Brennberg Brennberg

Brennberg Castle is a former High Medieval noble castle, later a Ganerbenburg (castle shared by several families), in the Vorderer Bayerischer Wald (Front Bavarian Forest) above the eponymous village of Brennberg, which lies east of the city of Regensburg in the Upper Palatinate district of Regensburg in Bavaria.

Thanks to excavations and restoration work in the 1980s, the entire castle complex is now freely accessible and, thanks to the erected tower, serves as a viewpoint.

The ruin of the hilltop castle is located on the summit of the 653-meter-high Hofberg, about 50 meters above the immediately adjacent village of Brennberg, which is 23 kilometers east of Regensburg.

Nearby are also Falkenstein Castle to the northeast, Heilsberg Castle Ruin and the Burgstall (site of a former castle) on the Heilsberg to the south. To the northwest is Siegenstein Castle Ruin and to the north is Lobenstein Castle Ruin near the village of Zell.

With Wirnto I., Lord of Brennberg, the Brennberger family is first mentioned in documents in 1115; his time ended in 1130. His successors were Wirnto II. and Cuno. Reimar I. was the successor and son of Wirnto II. Reimar II. was a knight of Brennberg from 1236 to 1271 and a widely known Minnesinger. His songs are immortalized in the Manesse Codex. Reimar III., lord of the castle from 1271 to 1276, was slain by people from Regensburg. His successor Bruno was owner of Brennberg from 1276 to 1300. Reimar IV. (1300 to 1326) was the founder and benefactor of Frauenzell Monastery. His daughter Agnes married Friedrich I. von Au, who was owner of Brennberg from 1327 to 1356. During this time, the castle complex was expanded and divided into two parts for his descendants; the higher, western part named Oberbrennberg and the eastern part called Unterbrennberg. Oberbrennberg went to Friedrich I. and Friedrich II. von Au as well as to Oswald and Wilhelm von Au. Unterbrennberg was shared by Hans and Georg von Au as well as Christoph I. and Christoph II. Through marriage with the noble families of Nussberger, von Murrach or Stauff-Ehrenfelser, various lords came to own the two castles. Joachim von Stauff-Ehrenfels sold Unterbrennberg to Christoph von Rain in 1540. His son Hans Joachim von Rain sold it back to Wilhelm III. von Oberbrennberg in 1567. In 1568, Kaspar von Lerchenfeld acquired both castles and divided them again in 1572. During the Thirty Years' War, Frauenzell Monastery and the castles of Ober- and Unterbrennberg were devastated. In 1686, all of Brennberg went up in flames, both castles were destroyed. However, the Lerchenfelders rebuilt both complexes. In 1776, when Franz Xaver von Lerchenfeld died, the property was again divided into Ober- and Unterbrennberg among the heirs. In 1832, the Prince of Thurn und Taxis finally bought both castles, but left them to decay. Today, the municipality of Brennberg is the owner of the complex.