Hilgartsberg Castle (Ruin)

The first mention of an Ezil de Hilkerirchesberg dates back to 1112. The castle originally belonged to the County of Windberg under the feudal lordship of the Bishops of Bamberg. In 1207, it was granted to Walchunus von Kamm, who later bequeathed it to his nephews Alram and Albert von Hals, and Bernhard von Uttendorf. This led to disputes with the Bishops of Passau and Bamberg. An arbitration court finally awarded the lordship to Count Rapoto II of Ortenburg in 1226. After the death of his son Rapoto III in 1248, his daughter Elisabeth and her husband Hartmann I von Werdenberg sold the property to Duke Heinrich of Lower Bavaria in 1259. The dukes initially managed the castle through administrators but enfeoffed it to Seifried der Puchberger in 1309. After his death in 1326, the fortress came into the possession of the Ecker von Eck. When Peter Ecker von Eck fell out of favor, the castle was besieged and captured by the Duke in 1357. Duke Albrecht had the complex fortified with ramparts and a tower in 1360 and re-appointed ducal administrators. Towards the end of the 15th century, the Weisenberger family was enfeoffed, and after their extinction in 1596, Rudolph Freiherr von Pollweil und Weilerthal received it. His lineage died out in 1617, and Elector Maximilian I then granted the estate to Hanns Ernest Graf Fugger. The Fuggers, who never resided in the castle themselves, significantly expanded it after a fire in 1626. During the War of the Spanish Succession, Hilgartsberg was occupied by the Austrians in 1704. In the War of the Austrian Succession, it was conquered and burned down by Austro-Hungarian troops on November 11, 1742. The Fuggers did not rebuild the ruin. In 1821, Joseph Eligius Graf Fugger sold the lordship to the Bavarian state.