Loch Castle

The exact founding date of Loch Castle is not known, with historians considering both the 12th and 14th centuries as possibilities. The complex was built by the Rammelsteiners, who served as ministeriales to the Burgraves of Regensburg and owned an estate nearby. The castle served to protect a hammer mill. After the death of the last male Rammelsteiner, Sebastian, in 1556, inheritance disputes arose over the castle and its associated lands. Although Sebastian had bequeathed his wife Margarethe in his will, his nephew Wolf Heinrich Sauerzapf, who was married to Sebastian's sister Magdalena, lodged an objection. The conflict was settled in 1573, when the castle was awarded to the Sauerzapfs. By 1625 at the latest, Veit Philipp Sauerzapf, a descendant, moved his residence to Schönhofen, as he found the castle too uncomfortable for living.