Wasserburg - Malhaus

Wasserburg (literally: a castle in the water) was property of the monastery of St. Gallen in 784, at which time it lay on an island. Traces of a repelled attack of Hungarian troops between 925 and 955 were found during recent excavations. Until 1280, the Lords of Kisslegg, as ministers of the monastery, ruled Wasserburg, then the rule went to the Lords of Schellenberg. In 1720 the island became a peninsula when it was linked to the mainland by a causeway.

In 1755, the Fuggers, who owned it meanwhile, gave up sovereignty over Wasserburg to the Habsburgs in settlement of some debts, so the town then formed part of Austria. In 1806 Napoleon Bonaparte transferred its sovereignty to the kingdom of Bavaria.

The Malhaus was built in 1597 as building and prison. In the courtroom of the house, the so-called "Wasserburger Hexenprozesse" ("Wasserburg witch trials") were held. 26 people were held prisoner, tortured and sentenced here from 1656 to 1664. Most of them died at the stake.

The last trial in the Wasserburger Malhaus in was recorded in 1731.