Heimhof Castle

Heimhof Castle, also known as Schloss Heimhof, is a castle in the Hausener Valley on a mountain spur in the Heimhof district, Burggasse 11, of the municipality of Ursensollen in the Bavarian district of Amberg-Sulzbach. Heimhof Castle is one of the most important surviving castle monuments in the Upper Palatinate.

The hilltop castle was built in the 14th century by the Lords of Haimenhofen and was mentioned in 1331 as a possession of the knight Heinrich Ettenstätter as a fief of Kastl Monastery. In 1363, Heinrich Ettenstätter sold the castle to his four nephews. In 1385, it came into the possession of Dietrich Staufer zu Ehrenfels, bailiff of Hohenburg, later Vogt of Kastl Monastery, who in 1427 exchanged it for the Veste Köfering with his brother-in-law Heinrich von Notthafft zu Wernberg. From 1477 to 1579, the Lords of Ettling owned the complex before it was converted into a palace in the 16th century.

From the end of the 16th century until the 19th century, the castle was owned by the von Loefen family and was sold in 1855 to 17 Heimhof citizens. Afterwards, it fell into disrepair. In 1922, the architect and castle researcher Bodo Ebhardt (founder and long-time president of the German Castles Association) bought the castle ruins on the advice of the Bavarian state and restored them. Since 1958, Heimhof Castle has been privately owned by the Maier family.