Top 16 Castles around Bach an der Donau

Few remains of the ruins, but very beautiful and photogenic.

Köfering Castle The first moated castle on the Pfatter was probably built in the 12th century. The Köfering family was first mentioned in the middle of the 12th century. Around 1300, the castle was owned by Eckprecht von Haidau, who gave it to the Bishopric of Regensburg in 1307 in order to receive it as a fief from the bishop. Other owners of the castle were Otto Zenger, Albrecht von Abensberg, Heinrich Nothaft von Mangolding and Scheuer. In 1427, Dietrich von Stauf took over the castle in Köfering by exchange. On December 26, 1491, the Köfering fortress was besieged and destroyed by the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV with 1,000 soldiers during the Löwler League uprising, in which the castle owner Hieronymus von Stauf took part. The Counts of Lerchenfeld have owned the moated castle since 1569. The castle was damaged in the Thirty Years' War and rebuilt in its current form from 1680 to 1720. Renovation began in 1980/81. The moated castle is an irregular, baroque, three-storey three-wing complex with mansard hipped roofs, an entrance projection with portal, ground floor arcades and a staircase with a mansard hipped roof. The White Hall with inlaid parquet and the chapel are worth seeing. The castle complex consists of a central projection, to which only a north wing is connected. To the west there is another wing with protruding corner projections, and to the south the one-storey former stable building is attached. A three-arched stone bridge leads over the walled moat, which is still preserved, and is the only access to the castle. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de

Heilsberg Castle Ruins In the last third of the 12th century, Ulrich and Wernhardus from Heilsberg appeared in documents for the first time. Since Ulrich's successor Ekbert, they were also vassals of Eggmühl and fiefs of the Bavarian duke. They were thus in the middle of the power struggle between the Wittelsbach dukes and the Regensburg bishops. In a contract, Duke Ludwig of Kelheim had to give up a castle that was already under construction near Heilsberg, which the Heilsbergers were obviously supposed to receive as a fief. Over the course of the 13th century, Ekbert and his son Ulrich repeatedly tried to use their bailiwick rights to alienate property from the bishop. The bishop accused them of forcing their subjects to perform unjust feudal labor in order to illegally expand their castle. In addition, the Heilsbergers had bloody feuds with the Paulsdorfers and with Konrad von Hohenfels. In the first third of the 14th century, the male line of Heilsberg died out, followed by a series of owners, including the powerful Upper Palatinate knightly family of Notthafft. It was not until around 1500 that the Wittelsbachs were finally able to take over the Heilsberg domain, and in 1505 it was assigned to the Palatinate-Neuburg line. The castle was probably already abandoned in the 16th century, and on Apian's map of 1568 it is already marked as a ruin. A local support group has recently been working to save the ruins. The most striking remains of the castle are the keep, which dates from around 1200 and has a side length of 7.5 meters with 2.5 m thick walls. This is evidenced by its masonry, which consists of smooth blocks and humped blocks with 5 to 10 centimetre wide edges; the ring wall fragment with the archway is so deep in the ground that it is almost impossible to date it. Among the later extensions to the castle that are known to have been made, there is also a new gate in 1498. In 1474, a new bridge and a new gate were built. In 1498, the castle was repaired after a fire, and work on the bower, the new parlor and the stables is known to have been carried out. Recently, the keep has been secured and renovated at great expense, and the buried interior of the tower has also been uncovered. The extremely deep, almost circumferential moat separates the castle grounds from the Heilsberg plateau on two sides. Source: Extracts from www.burgenseite.de / www./burgen/detail/burgruine-heilsberg/178

Well-preserved moated castle in the countryside

Somehow a mystical-looking place

Awesome 🔨 view from the castle to Donaustauf and into the distance to the Regensburg Cathedral on one side and on the other side to Walhalla and Scheuchenberg

Always worth a trip.

Worth is worth a visit