Schloss Emsburg, Historic castle in Morzg, Austria

Schloss Emsburg in Salzburg is a castle set on an elevated foundation with surrounding terraces and four slender obelisks marking its corners beneath a steeply pitched roof. The structure displays clear geometric proportions that define its appearance from outside.

In 1701, Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun transferred the estate to the St. Rupert Knights' Order, granting it the alternate names Kreuz and Ritterhof. This transfer marked the start of its role as a seat of the order's leadership.

The names Kreuzhof and Ritterhof date from 1701, when Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun gave the estate to the St. Rupert Knights' Order and had every door and window shutter painted with the order's cross. Paintings inside the castle still recall the order's former commanders. Since 2012/13 the building has been privately owned.

The castle is privately owned and not open to visitors. It stands on a high socle with terraces, reached by a double-arm outdoor staircase on the east side whose conglomerate balustrades lead up to the entrance, roofed over with columns in the 19th century. The stepped Kreuzhofweg nearby is the remnant of an old avenue that once led into the former riverside woodland.

The garden's eight bridges crossed the Hellbrunnerbach, the mill stream that also fed the estate's mill at the garden's northern end. That mill, built under Johann Sigmund von Mabon on the site of an older one, survives largely in its original form. The garden itself has not survived.