Count Adam Herberstorff

The infamous Governor of Upper Austria

When the Hapsburgs give Upper Austria over to Bavaria as a pawn in 1620, the new owner Duke Maximilian sends in Count Adam Herberstorff as governor. Herberstorff is quick to make himself unpopular among his subjects. Not only does he order high taxes, he campaigns vehemently for the recatholicisation of Upper Austria.

Interestingly Herberstorff, born in Bavaria in 1585, is Protestant to begin with, converting to the Catholic faith in 1616. As governor he resides in Linz Castle but on March 27th, 1625 he also procures Ort, complete with the castle on the Traunsee lake. After crushing the Upper Austrian peasants’ revolt at the end of 1626, which, with his ‘Frankenburg Dice Game’, he is greatly responsible for causing in the first place, he exacts cruel retribution on the populace. In 1627 the subjects of Ort are forced to build what is now Landschloss Ort on the spot where the outbuildings have been burned down in the war. In addition he imposes considerable fines upon them.

When Upper Austria falls once more to the Hapsburgs in 1628, the hated Herberstorff is named Governor of Upper Austria once more by Emperor Ferdinand II, much to the dismay of the people. But Herberstorff does not enjoy the post for much longer – he dies at Ort Castle on September 11th, 1629.