Festung Kniepass, Alpine fortress and local museum in Unken, Austria
Festung Kniepass is a fortress below the Pfannhauswand near Unken, enclosed by a 2.5-metre-high wall. Visitors enter through the former eastern exit gate into a gatehouse and courtyard. The large blockhouse has a single-storey shingled section with a smoke kitchen and a main wing; the steep shingled roof has firing slits on all four sides.
The site shows traces of Bronze Age settlement and early medieval finds from the 9th and 10th centuries. The valley barrier was recorded as Chniepoz in 1350. In 1614, under Archbishop Markus Sittikus, the road was moved to a higher level and cut into the rock after repeated flooding by the Saalach.
The museum displays objects from different periods of local history and tells the story of people who lived in this region. The exhibits give visitors a sense of how long this place has been inhabited.
The fortress lies below the Pfannhauswand rock face, not on a hilltop, and is enclosed by a 2.5 m wall. Entry is through the former eastern exit gate into the gatehouse, which now holds the reception and a small kitchen. The courtyard's lower part has a stage for concerts and performances.
The last residents were Johann and Genoveva Pletzer, who lived in the old walls until 1965 with their four children. The gate building housed two goats, only one room could be heated, and water came from a small spring by the Pfannhauswand, or from the Saalach in dry spells.
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