Top 19 Castles in Naturpark Hirschwald

An old hilltop castle, long used as a monastery by various religious orders. Today it houses the police academy. It lies on a dolomite spur above the valley. This is also where the "Hochholz Trail" begins, which is not to be missed.

The Kastl castle complex has towered over the Lauterach Valley since the 10th century. In 1098, it was decided to convert the castle into a monastery. Description: It was founded in 1103, and the choir and St. Egidius Chapel were consecrated in 1129. Construction of the monastery church was completed at the end of the 12th century. Through constant renovations and expansions, the church acquired its present appearance. In 1782, it became the property of the Knights of Malta. The basilica has been used as a parish church since 1808. A late Gothic main portal, a four-bay barrel vault, the alternating support of columns and pillars in the nave, and the Gothic stone tomb in the vestibule, which was once the tomb of the deceased Princess Anna, make the church a true gem. Princess Anna was the daughter of King Ludwig the Bavarian and died in 1319. The mummy of the one-and-a-half-year-old "Kastl Child" was preserved until the end of 2013 and can be viewed again. The antechamber also houses the sarcophagus of General Schweppermann. [ Source: https://www.ostbayern-tourismus.de/attraktionen/klosterburg-kastl-fd22a56fae ]

Very beautiful monastery castle currently serves as a police training center

Very nice

Great monastery castle with an amazing view - be sure to take the small juniper hiking trail!

The Schweppermannsburg (also called Pfaffenhofen Castle) is a castle ruin in Pfaffenhofen, a district of the market town of Kastl (Lauterachtal) in the Upper Palatinate district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria. The complex is listed as an archaeological monument under the file number D-3-6635-0121 in the Bavaria Atlas as "archaeological findings in the area of the castle ruin "Schweppermannsburg" in Pfaffenhofen, hilltop settlements from the late Hallstatt/early La Tène period and the early Middle Ages". It is also listed as a listed building monument in Pfaffenhofen under the file number D-3-71-132-63. The outer bailey of the spur castle is freely accessible at all times, the main castle with the keep is not. The construction time of the complex is undated. Excavations in 2004 showed extensive building work in the 13th century and a few ceramic finds from the castle area indicate settlement activity as early as the 9th/10th - 11th/12th centuries. Pfaffenhofen was part of the original equipment of the Kastl monastery and has a settlement continuity that probably goes back to the 8th/9th century. Pfaffenhofen Castle was first mentioned in a document in the House Contract of Pavia in 1329, in which half of the complex went to the Duke of Bavaria, Ludwig the Bavarian. From 1335 to 1352, Hartung the Schweppermann, a son of Seyfried Schweppermann, can be proven to have been (partially) the owner of the castle. At the end of the 14th century, Ulrich the Sweppermann finally appears as the lord of the castle. The Schweppermann family subsequently gave the castle its name. In the 17th century, the complex was destroyed by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War and then hastily rebuilt. The castle complex fell into disrepair in the early 19th century and was only included in a renovation plan towards the end of the 20th century. Since October 24, 2007, the castle has been owned by the chairman of the Amberg section of the German Alpine Association, who purchased it from the Free State of Bavaria Source: Wikipedia

Kastl Abbey Castle is the largely preserved hilltop castle and later Kastl Monastery, located on a long dolomite peak above the Lauterach Valley, high above Kastl in the Amberg-Sulzbach district of Bavaria. It is listed as an architectural monument under the file number D-3-71-132-21. "Archaeological findings from the Middle Ages and the early modern period in the area of the former Benedictine Abbey of Kastl" are also listed as an archaeological monument under the file number D-3-6636-0070. The castle complex was probably founded in the Carolingian period. In 954, Margrave Luitpold of Austria is said to have received Kastl Castle as a fief. In the same year, Luitpold owned the entire Heubischgau region, including Kastl, Habsberg, Illschwang, and Sulzbach. In 1098, the castle had three owners: Count Berengar of Sulzbach, Frederick I of Habsberg-Kastl with his son Count Otto of Habsberg-Kastl, and Luitgard of Zähringen, wife of Margrave Diepold II of Vohburg. Between 1098 and 1102, the owners agreed to convert the castle into a Benedictine monastery.[1] On May 12, 1102, Pope Paschal II confirmed the founding of the monastery. Source: Wikipedia

The Ziegeltor is the northeastern city gate of Amberg.