The settlement of
Titamanninga was first mentioned about 790 AD, then a possession of
St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg. 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 (
Burggraf), as was Ulrich von Wispeck in 1282. Tittmoning was occupied by the forces of the German king
Louis the Bavarian during his conflict with the
papacy in 1324; nevertheless, he restored it to the
Salzburg archbishops three years later. Temporarily given in pawn to
Bavaria, 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 Rupertiwinkel region finally fell to the
Kingdom of Bavaria and Tittimoning Castle, damaged by French troops during the
Napoleonic Wars, passed under state-ownership. In the early years of
World War II, the castle was used as a
prisoner-of-war camp for officers,
Oflag VII-D. 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 by
Shakespeare. Photos of these productions and paintings of the castle may be found here. Joseph Ratzinger lived here as a child between 11 July 1929 and 5 December 1932. Later, he became a
cardinal and in 2005, was elected
Pope Benedict XVI. A
festival takes place here every year at the end of May, with theatrical presentations, medieval tournaments and
jousting. == Population development ==