Ebenzweier Castle: burned down, rebuilt and now reopened

It was one of the most recent disasters in the district of Gmunden: On May 9, 2016, a smoldering cigarette in an ivy bush on a pillar of the Ebenzweier vocational school in Altmünster triggered a major fire that took days to extinguish by 450 firefighters from 31 fire departments could become. The castle, which dates back to the 13th century, was badly damaged, the boarding school residents of the catering trade school had to be housed in Laakirchen and had to commute back and forth every day. But soon after the fire, the plan for a new building matured.

On Wednesday, the new boarding school in the venerable castle building, which has been in operation for some time and is architecturally and functionally superb, was officially opened in the presence of numerous guests of honour, the teaching staff and the students.

In his welcome speech, vocational school director Armin Lenz drew a link from the events almost exactly seven years ago to the present, state fire brigade commander Robert Mayer reported on the challenges for the emergency services, and Altmünster’s mayor Martin Pelzer recalled that Ebenzweier Castle was once the municipal office. In view of the beautiful new building, he jokingly suggested relocating his workplace here: “Now we can swap places with the municipal office.”

Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander was also impressed by how the boarding school rose from the ruins and pointed out: “The project was pushed forward at a time when we had a pandemic. The boarding school is a beacon for Upper Austria, and we will I can already guarantee that many visitors will come here in the next few years and show what is possible here. We are very proud of everything that has been created here.”