From Renaissance Castle to Modern Education Center
The history and architecture of Schloss Hofen are inextricably linked. Over four centuries, the building’s exterior and interior appearance has been expanded and modified several times to meet the requirements of its respective owners.
Schloss Hofen was originally built between 1583/84 and 1616 as the ancestral seat of the Hofen line of the Raitenau family. The builders of Schloss Hofen were Hans Gaudenz the Younger and his son Hans Werner V. The Raitenau line of succession ended as early as 1658 with Franz Andreas, and Schloss Hofen passed into the possession of his brother-in-law, Count Georg von Königsegg-Rotenfels, in 1659.
In the following centuries, the Hofen fiefdom, the associated jurisdiction and sovereign authority, and thus the ownership of the castle, repeatedly passed to other families loyal to the Emperor. The property’s fief status ended in 1875, and Schloss Hofen was declared private property. Until 1908, the castle was traded as a speculative object before coming into the possession of the Sisters of the Order of St. Vincent de Paul from Zams, who established a home for children and a monastic housekeeping school in the building. In 1929, the castle was sold to the State of Vorarlberg.
Until the end of the 1940s, the use of Schloss Hofen was primarily shaped by the two World Wars. The building served as a reserve hospital and convalescent facility, as well as a post for the German Wehrmacht. After the end of the war, it became quarters for the French occupation. Between 1951 and 1972, Schloss Hofen was run by two commercial trade groups as a vocational school for the catering industry, including a boarding school and summer hotel.
In 1972, the State of Vorarlberg, which had already owned Schloss Hofen in the first half of the 1930s, bought the property back. From 1979 to 1981, a comprehensive renovation and adaptation into a modern education center was carried out, which was opened on November 28, 1981, as the State Education Center by Governor Dr. Herbert Keßler. Since 2008, Schloss Hofen has organized all continuing education for the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences (FH Vorarlberg) and operates as the Science and Continuing Education Center of the State of Vorarlberg and the University of Applied Sciences.
Most recently, in 2015/2016, Schloss Hofen underwent a comprehensive general renovation and technical modernization according to plans by the architectural firm Marte.Marte, optimizing its internal structure for today’s requirements.
The architecture of Schloss Hofen goes hand in hand with its eventful history. The castle was built by the Lords of Raitenau on the site of the St. Oswald Chapel and a tower that remained from the much older Hofen Castle. As a rather poor noble family, the Raitenaus used an architectural trick for their prestigious residence: the main body of the castle was built with a bend at the transition to the front side, making it appear significantly larger.
Late Gothic elements are preserved in the area of the former chapel. The actual castle was designed by the Raitenaus in a functional, simple Renaissance style. Later, in accordance with changing fashions, a small Baroque installation was added, and the facade also features Baroque elements. The Baroque onion domes are particularly characteristic and significantly define the aesthetic impression.
In the course of the general renovation completed in 2016, the historical building fabric was supplemented by a modern extension that connects the floors of the castle via two access towers. The partially underground extension houses the kitchen, storage rooms, as well as sanitary and break rooms for the seminar hotel staff.
The guiding concept of the general renovation was a reorganization of the internal spatial structure focused on the core functions of seminar, restaurant, and hotel operations, with a clear separation between seminar rooms and hotel rooms. All offices not directly connected to daily seminar operations and catering were moved to the Raitenauerhaus (annex), which was also completely renovated.
