When a Turkish army under Kassim Pasha made the area unsafe in 1532, the castle suffered greatly. It is said that a hunter defended himself with many guns and shot a Turkish leader. This heroic act frightened the Turks and they fled. Between 1550 and 1570, the castle was enlarged by Georg Achaz von Losenstein. His wife was called Christina von Bergheim. The family died out with Franz Anton von Losenstein in 1692. The property passed to the Princes of Auersperg and their successors until 1950. From 1955 to 1993, Losensteinleiten Castle was owned by the Camillian Order, which ran a private high school with public rights until 1976. From 1978 to 1983, the Upper Austrian state government housed an agricultural college for girls. From 1985 to 1993, the Camillians ran the St. Kamillus retreat and education center in Losensteinleiten Castle, with a focus on the training and further education of people working in the service of the sick, especially in the denominational hospitals in Austria.

On the western exterior of the church there is a crypt in which the Princes Auersperg, owners of Losensteinleithen Castle, found their final resting place. When the hall above was renovated in 1892, the crypt was also examined and 18 simple wooden coffins were found there. On the side walls of the crypt there are three memorial plaques commemorating "Maria Josefa Princess of Auersperg", "Aglae Adelheid Pauline Countess of Windischgrätz" and "Marie Franziska Scheldon, Imperial Countess of Daun, née Princess of Auersperg".

Auersperg-Mausoleum

In the 16th century, the Lords of Losenstein had an existing moated castle from the 15th century converted into a Renaissance palace. At the beginning of the 21st century, the building housed a nursing home. In 2015, the developer Georg Spiegelfeld-Schneeburg acquired it, who then put it up for sale again. The complex also includes a large garden with a castle pond and the mausoleum 400 meters further north. In between there used to be the castle park, but there are no remains of it. The once wide moat around the moated castle has long since been filled in, but slight depressions can still be seen in the terrain.

Losensteinleiten Castle is a castle complex in Wolfern near Steyr. In the 16th century, an existing moated castle from the 15th century was converted into a Renaissance castle on behalf of the Lords of Losenstein. Until a few years ago, this building housed a nursing home. Rental apartments will be built in the future.