Top 20 Castles in Danube-Ries

Very beautiful facility that invites you to hike, discover and linger. Your physical well-being is also taken care of, as there are many opportunities nearby for dining and lingering.

The ruins now have great information boards on which you can find the history of the castle and its builders as well as all kinds of information on the subject of castles. Highly recommended and brand new! Great photorealistic representations of the castle in its original state!

Impressive castle with a beautiful view of the Danube.

"Historic castle ruins on the "Schlossberg" on the northern edge of the village of Graisbach (municipality of Marxheim). The castle was presumably built by the "Edle von Graisbach" as a ministerial castle for the Counts of Lechsgmünd. After the counts' ancestral seat in "Lechsgmünd" was destroyed by Regensburg merchants in 1248, the counts resettled in Graisbach. From then on, they called themselves Counts of Lechsgmünd-Graisbach. The castle was further expanded over the centuries, partially destroyed and rebuilt in the 15th century. In the 18th century, the castle was abandoned and used as a quarry. Stones from the castle were used as building material in the region, for example, for the Danube bridge in Neuburg. Today, only remnants of the castle complex (Pallas, keep, curtain wall, northwest tower, fountain market) can be visited. Of particular note is the well-preserved Romanesque castle chapel of St. Pankratius with its reliefs on the north portal and remnants of the historic wall paintings." Source: https://www.ferienland-donauries.de/sehenswertes/burgruine_graisbach-1780/

Small but nice city center. The Oettinger beer here is much better than its reputation

In Oettingen stands the baroque castle of the princely family of Oettingen-Spielberg. Oettingen has always been the seat of government for the counts and princes since the first documented mention of the Oettingen noble family in 1141. The residential palace was built a good 30 years after the Thirty Years' War, between 1679 and 1687.

In the 12th century, Marquard Spet de Steinenhart, who was named as a witness in a document in 1120, probably built the castle above the village of Steinhart and in 1130 a "Bertholdus Späth, nobilis de Steinhart" was mentioned. Further mentions of the Spete took place in 1167 with Heinrich Spet and Bertold Spet 1180-1183. From 1282 the Lords of Spet called themselves Spete von Steinhart (the "late von Steinhart"). In 1282 the Spetsche property was divided into two lines, with part coming to Faimingen an der Donau, today a part of the town of Lauingen "Old Castle" destroyed in the war for the Eichstätt fiefdom and not rebuilt. The Jewish cemetery has been located on the castle hill of the abandoned castle with a ring-shaped moat, the Burgstall Steinhart, also known as the Judenbuck, since the 18th century. After Herman Spet received permission to build a new fortress in Steinhart in 1328, the castle stable became strategically more favorable The new Steinhart Castle was built, today also called the "Old Castle". After 1339, the castle changed hands and came to the Counts of Öttingen, who sold the property to the von Gundelsheim family in 1359. After the castle was already in poor structural condition in 1532 , it changed hands and was probably destroyed in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The ruins have been privately owned since 1971. Significant remnants of the enclosing walls of the former rectangular castle complex with an outer bailey on a trapezoidal ground plan are still preserved, with hump ashlars with notched edges at the corners. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Steinhart

In the 12th century, Marquard Spet de Steinenhart, who was named as a witness in a document in 1120, probably built the castle above the village of Steinhart and in 1130 a "Bertholdus Späth, nobilis de Steinhart" was mentioned. Further mentions of the Spete took place in 1167 with Heinrich Spet and Bertold Spet 1180-1183. From 1282 the lords of Spet called themselves Spete von Steinhart (the "late von Steinhart"). In 1282, the Spetsche property was divided into two lines, with part going to Faimingen an der Donau, now part of the municipality of Lauingen. The "old castle" was probably destroyed in the war over the Eichstätt fiefdom and not rebuilt. The Jewish cemetery has been located on the castle hill of the former castle with a ring-shaped moat, the Burgstall Steinhart, also known as the Judenbuck, since the 18th century. After Herman Spet received permission to build a new fortress in Steinhart in 1328, the new Steinhart Castle was strategically built over the Burgstall, today also known as the "Old Castle". After 1339 the castle changed hands and came to the Counts of Öttingen, who sold the property to the von Gundelsheim family in 1359. After the castle was already in poor structural condition in 1532, it changed hands and was probably destroyed in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The ruins have been privately owned since 1971. Significant remnants of the enclosing walls with hump ashlars with notched edges at the corners are still preserved from the former rectangular castle complex with an outer bailey on a trapezoidal floor plan. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Steinhart