Perched high above Bad Reichenhall stands the Kirchberg-Schlössl a testament to centuries of history. Its Baroque façade hints at the opulent life within. But its story begins long before the elegant lines of its current form.
The Kirchberg-Schlössl wasn’t always a Schlössl. Long ago perhaps as early as the 8th century a simple chapel stood on this very spot. Archbishop Konrad I consecrated it in 1130. A small community of 150 to 200 people lived nearby. They expanded the chapel into a church a church without a tower. During renovations in 1981 workers uncovered remnants of a Gothic frieze. This along with skeletal remains suggests a Christian cemetery once surrounded the building. That’s likely where the name Kirchberg church on the hill comes from.
By the 15th century the church had fallen into disrepair. Its patronage was transferred to a church in Nonn. In its place an aristocratic residence rose. Leonhard Kastner owned it by 1540 at the latest. It changed hands several times until the 1680s. Between 1682 and 1685 Paris Zehentner added a house chapel. It’s accessible via the upper floor and an outside staircase. The building was first called a Schlössl on August 11 1691.
Then came Peter von Waltern. In 1723 he bought the Kirchberg estate. He added his coat of arms with the year 1723. He also gave the building its Baroque makeover. He added two dormers and a gallery in the chapel. He also built the three corner turrets. The eastern turret houses the chapel’s bell. The other two with their blind sound openings were likely added for symmetry. A date of 1728 in the chapel suggests the renovations ended that year. Von Waltern died in 1747. His widow commissioned a Stations of the Cross from the castle chapel to Kirchberg.
The Schlössl continued to change owners. Josef Wagnerberger and later Franz Niederhauser both butchers lived there. One of them built the Metzgerhäusl a butcher’s house. The Metzger-Au a meadow near the Saalach River south of today’s Kretabrücke is also named after one of them.
Dr Eugen Pachmayr a physician and court councillor and his wife Katharina bought the estate in 1864. They rebuilt the Metzgerhäusl as Villa Luise. It housed Dr Pachmayr’s medical practice. They also renovated the Schlössl making it the heart of Kirchberg’s spa.
World War I dramatically reduced tourism. Many hotels became hospitals. The Kirchberg-Schlössl housed one until 1921. When the spa was sold in 1924 spa operations in Kirchberg ended.
During and after World War II refugees lived in the Schlössl. Various furnishings disappeared during that time. Armour supposedly thrown into the street by occupying forces also vanished.
The Schlöndorfer family bought the Schlössl and the Kirchberg spring in 1972. They painstakingly renovated it. The building became a restaurant in 1988. Today a pizzeria operates within these historic walls continuing a long culinary tradition. The Kirchberg-Schlössl stands as a silent witness to the passage of time a place where history and present day happily meet.