Anif is most famous for its use in several movies, including The Sound of Music, The Great Race, and Frederick Forsyth's The Odessa File.

It consisted simply of a plain four-story dwelling with a two-story building connecting it to a chapel.When Salzburg fell to Austria in 1806, the palace and the pond came into public ownership.

In 1918, the palace attracted public attention when King Ludwig III of Bavaria and his family and entourage fled to escape the November Revolution.

In October 2001 the palace and its owner Johannes Count von Moy de Sons made news headlines when it was revealed that part of the furniture, which had been put under historic preservation status as an ensemble with the palace, had been offered for sale at Sotheby's in Amsterdam.

Director Bryan Forbes revealed that the castle also appeared in the movie The Slipper and the Rose for exterior scenes, as Cinderella's home.