Tittmoning () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the district of Traunstein, in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

It is situated in the historic Rupertiwinkel region, on the left bank of the river

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn (river), Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limeston ...

, which forms the border with the municipality of Ostermiething in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. The two communes are linked by a bridge. Tittmoning is located about northwest of the

city centre.

History

The settlement of ''Titamanninga'' was first mentioned about 790 AD, then a possession of

St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg St Peter's Abbey (), or St Peter's Archabbey (German: ''Erzabtei Stift Sankt Peter'', ), is a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery and former cathedral in the Austrian city of Salzburg. It is considered one of the oldest monasteries in ...

. After the Archbishops of Salzburg had achieved immediate status in the late 13th century, Tittmoning Castle was built as a border fortress against the incursions by the Dukes of Bavaria. The episcopal administrator of the castle and its environs was called

burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from , ), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a ''Burgraviate'' or ''Burgr ...

(''Burggraf''), as was Ulrich von Wispeck in 1282. Tittmoning was occupied by the forces of the German king

Louis the Bavarian Louis IV (; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian (, ), was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347. Louis' election as king of Germany in 1314 was cont ...

during his conflict with the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

in 1324; nevertheless, he restored it to the

archbishops three years later. Temporarily given in pawn to

, the unlucky Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau had to cede the castle to the Bavarian duke Maximilian I in 1611; it was repurchased by his successor Archbishop Mark Sittich von Hohenems and rebuilt as a hunting lodge according to plans designed by Santino Solari. By the 17th century, the castle had finally lost its character of a fortress and became the summer residence of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg. Upon the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, the Rupertiwinkel region finally fell to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

and Tittimoning Castle, damaged by French troops during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, passed under state-ownership. In the early years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the castle was used as a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for officers,

Oflag VII-D Oflag VII-D was a World War II Germany, German German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp for Officer (armed forces), officers (''Offizierlager'') located in Tittmoning Castle in south-eastern Bavaria. Camp history The camp ...

. British and American citizens were also interned there (see Ilag VII Laufen and Tittmoning). They put on plays and sketches, including a performance of

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. Photos of these productions and paintings of the castle may be foun
here
Joseph Ratzinger lived here as a child between 11 July 1929 and 5 December 1932. Later, he became a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and in 2005, was elected

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

. A

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

takes place here every year at the end of May, with theatrical presentations, medieval tournaments and

jousting Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

Population development

Personalities and Honorary Citizens

* Pope

(born 1927) lived in Tittmoning between 1929 and 1932 and has been an honorary citizen since 24 January 2007. Radio Vatikan
Vatikan: Papst wird Ehrenbürger von Tittmoning
24. Januar 2007 In front of the home of the Ratzinger family is a sculpture in a bronze memorial plaque. * Stefan Glowacz (born 1965), born in Tittmoning, professional mountaineer and entrepreneur

References

Sources

*Freed, John B. “Nobles, Ministerials, and Knights in the Archdiocese of Salzburg.” Speculum 62, No. 3 (Jul., 1987): 575–611. {{Cities and towns in Traunstein (district) Traunstein (district)